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Lovingkindness

5/6/2015

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When David Richo, the Jesuit-trained, Zen Buddhist and Jungian psychotherapist, leads meditation retreats, he is sometimes asked very difficult questions during the teaching breaks. What he is teaching, by the way, is also considered a very difficult subject: "how to be an adult," as he puts it. But despite the difficult subject matter and despite the difficult questions, his answer is often surprisingly simple. When he is asked, "What do I do in the following impossible situation?" or "What should I say when this awful scenario unfolds?" he advises his questioners to repeat a phrase taught to him by the Dalai Lama, and to repeat it as many times as it takes for it to sink in. Here is that phrase:

May I show all the love I have
In any way I can
Here, now, and all the time,
To everything and everyone, including me,
Since love is what we are—and why.
Now nothing matters to me more
Or gives me greater joy.

Lovingkindness meditation is an ancient practice accessible to all those willing to open their hearts to the selfless goodness abounding and abiding within us. This font of love is sometimes buried deep beneath a foundation of cracked and deformed bedrock laid down before we can remember. But accessing it can change our outlook and thereby change the world we create every day.
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Click on the book
to learn how to commit
to lovingkindness
for someone,
for many someones,
for the world,
and even for yourself:

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Click on the mushroom if you'd like to follow along the path of lovingkindness meditation. Your guide will gently help your thoughts and feelings cooperate with your intention to radiate the love, kindness, and goodness that resides within you.

You will learn two very simple methods of stopping your negative thought patterns in their misguided tracks and redirecting them toward positivity. These practices are more than 2,500 years old, yet they feel fresh and new and revolutionary. If you are not used to tapping into this aspect of your Self, it can be quite eye-opening. You will learn that encountering a state of ultimate peace and happiness is not so mysterious. It is within your grasp. It only takes trying.

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    Author

    For three years
    I led a therapy group
    for anxiety and depression. These are my
    imperfect recollections
    of those meetings
    with some of the most influential people
    in my life.
    While maintaining confidentiality,
    I processed those
    shared experiences

    and recorded my impressions.
    ​
    ​Disclaimer: This blog does not create a therapeutic relationship ans is non-interactive.

    RS

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