LEARNING TO INTER-BE
the great buddhist master and teacher thich nhat hanh offers the word interbeing to describe the reality of our interconnectivity and inter-dependance buried under the weight of our pettiness and easily stoked grievances. meditations that expand our capacity to inter-be can replace our disconnect and discontent with wisdom and compassion for ourselves and others.
as disruptive technologies such as social media and generative AI gain momentum, repairing our disconnect and restoring trust in ech other becomes an even higher priority. if human beings are to thrive we must thrive together. the three distinct buddhist meditations below can help us lay the groundwork for our collective blossoming.
we belong to each other; we cannot cut reality into pieces.
thich nhat hanh
METTA
in metta we choose to concentrate loving kindness on a particular object with great focus and sincerity. the script for this mediation has been adapted from sharon salzburg's book, loving kindness.
the meditation
the beginning
we begin by sending loving kindness (metta) to ourselves with words such as: may i be happy, may i be safe, may i be healthy, may i live with ease. as we repeat these words we open ourselves to receiving the blessing and allow ourselves to feel compassiion for ourselves.
the practice
we then send loving kindness to someone we love, someone who we feel neutral towards, someone who causes us great distress without reserve. we repeat the same phrases regardless of our like or dislike, and imagine them in front of us: may they be happy, may they be safe, may they be healthy, may they live with ease. from here we extend metta to all beings everywhere in acknowledgement of our connection and capacity to love exponentially. in the expansion of loving kindness it becomes increasingly difficult to stay with our intention and we meet resistance, our mind begins to wander. when that happens we gently bring our attention back to the chosen object and wish it well.
the mindshift
a realization on a deep cellular level that all being desire to be happy. there is also an experiencing of our collective sense of vulnerability. the practice asks that we send loving kindness without reserve to all beings so that the practice becomes one of inclusion and compassion for ourselves and others.
TONGLEN
toglen practice requires that we willingly take in another being's pain and suffering and transform it wih our own capacity for compassion. this meditation has been adapted from pema chodran how to practice tonglen, published in the lion's roar magazine, jan 2023.
the meditation
the beginning
we begin by sitting upright and resting our mind so we can be open to receiving the wisdom of this difficult practice. with intention we make darkness palpable by manifesting it as heat, darkness and heaviness and breathing it in. with the same intensity of intention we breathe out light, coolness, and compassion to replace it. we repeat this process till our negative and positive energies are syncronized with our breathing.
the practice
we then bring to mind a person who may be in pain and need release from it. we take in than person's pain with our in-breath and send them love and positive energy with our out-breath. in the exchange the darkness does not take residence in us. to the contrary. it is transformed by our compassion into something healing and comforting. we can then extend this practice to all who may be suffering in a similar way, including ourselves.
the mindshift
as we expand tonglen exponentially our capacity to experience compassion for our selves and towards others naturally expands. we are able to acknowledge our own pain and honor it while also feeling the pain of others.
THREE TOUCHINGS OF THE EARTH
this meditation addresses the fundamental fallacy of our isolation and gives proof that it is an illusion. the script has been adapted from thich nhat hanh's text for the plum village meditation center. instead of a series of prostrations we recommend you lie comfortably on you mat and use visualization to achieve the same objective.
the meditation
the beginning
we begin on our mats lying down on our bellies with our foreheads touching the mat and our arms extended to our sides in an expression of expansion and reach.
the practice
we bring to mind our immediate family. we visualize each face in its particularity so we can remember it. we invoke each name in order, of our mother, fathers, sisters , brother, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and great grandparents as far as we can go. we then continue the regression generationally as far back as we can envision to connect with our human ancestors. once complete, we can then invoke the next circle of familiarity and extend our thoughts to our closest friends, listeners, teachers, coaches and anyone else who may have helped us in our daily life. we can then extend ourselves in solidarity flora and fauna that surround, to our gardens, neighborhoods, forests, countries, continents, our world, the universe until we feel the sense of our connection and belonging in our bones.
the mindshift
each circle of connection expands our reach towards the infinite and embeds the sense of inter-being deeply into our somatic awareness. the practice helps us cultivate our compassion and deepens our connection with other beings.
