Loving kindness for Donald Trump

The Loving kindness meditation (also called metta) is 

'a practice of cultivating understanding, love, and compassion by looking deeply, first for ourselves and then for others' Thich Nhat Hanh - No Mud, No Lotus: 104.

I have resolved to practice this beautiful meditation every day throughout March, choosing Donald Trump as the 'difficult person'. 

This is my motivation - 

'To love is, first of all, to accept ourselves as we actually are ... in this Love meditation, "know thyself" is the first practice of love' Thich Nhat Hanh - No Mud, No Lotus: 104.

The practice begins with offering words of loving kindness to ourselves, then to others.
The steps I will follow will be

myself

someone I love

someone I have difficulties with (Donald Trump)

the whole world.

These are the words I will use - 

May I be peaceful, happy and light and body and spirit.

May I be free from anger, afflictions, fear and anxiety.

May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.

May I learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving and delusion in myself.

May I know how to nourish the seeds of joy in myself every day.

May I be free from attachment and aversion but not be indifferent.

May I be able to live fresh, solid and free.

(adapted from Thich Nhat Hanh - Chanting from the Heart: 42).

Having first said these words towards myself, I then offer them to someone I love
(may you be ... etc.), then DT, then the whole world (may we all be ... etc.)

I will practice this meditation every morning (UK time about 7am). 

Feel free to join me at any time for one day or many days.

We can manifest drops of love that can join together to create an ocean of love.

I am also motivated by Robert F Kennedy's speech in 1966, sending forth tiny ripples of hope to build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a <person> stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he/she sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

June 1966 from South Africa against apartheid.

I hope you are inspired!

Sit quietly and wait

Sit quietly and wait.
Listen to the heart.
Wait patiently for its whisperings.
Forms arise in mind
as shadows flickering and dancing.
Scenarios are played out
movements take place
words and actions.
Shadows settle
as if nothing happened.
The earth still revolves.
The sun and moon give heat and light
appearing to move and change
it is we who are moving.
And finally, a rest
a great rest.
Sit quietly and wait.

© 16 Feb 17

To be free

What is right and
what is wrong?
What to do or not do?
There is no right and wrong.
There is nothing to do, or not do
except to be free.
Live
move
breathe
speak
in and from freedom.

© 15 Feb 17

More space than solid

Vibrations release
the sense of solidity.
Energy dancing
to create this form and that.
Swirling patterns of light
cells and atoms flowing together.
More space than solidity.
A dance of divine imagination.
A dance of divine energy.
We are more space than solid.

© 15 Feb 17

Meditation

Simple
uncluttered
free
undisturbed by anything
untouched by movement
limitless
endless
ungraspable
present
knowable
closer than my heartbeat
vast as infinite galaxies
how to describe this
unending beauty, goodness and grace?
knowable
present
ungraspable
endless
limitless
untouched by movement
undisturbed by anything
free
uncluttered
simple.

© 14 Feb 17

No other reason

All we have heard
all that has been said
gives us true knowledge of Oneness.
There is no other reason
to be here.

All we have done
every movement made
every step taken
gives us true knowledge of Oneness.
There is no other reason
to be here.

All the moments of meditation
all the times of stepping into silence
is to meet Oneness.
There is no other reason to be here.

All the songs we have sung
all the words shared
invite us to know Oneness.
There is no other reason to be here.

© 15 Feb 17

I spotted a tendency

I spotted a tendency
a habit I have formed
that keeps me believing in me
as reality.
And that is only one!
What else is carried in the bag of me-ness?
What else supports belief in me?
A whole collection of
tendencies and habits
that having been seen
can be unpicked
can be set free
to disappear into the ether.
They are not real
no more is me.

A dance of divine imagination
of coming and going
rising and falling.
And what remains?
Not an emptiness
devoid of feeling or emotion.
What remains is
vibrating energy
causes and conditions
rising and falling.
A dance of divine energy.

 © 13 Feb 17

We talk about stress

We talk about stress
slowly acknowledge the feelings
and its impact
slowly start to unwind
to disentangle from being stressed.
In the sharing
I am free
I am not only stress.

We inject humour and
shared humanity.

Facing our fears
addressing our failings
they lose their vice-like grip.
I learn from you
you learn from me.
We are one
in our stumblings
our falterings.
We are gracious in acceptance
in our laughter.

We are one in our
shared humanity.

© 6 Feb 17

A lovely review!

A wonderful review of my book In the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh on the new and beautiful Community of Interbeing website

https://coiuk.org/book-review-tradition-thich-nhat-hanh/

"With the publication of her book, based on her research thesis, Dr Lauri Bower positions herself as a leading scholar of the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh".