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  #1  
Old 29-01-2019, 09:27 AM
Gem Gem is offline
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Mindfulness and Metta

Hello and welcome.


It has been a long time since I started a thread in this section - and this section has been inactive lately - but I want to talk about mindfulness and how it leads to metta.

Mindfulness means to be aware of what 'this' is like, to see it as it is, to look at things in the right way. Metta means loving kindness. It is the undying wish that all beings be happy. (If people want more elaborate explanations, please read more online. If you care to elaborate on this thread, do so in the way you personally understand it using your own words, but don't dump cut and pastes here).

May we meditate for just a minute, just observing our own experiential reality as it is, and after a minute, finish with a sincere, heartfelt wish for our mutual happiness.

Please complete the above meditation to help create conditions of harmony and happiness, and so far as is possible, take refuge in our mutual affection and compassion together.

From this short practice we elevate utmost respect and friendliness, and this should be practiced each time you visit here to generate a peaceful disposition and an atmosphere of love and kindness. These conditions are becoming of our Sangha. May you all be peaceful. May we all be happy.

After that minute's practice you will feel the effect - how you generate peace and happiness within yourself and radiate it to the benefit of others. You become a little more kind and willing to trust, and perhaps notice how delicate and gentle loving-kindness energy is.

I hope this post was beneficial - that you are a bit happier and you feel a little more peaceful having undertaken this minute of practice - and please know that I am.

Thank you for listening kindly and for participating in this meditation. May all beings be happy.
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  #2  
Old 29-01-2019, 10:40 AM
sky sky is offline
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Mindfulness....

Mindfulness is practised according to the Tradition you choose to follow, it is much more than just ' being in the moment '.

Here's a good Article which some may find interesting

https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/arti...st-traditions/


It ends with a valuable insight...


' In relation to the various constructs of mindfulness the question to be asked would then not be “Who is right?” but rather “What is right for me '

As with all Buddha's Teachings, you are encouraged to try them, not ordered.... If they are a benefit to you and help you help others through ' Metta ' use them.

Mindfulness also teaches that you shouldn't judge what arises and this also helps with Metta as your not being judgemental in everyday life, ( sometimes it's hard to practice what you preach though).

We can only try...
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  #3  
Old 29-01-2019, 01:33 PM
sky sky is offline
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Metta Sutta.

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful,
Not proud or demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born —
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.
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  #4  
Old 29-01-2019, 09:51 PM
JustBe JustBe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gem
Hello and welcome.


It has been a long time since I started a thread in this section - and this section has been inactive lately - but I want to talk about mindfulness and how it leads to metta.

Mindfulness means to be aware of what 'this' is like, to see it as it is, to look at things in the right way. Metta means loving kindness. It is the undying wish that all beings be happy. (If people want more elaborate explanations, please read more online. If you care to elaborate on this thread, do so in the way you personally understand it using your own words, but don't dump cut and pastes here).

May we meditate for just a minute, just observing our own experiential reality as it is, and after a minute, finish with a sincere, heartfelt wish for our mutual happiness.

Please complete the above meditation to help create conditions of harmony and happiness, and so far as is possible, take refuge in our mutual affection and compassion together.

From this short practice we elevate utmost respect and friendliness, and this should be practiced each time you visit here to generate a peaceful disposition and an atmosphere of love and kindness. These conditions are becoming of our Sangha. May you all be peaceful. May we all be happy.

After that minute's practice you will feel the effect - how you generate peace and happiness within yourself and radiate it to the benefit of others. You become a little more kind and willing to trust, and perhaps notice how delicate and gentle loving-kindness energy is.

I hope this post was beneficial - that you are a bit happier and you feel a little more peaceful having undertaken this minute of practice - and please know that I am.

Thank you for listening kindly and for participating in this meditation. May all beings be happy.
Thankyou.
I feel this

May all beings be happy.

I recently was going through a deep process and found myself reaching the space of this in myself. The struggle between self and others was met with kindness in me through the light of this awakening. I met myself with kindness. My heart felt at ease in the intention that arose most naturally -may all beings be happy. The walk from there was neither forced, or a struggle. I could see how each person was finding exactly what they needed. I felt in my own heart a movement that aligned with my new awakened intention.
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  #5  
Old 30-01-2019, 12:01 AM
Gem Gem is offline
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Hi guys,


Please meditate on your own reality for one minute before engaging in the thread, and then extend your found peace and happiness to all living beings. The will be effective in creating a harmonious friendliness in you, which you extend to the benefit of others.


(A reminder: In the OP I requested that people elaborate on things as they personally understand them, and not dump cut and pastes on the thread. If people wish to read up on the topic, then by all means do so, but when speaking here, explain the research you have done in your own words from your own insightful understanding. That would be deeply appreciated).


Making mindfulness and metta the reality of your life can be touched on by taking the minute meditation (in the OP), and the slight opening of the heart enables it to shine good-will as star radiates light across the universe, bringing your enhanced inner happiness to everyone around you.

Other people are difficult, at times aggressive and hurtful, as their suffering radiates from within them spreading misery all around. We all do this sometimes and we are all responsible for it, so it is important to take the minute I suggest to bring positivity to yourself and everyone else.

Please take that minute before reading or speaking on the thread so that we generate harmonious vibrations throughout.

When you find yourself in a difficult personal interaction, it is very likely that feelings of animosity will rise up in you, and it is possible your malice will arise as your intent to somehow hurt another person. This happens to me 100 times a day when I generate some slightly negative thoughts and feelings toward other human beings.

There is no time for a minutes practice in these interpersonal situations, but the minute you spend here or in your own time will serve as a reminder that you can return self-awareness to the stiller peaceful depth of yourself and radiate the kindness within you universally. In a real life situation it is unlikely anyone will remember right there and then, but afterward, when you are calmer, you can remember and take a minute of mindfulness before consciously extending forgiveness and kind feelings to them before opening that radiance to all living beings. This will bring you and those around you deeper contentment and greater happiness.


At the ashram it was daily practice for us to sit together in the evenings after a day of hard work and practice mindfulness to bring stillness to ourselves before silently considering those who had hurt us during our day, and how we ourselves had hurt others, and practice conscious forgiveness and silently extend to them a heartfelt wish that they be happy. Because we knew everyone practiced in this way, we all confident that there was no resentment between us, we all understood how we and others generate our own suffering, and with that understanding, we were all compassionate toward each other.

In this 'way' it is something you already know, and the thread is only a reminder so that it becomes a clearer, more integral aspect of each of our daily lives.

With kindest intent for the benefit of all, I wish you every happiness and peace for all living things.
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  #6  
Old 30-01-2019, 09:10 AM
sky sky is offline
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"Hatred cannot coexist with loving-kindness, and dissipates if supplanted with thoughts based on loving kindness "

Dhammapada.....

Metta in a nutshell.
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  #7  
Old 30-01-2019, 10:18 AM
Gem Gem is offline
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Hello again


I completed the meditation placing my attention on the sensations in my feet proceeding slowly up feeling my legs, body and head. This is my reality as it is. Once felt my body from toes to crown, I emanated loving vibes through awareness of the expanse around me.


For the purposes of a minute meditation, feeling yourself breath, feeling your feet or hands or face, or scanning the body as I described, are great mindful practice.


Recently I brought deliberate sitting practice back into my daily routine. I have been sitting for one hour on my bed when I wake in the morning. This brings me greater peace and happiness throughout the whole day, so naturally, I am a little kinder to everyone I meet. Thus the meditation benefits me, and goes on benefit all those I come across, and becomes universally beneficial in ways I can't imagine.

Please participate in the meditation for your peace of mind and deeper contentment, and that of all those you encounter, and that of all beings throughout all dimensions of the universe.

As I discuss this a small sense of joy bubbles up inside me with a wish that others share in this radiance as universally free to all living beings.
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  #8  
Old 01-02-2019, 04:48 AM
Gem Gem is offline
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Hi guys


Please take the opportunity for a minutes meditation to create peaceful harmonious conditions withing yourself, your vibe will be beneficial to all others.

Mindfulness does not depend on what tradition or religion you belong to. Just like your breathing is regardless of your tradition, religion, belief or lack thereof, mindfulness is regardless. You can observe breath no matter who you are, and mindfulness is similarly universal. Mindfulness is awarness of the reality as it is in the way you experience it.


It is to be conscious of what is happening and what you are doing as opposed to functioning on unconscious compulsion. We see how people can be compelled by greed, hatred, fear because they are ignorant - as Christ put it, 'they know what they do' - and it is obvious that these negativities cause a great deal of suffering.


Mindfulness is 'knowing what you do'.


The official text on mindfulness says 'as I breath in I know I am breathing in', not because I learned it as knowledge, but because I am aware of my breath moment to moment to moment. If it is a long breath I know the breath is long, and indeed, by being aware of it, I know what the breath is doing in a great deal of detail. The texts say to watch the breath as a skilled wood turner watches his craft, with focus which stays calm, smooth and pays attention to detail(You can google Satipatthana Sutta for yourself if you care to see these references, but please refrain from cut and pasting here).



In just a minute you can't turn an intricate masterful work, but you can a have good sense of observing the intricacy of your experience, and as the mind returns to the actuality of what Is, it becomes slightly calmer and more peaceful. You feel a little bit calmer, and because you feel more serene, your vibe gives serenity to others.

Even though there is breathing, it happens by itself. Don't have to do it. You can notice your breathing and simply be aware of it. Mindfulness involves non-doing, just watching, being aware, just being.

The effort in mindfuless is slightly different to doing, because when you deliberately stop doing and start watching, you will start to notice all the things you do which you don't consciously intend to do. You see the mind is a bit wild. You see how it has formed habits of reaction, agitation, boredom, impatience, which disrupt peace of mind, and you realise, 'this is how I've generated my own suffering all this time', and how you spread that to others.

You can see that I'm not speaking of meditation in terms of god and bliss and wonderful states of mind like most commentators do. I talk about things 'as they are', not 'as we want them to be', because you have to be honest about your actual lived realtity rather yearn for experiences that are not here and now. Mindfulness is always the truth of your reality as it is being experienced by you - from being in truth you have insight into your reality and become wiser.

Indeed, if your experience is God and bliss, then that's your reality, but not someone else's. Each person's reality is 'as it is' just the way they each experience it. You may think the Buddhists are blissfully seated like statues of Buddha, but their real lived experience may well be intense pain and violent emotional storms. The skill these adepts have is not incredible mind state experiences, but the stability of their own presence regardless of what kind of experience they are having. It might be a wonderful mind or sensational state, it might be very turmultuous, but the adept is not rattled easily by high pleasures or discomforts. He remains still either way. This is the way of mindfulness practice, stop, keep still, and watch without moving.

When you take the minutes practice, you will experience a stilling effect, because you have stopped... to watch. Recognise stillness and stay with it regardless of what happens in the experience. Practice stillness and let the experience be.

With generosity, share your stillness with others. It will amplify hearts of loving kindness here, across the world, and throughout the universe beyond.
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Radiate boundless love towards the entire world ~ Buddha

Last edited by Gem : 01-02-2019 at 08:04 AM.
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  #9  
Old 09-02-2019, 08:53 AM
Samana Samana is offline
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Regarding the daily practice of Metta (loving kindness), this is an excellent 5 minute video about how to do the practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vIyo-3ewKk



_/|\_



.
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  #10  
Old 09-02-2019, 09:33 AM
sky sky is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Samana
Regarding the daily practice of Metta (loving kindness), this is an excellent 5 minute video about how to do the practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vIyo-3ewKk



_/|\_



.


I like the way visualization is incorporated into this meditation.
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