Day 6: Begin your day with the Metta prayer of loving kindness...

Challenge Day 6: Begin your day with the Metta prayer of loving kindness. Begin with yourself; then recite for a specific respected person in your life; next for a dearly beloved; next for a neutral person; next for someone with whom you have difficulty; and finally for all beings.

May I be at peace.
May my heart remain open.
May I awaken to the light of my own true nature.
May I be healed.
May I be a source of healing for all beings.

What a lovely prayer/meditation and perfect way to start the work week. Even just thinking of the people I wished to bless brought me joy. I practiced the meditation when I awoke then also in the middle of the day and again before bed.

I had the opportunity to practice this meditation once before in church. My attempt to determine the author were inconclusive - some internet sites attribute it to Joan Borysenko and others to the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

Below are some wonderful suggestions I found for practicing the meditation.

Say this blessing for yourself anytime you feel alone, afraid or out of touch with the Light within. Begin by taking a few letting-go breaths, and then enter the inner sanctuary of stillness. Imagine a light above and slightly in front of you pouring love and light over you, let the light enter the top of your head and wash through you, revealing the purity of your own heart, which expands and extends beyond you, merging with the Divine light. Bless yourself with loving kindness.

Next bring a loved one or group to mind. Say this blessing for as many people as you wish. If worried thoughts
about loved ones occur during the day, take a moment to send them a loving kindness blessing rather than a fearful thought.Imagine a loving light shining down on them revealing the light within their own heart. Imagine this light growing brighter, merging with the Divine light. Then bless them with loving kindness. Repeat this for as many people as you wish.

Next, think of a person or group whom you hold in judgment, and to whom you’re ready to begin extending forgiveness, bless them with
loving kindness. Hold them in light, seeing it wash away all their negativity and illusion. Repeat this for as many people or groups as you wish.

Now see our beautiful planet, a delicate jewel hanging in starry vastness (or the entire universe). Imagine it surrounded by light, the green continents, the blue waters, the white polar caps, the animals, the fish that swim and the birds that fly (and the stars,
planets, galaxies, space) Be spacious enough to hold it all as you offer these blessings of loving kindness.