The Art of Zen Living

“Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.”

-Mary Schmich

I know I should be nice to people.  I know I feel better, they feel better and my day goes better when I am.  I’m calmer, more relaxed, and better able to deal with whatever comes my way.  I find I do better when I’ve had a chance to meditate.  I do 2 different kinds of meditation right now.  The first kind is the more traditional, sitting cross legged on the floor with my eyes closed kind, which I tend to think of as “back to one”.  The reason I think of it that way is simple.  I sit, I clear my mind, and I begin counting my breaths.  I feel the inhale of air, and as I exhale I count “one”.  The idea is that I count my breaths up to ten, and then back down to one.  If at any point in time my mind wanders, I start back at one.  I’m still a beginner, so all too often my meditation practice goes something like this:

“One….”

“Two….”

“What should I have for dinner tonigh…awww, crap.  One….”

I know, I know - it doesn’t sound like it would help much, but it really does.  It takes me 15 or 20 minutes to get my mind quiet enough to get to ten.  Maybe I never make it past six or seven - sometimes I make it to ten and then back down to one, but that’s still pretty rare.  I do get my mind to quiet down.  There seems to be great benefit in that.  It’s almost like exercising your intuition.

Then there’s the second kind of meditation I do - Loving Kindness.  It’s like having your own little packet of happy in your pocket, ready to go whenever you need it.

Sometimes I’ll recite this one while I’m sitting in the traditional cross legged posture, other times I’ll think it to myself as I’m walking through the store, or repeat it to myself while I’m driving.  It’s versatile.  It can be a meditation or it can be a mantra.  It took me maybe 20 minutes to memorize the important parts, and the rest of it is pretty flexible.  This is a variation on the one Reverand Kusala uses - he suggested I make it my own, and I have.  You should make it your own, too.

So, with no further introduction, here’s the Loving Kindness meditation/mantra I use:

May I be happy, peaceful and free from suffering.  May no harm come to me, may no difficulties come to me, may no problems come to me.

May I always find fulfilment.  May I always have patience, courage, understanding and determination to meet and overcome life’s inevitable problems, difficulties and failures.

May our teachers and all teachers of the truth be happy, peaceful and free from suffering.  May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them, may no problems come to them.

May they always find fulfilment.  May they also always have patience, courage, understanding and determination to meet and overcome life’s inevitable problems, difficulties and failures.

May our parents, partners, brother and sisters, friends and relatives, all the people we don’t know, all the people we don’t like be happy, peaceful and free from suffering.  May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them, may no problems come to them.

May they always find fulfilment.  May they also always have patience, courage, understanding and determination to meet and overcome the inevitable problems, difficulties and failures in life.

From the highest realm of existence to the lowest, may all beings arisen in any of these realms, with form and without, with perception and without, with perception and without, be happy, peaceful and free from suffering.  May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them, may no problems come to them.

May they always find fulfilment.  May they also always have patience, courage, understanding and determination to meet and overcome the inevitable problems, difficulties and failures in life.

The “important” part is this: be happy, peaceful and free from suffering.  May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them, may no problems come to them.

May they always find fulfilment.  May they also always have patience, courage, understanding and determination to meet and overcome the inevitable problems, difficulties and failures in life.

The first part is who you’re wishing these things for.  You want to give these good thoughts, good energy, good wishes to 4 different types of people:

1. People you feel positively about.
2. People you feel neutral towards.
3. People you feel negatively towards, or that feel negatively towards you.
4. Everyone that doesn’t fit in one of the three categories mentioned above.

Phrase the who any way you like.  As you can see from mine, I include myself as one of the people I feel positively about.  Sometimes I’ll get more specific about the people I don’t like - usually when one of them has been on my mind or has crossed my path recently.

I don’t mean to sound preachy here, but you really should try this.  If I’m using it as a mantra, say in the car, I recite it softly, in a soothing voice, to myself.  I use a steady, but calm and slow pace, but I don’t really pause for any length of time.  If I’m using it more as a meditation, then I’ll think it to myself silently, and at the end of each section I’ll sit quietly and see what thoughts arise in my mind.  I may follow the thought for a bit, or choose to allow the thought to die out and go on to the next well wish.  It’s completely up to me depending on how interested I am in that thought.

All I can really tell you is that after spending a week using this as a meditation and mantra, I liked the way I felt - my mood and my attitude.  It helps me be the man I want to be.  I hope you get something out of it as well!