Loving Kindness
The basis of loving-kindness is no-need and the physical nature of no-need is stillness.
There are several loving-kindness meditations. Here is one of them:
On the out-breath feel for the words, free from fear.
On the in-breath the thought, peace rising.
Maintain contact with these words in the body, with the movement of the breath in a backward circle. Feeling the movement of breath in a backward circle.
The kanza stretches are based in this practice of breathing and backward circling. They start in a gentle sitting posture with the same quality and poise in the pelvis, chest-box and shoulder girdle. So when you approach kanza practice, feel for the breath dropping down the back. Feel for the quality of the cycle of breath around the body. Stay with this position for a little while and let the words of the loving-kindness meditation drift over you.
Peace and love and comfort and ease
As you allow the breath to cycle through the body, the meditation comes into being.
On the out-breath, free from fear and on the in-breath peace.
The placing of attention is intrinsic to every basic exercise. With the kanza stretch the attention is in the movement of breath in a backward circle; following the sense of letting go, collapsing and then expanding up the front of the body with the in breath. It is a very loving and gentle thing, expressed in a big and energetic way. Certainly in the Zen arts you find the backward circle, in movements of the sword, or riding a horse, for example. It is this movement, at the basis of the relationship between the horse and rider that encourages the horse to commit fully to the activity. At the essence of this big energetic circle there is stillness, expressing itself in the body.
Why do you think you are here? It could just be simply to love, to be kind, to find this within you and to take on the challenge of loving you. When you are going into the kanza stretch, be kind to the being that is doing it rather than hardening. Likewise, be loving to the being that seeks to ignore your practice. Loving it does not mean letting it take charge. Loving something does not mean giving in to it. It means being kind and forming a clear relating with all the parts of you that are operating, allowing them to interact well. This balance enables through that clear, bright understanding within you, which then demonstrates itself in the world.
When you practice this, you are devoting your life to being kind to everything, to every moment.
Your practice is not spiritual athletics. It is a loving way and this means applying loving-kindness, first to yourself, and then through your understanding of how to love you, expressing loving-kindness in the world. Kan-za practice is just that. The backward circle conveys a cycle of love; the fulfillment, the celebration of joy, and the complete letting go and collapse into stillness.
All the basic exercises express in action the philosophical basis of Satipatthana; as with the backward circle it is of no-need. The forward circle expresses constant need, all need, everything need. Entering any action on a forward circle is accepting for its duration a life of neediness. Every day there comes a point where we are challenged to take what we want or let go. Manipulate the world or not, it is up to you.
Will you give yourself the opportunity to truly let go and honour what is present? Relating to what is in here in a loving and kind way, rather than clinging to it; whether it is a person, event or a thing that you own, or possession of attitudes and opinions that hold together your sense of who you are. These judgments and opinions are just as much clinging and craving as is holding onto a person, or a job. Letting go or letting be is the expression of trust, of knowing that all is well. Opening the hands and letting be takes trust. We cannot do this as an act of sacrifice; that would be ridiculous.
In every situation there is a critical point, where we are have the possibility either to love or need and we are confronted at that point. It is a big challenge and I have failed that challenge many times in my life, but more and more I realise that all the pain, all the hurt, all the suffering, all the fear and anxiety is based in clinging. How can we hold on to it and at the same time grow? It is impossible to grow this way. At least we can have a sense of humour and see: I am holding on to so many things, can I let at least one of them go?
I am not suggesting that we need to be perfect. I am just saying this is the nature of suffering and the route we must take to be free.
The basis of loving-kindness is no-need and the physical nature of no-need is stillness.
There are several loving-kindness meditations. Here is one of them:
On the out-breath feel for the words, free from fear.
On the in-breath the thought, peace rising.
Maintain contact with these words in the body, with the movement of the breath in a backward circle. Feeling the movement of breath in a backward circle.
The kanza stretches are based in this practice of breathing and backward circling. They start in a gentle sitting posture with the same quality and poise in the pelvis, chest-box and shoulder girdle. So when you approach kanza practice, feel for the breath dropping down the back. Feel for the quality of the cycle of breath around the body. Stay with this position for a little while and let the words of the loving-kindness meditation drift over you.
Peace and love and comfort and ease
As you allow the breath to cycle through the body, the meditation comes into being.
On the out-breath, free from fear and on the in-breath peace.
The placing of attention is intrinsic to every basic exercise. With the kanza stretch the attention is in the movement of breath in a backward circle; following the sense of letting go, collapsing and then expanding up the front of the body with the in breath. It is a very loving and gentle thing, expressed in a big and energetic way. Certainly in the Zen arts you find the backward circle, in movements of the sword, or riding a horse, for example. It is this movement, at the basis of the relationship between the horse and rider that encourages the horse to commit fully to the activity. At the essence of this big energetic circle there is stillness, expressing itself in the body.
Why do you think you are here? It could just be simply to love, to be kind, to find this within you and to take on the challenge of loving you. When you are going into the kanza stretch, be kind to the being that is doing it rather than hardening. Likewise, be loving to the being that seeks to ignore your practice. Loving it does not mean letting it take charge. Loving something does not mean giving in to it. It means being kind and forming a clear relating with all the parts of you that are operating, allowing them to interact well. This balance enables through that clear, bright understanding within you, which then demonstrates itself in the world.
When you practice this, you are devoting your life to being kind to everything, to every moment.
Your practice is not spiritual athletics. It is a loving way and this means applying loving-kindness, first to yourself, and then through your understanding of how to love you, expressing loving-kindness in the world. Kan-za practice is just that. The backward circle conveys a cycle of love; the fulfillment, the celebration of joy, and the complete letting go and collapse into stillness.
All the basic exercises express in action the philosophical basis of Satipatthana; as with the backward circle it is of no-need. The forward circle expresses constant need, all need, everything need. Entering any action on a forward circle is accepting for its duration a life of neediness. Every day there comes a point where we are challenged to take what we want or let go. Manipulate the world or not, it is up to you.
Will you give yourself the opportunity to truly let go and honour what is present? Relating to what is in here in a loving and kind way, rather than clinging to it; whether it is a person, event or a thing that you own, or possession of attitudes and opinions that hold together your sense of who you are. These judgments and opinions are just as much clinging and craving as is holding onto a person, or a job. Letting go or letting be is the expression of trust, of knowing that all is well. Opening the hands and letting be takes trust. We cannot do this as an act of sacrifice; that would be ridiculous.
In every situation there is a critical point, where we are have the possibility either to love or need and we are confronted at that point. It is a big challenge and I have failed that challenge many times in my life, but more and more I realise that all the pain, all the hurt, all the suffering, all the fear and anxiety is based in clinging. How can we hold on to it and at the same time grow? It is impossible to grow this way. At least we can have a sense of humour and see: I am holding on to so many things, can I let at least one of them go?
I am not suggesting that we need to be perfect. I am just saying this is the nature of suffering and the route we must take to be free.
it starts with letting go