30 Days of Forgiveness - Day 6 - Ways of Practicing - Mettā Meditation




May you be filled with loving kindness. May you be well. May you be peaceful and at ease and may you be happy.  --Mettā meditation

If you are struggling to keep up with the daily practice of The Forgiveness Letter, don't despair, there are many ways to practice forgiveness that don't involve copious amounts of writing.

Each week I will be introducing one or two new forgiveness techniques that you can try and use during your thirty days.

Today's technique comes from the Buddhist tradition by way of Mary Morrissey. The Mettā (or "lovingkindness") meditation is used to cultivate loving-kindness towards Self, others, and eventually toward all beings.

It is generally practiced in this way:

First say the Mettā for yourself, "May I be filled with lovingkindness. May I be well. May I be peaceful and at ease and may I be happy." Then for someone close to you, "May you...." Followed by your family "May we...." and finally for your enemies "May they...." and all sentient beings, "May all...."

In her Prosperity Plus program Mary Morrissey tells the story of a young man who comes to her full of anger because his wife and his best friend are having an affair. He is ready to do something violent and drastic and she advises him to say the Mettā for his friend and his wife every day. To say it even when he doesn't mean it.

He does as she suggests and when he comes back to check in a couple of weeks later she can see immediately that he has changed. He is no longer seething with anger and he says that although he does not like what they did, he now realizes that he loves them and really does want them to be happy.

If you give it a try, let me know how it works for you. You can do the whole cycle (I, You, We, They, All) or just repeat as quoted above, thinking of the person who are forgiving today. Say it as many times a day as you can for the best result. May you be well.

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