Last week, Richard Rohr quoted the following passage on “Compassionate Meditation.” A practice I was not aware of but which engaged me:
Thich Nhat Hanh and other Buddhist practitioners recommend
that we regularly engage in a Compassion Meditation that is also known as metta or loving-kindness.…
May you be happy.
May you be blessed.
May you be free and peaceful.
May you be ever loved.
May you be always loving.
I can see how this would be a powerful practice for being compassionate
and helping someone to be more compassionate.
To riff on Burt Bacharach, what the world needs now is love, sweet love.
Compassion is one of the expressions of love.
I can also see how it would be a is a means in which Christians
can practice the great commandment of Jesus Crist to love one another as he loves
us – and that includes our enemies as Jesus so inconveniently declares. Yes, that is not a typo – inconveniently for Christians
– as it is, at least for me – as Jesus is commanding me to do what seems to be
impossible.
To do this as a part of compassionate meditation, what I
suggest is a third step which would be for someone who is, or seems to you to
be your enemy:
Now repeat the exercise, this time picturing someone
you consider your enemy. Wish them the same loving desires. You may choose
someone who is currently in your life, someone who is no longer physically a
part of your life, but who has injured you deeply in the past, or someone in
the news who is not directly in your life. Make the image clear and pray for
them as sincerely as you can. Your goal is to open to them/give them their
humanity.
I hope that you will try this several times as see what
happens. I am going to do this as part
of my daily practice this week. Also, do
not forget to do this for yourself. It
is important that you show yourself compassion.
May you be blessed to give and receive compassion on your
journey.
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