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more metta
Oct. 9th, 2008 08:28 pmI've been doing some more metta meditation this week, with some interesting observations arising from a couple of the people i'd chosen as "subjects".
The aspirations i've been thinking of are phrased in a positive sense, ie "may you be safe and free from strife, may you be happy and at ease, may you be healthy and strong, may you take care of yourself happily". When i thought of Paul as a focus of these wishes, i realised that these are the exact things that he could really use and is in need of in his life. It made me a bit sad to think of what effect lacking those things has on his quality of life, though it did help clarify just what those aspirations mean and why they're so important for people to have.
Tonight, trying to think of a "difficult" person, i ended up choosing John Howard (for want of anyone i could think of closer to hand). That was actually a good choice, as i found initial thoughts of "lying rodent" creeping in at the start, which i had to let go of to find genuine good wishes for him, and when i got to "healthy and strong", i got a picture of him on his morning power walks (just like me, if less well dressed) and it really brought home to me how he does want to be healthy and well, just like anybody else, and from there i could better appreciate (rather than just know intellectually) how being happy, safe and takingcare of himself would be as important to him as to anyone. From what i understand, that sort of appreciation is a big part of what the exercise is about.
One other thing i've worked out is that, at this stage at least, i need to take a little less time to do the exercise, simply for physical reasons. The last few sessions have taken about 45 minutes, by the end of which my back is killing me so much i can no longer concentrate. To keep it at a more manageable duration, i figure i need to keep it to just the four subjects (myself, the 'lovable' person, the 'neutral' person and the 'difficult' person) rather than adding any others in as i did the last couple of times. I'm also going to streamline the amount of time spent thinking about each person, just going through the sets of four aspirations right through four times, then dwelling on the feelings a few moments before moving on. Once i get used to sitting that way for long periods and my back muscles are better trained, i might be able to sit longer when the time is available.
Of course, i could probably do it lying down instead, but i'm too attached to the image of sitting. :)
The aspirations i've been thinking of are phrased in a positive sense, ie "may you be safe and free from strife, may you be happy and at ease, may you be healthy and strong, may you take care of yourself happily". When i thought of Paul as a focus of these wishes, i realised that these are the exact things that he could really use and is in need of in his life. It made me a bit sad to think of what effect lacking those things has on his quality of life, though it did help clarify just what those aspirations mean and why they're so important for people to have.
Tonight, trying to think of a "difficult" person, i ended up choosing John Howard (for want of anyone i could think of closer to hand). That was actually a good choice, as i found initial thoughts of "lying rodent" creeping in at the start, which i had to let go of to find genuine good wishes for him, and when i got to "healthy and strong", i got a picture of him on his morning power walks (just like me, if less well dressed) and it really brought home to me how he does want to be healthy and well, just like anybody else, and from there i could better appreciate (rather than just know intellectually) how being happy, safe and takingcare of himself would be as important to him as to anyone. From what i understand, that sort of appreciation is a big part of what the exercise is about.
One other thing i've worked out is that, at this stage at least, i need to take a little less time to do the exercise, simply for physical reasons. The last few sessions have taken about 45 minutes, by the end of which my back is killing me so much i can no longer concentrate. To keep it at a more manageable duration, i figure i need to keep it to just the four subjects (myself, the 'lovable' person, the 'neutral' person and the 'difficult' person) rather than adding any others in as i did the last couple of times. I'm also going to streamline the amount of time spent thinking about each person, just going through the sets of four aspirations right through four times, then dwelling on the feelings a few moments before moving on. Once i get used to sitting that way for long periods and my back muscles are better trained, i might be able to sit longer when the time is available.
Of course, i could probably do it lying down instead, but i'm too attached to the image of sitting. :)
