Metta Practice
We will do the
1. Robe Verse
2. Ten minutes of Zazen
3. Metta Practice: practice leader may give an extempore speech concerning each category before leading the recitation.
4. Verse of Atonement
5. The Four Vows
👏 Great robe of liberation, field far beyond form and emptiness, wearing
the Tathagata’s teaching, saving all beings.
When everyone is settled, practice leader says "Zazen."
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[ZAZEN]
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METTA VERSES
🔔 YOURSELF
1. May I be free of suffering; may I feel safe and still
2. May I be free of enmity; may I be loving, grateful and kind.
3. May I be healthy and at ease in all my ills.
4. May I be at peace, embracing all conditions of life.
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LOVED ONE
1. May they be free of suffering; may they feel safe and still.
2. May they be free of enmity; may they be loving, grateful and kind.
3. May they be healthy and at ease in all their ills.
4. May they be at peace, embracing all conditions of life
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FRIEND
1. May they be free of suffering; may they feel safe and still.
2. May they be free of enmity; may they be loving, grateful and kind.
3. May they be healthy and at ease in all their ills
4. May they be at peace, embracing all conditions of life
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STRANGER
1. May they be free of suffering; may they feel safe and still.
2. May they be free of enmity; may they be loving, grateful and kind.
3. May they be healthy and at ease in all their ills.
4. May they be at peace, embracing all conditions of life
🔔 ENEMY or Difficult Person
1. May they be free of suffering; may they feel safe and still.
2. May they be free of enmity; may they be loving, grateful and kind.
3. May they be healthy and at ease in all their ills.
4. May they be at peace, embracing all conditions of life.
ALL BEINGS
1. May we, together with all beings, be free of suffering; may we feel safe and still.
2. May we, together with all beings, be free of enmity; may we be loving, grateful and kind.
3. May we, together with all beings, be healthy and at ease in all our ills.
4. May we, together with all beings, be at peace, embracing all conditions of life
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VERSE OF ATONEMENT:
👏 All my ancient tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
🙏
FOUR VOWS
👏 Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.
Buddha’s way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it.
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them!
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them!
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them!
Buddha’s way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it!
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them…
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them…
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them…
Buddha’s way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it…
🙏
Tonglen
This practice takes a little over 30 minutes.
1. Robe Verse
2. Ten minutes of Zazen
3. Tonglen Practice: five minutes for each visualization. Bow with the bell at the end of each period.
4. Verse of Atonement
5. The Four Vows
👏 Great robe of liberation, field far beyond form and emptiness, wearing
the Tathagata’s teaching, saving all beings.
🔔 🔔 🔔
ZAZEN
🔔 🔔 🙏
🔔 YOURSELF
Visualize a Person in Need, in this instance yourself.
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
(five minutes)
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LOVED ONE
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
(five minutes)
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FRIEND
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
(five minutes)
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STRANGER
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
(five minutes)
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ENEMY or Difficult Person
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
(five minutes)
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ALL BEINGS
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
(five minutes)
🔔 🙏
VERSE OF ATONEMENT:
👏 All my ancient tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
🔔 🙏
FOUR VOWS
👏 Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.
Buddha’s way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it.
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them!
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them!
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them!
Buddha’s way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it!
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them…
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them…
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them…
Buddha’s way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it…
🔔 🙏
PRAYER FOR ONE WHO BRINGS CHAOS
For you who deny the beingness of others
May you dwell in the holiness of your body
For you who crushes the most vulnerable
May you be cradled in love from all corners of the cosmos
For you who deny the past and mistake force for justice
May you have strength to hold shame and courage to speak
For you who believes that violence is the way to peace
May you be held in the warmth of protection
For you who despise those you do not understand
May you reclaim your innocence and beauty
For you who tears families apart and excludes
May you be seated at the table of true belonging
For you who seek power to dominate and suppress
May you arrive at an ocean of welcome and delight
For you who believes that empathy is the enemy
May you not run from your feelings
For you who take all they can and keep poverty alive
May you know the freedom of limitless generosity
For you who deny truth and sow seeds of division
May your eyes shine with deepest wisdom and clarity
For you who believe loving differently is dangerous
May you be rocked in the arms of all the ancestors
Eco-Tonglen
Eco-tonglen script from Kokuu
0.00
sitting and grounding with the breath
Tonglen practice for the major biomes of the earth.
For now, we are just going to sit for a couple of minutes to gather our awareness. How you do that is up to you, whether following the breath, sitting in open awareness or something else that is your usual practice.
At each new stage of the practice I will sound the bell and give instruction for what to do.
2.00
tonglen for the polar regions
We are going to beigin the practice of tonglen by bringing to mind the polar regions of the earth, the ice caps of the Artic and Antarctic, all of the islands within those regions and the people, animals and plants that live there.
We can visualise the kinds of environmental strains that these areas of the earth are under, and see that strain and damage as dark smoke. When we breathe in, we imagine taking in that smoke through the centre of our chest, and then, when we breathe out, we visualise sending out loving kindness or metta, in response, which is often viewed as white light.
The practice of tonglen is the continuation of this cycle of taking in suffering on the in-breath and breathing out love and compassion on the out breath. It is a practice to work with opening our heart to suffering and cultivating loving kindness in response.
The actual images of black smoke and white light are not important, as long as you feel connected to the visualisation and the taking in of suffering and breathing out of metta. If you want to use another kind of image, or none at all, that is totally fine.
6.00
tonglen for the mountains
We next bring our attention to the montane regions of the earth, the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Alaskan range and all of the other high places of the world, and the sentient beings that live there.
Think of the problems of those regions, due to human activity damaging the habitat, climate change shrinking the glaciers and leaving ever smaller areas for alpine plants to thrive above the snow line.
As before, imagine taking in all of that stress and suffering experienced by the the sentient beings living there, and breathing out love and compassion in response.
10.00
tonglen for the forests
The next biome we will practice for, is the forested regions of the earth. Most commonly we might think of the Amazonian rainforest but there are many other areas of the planet which are wooded, both small and large, including vast tracts of boreal forest. Almost 1/3 of the Earth’s land surface is covered by forest although human damage through logging and deforestation for agriculture and grazing is changing that percentage all of the time.
We bring our attention to these areas of the globe and breath in, imagining taking in the suffering of all beings living in the forests, and sending them love and compassion.
14.00
tonglen for the grasslands and plains
The grasslands and plains of the world cover vast areas and are home to many people, animals and plants. Grasslands and grazing animals support each other and provide livelihoods for many human beings. However, our use of artificial fertilisers and growing of monoculture crops, often to feed livestock, has turned many grasslands into virtual deserts ecologically, and human habitation has also eaten into the landscape.
As before, we breathe in, taking in the suffering of all sentient beings who live on the plains, savannah and steppes, and breathe out love, care and compassion for those regions.
18.00
tonglen for the deserts
We now bring our attention to desert regions and we may often think of these are lacking in life, yet they are home to many humans and other sentient beings. The deserts of the world are under threat from climate change, decreasing already limited supplies of water and making it even harder for plants to grow and animals to survive. Overgrazing and intensive agriculture use further threatens the ability of deserts to sustain life.
We visualise these areas of the Earth and imagine taking in the suffering of the sentient beings that live there on the in breath, and breathing out our love and care for those places.
22.00
tonglen for the oceans and rivers
The sixth biome we are going to practice with, are the rivers, lakes and oceans of the earth. Our planet is 70% covered by water and those aquatic environments are home to vast numbers of sentient beings. Although humans do not live directly in rivers, lakes and oceans, we rely on them for food, travel and recreation. However, we also use them as places to dump our pollution and have a history of overfishing and overwhaling.
We breathe in the suffering of the water regions of the earth, and breath out loving kindness.
26.00
tonglen for the whole earth
The last stage of the practice is to imagine the whole earth, and to repeat tonglen for the entire planet, taking in the suffering of all beings as we breathe in, and sending out love, care and compassion on the outbreath.
30.00
We end with the short dedication of merit:
May all places and beings be seen sacred.
May all injustice be unravelled.
May all harmed be restored.
May all delight in right doing.
May all abide in the real.