A Little Meta Can Go A Long Way
I really get flat watching the news these days.
I know that the current political scene in the USA has implications for the whole world but I am sure other things are happening around the globe that warrant attention. The news seems to lurch from Trump to Brexit to the crisis in the NHS - all evoking angst and anger in turn. There is a pall of gloom that readily engulfs the mind. The satire of Saturday Night Live or cartoonist Steve Bell goes some distance in providing a cathartic laugh. But still, we are easily drawn into the cynicism of it all.
We fear. We blame. We point the finger. We may even hate. The line between hating the hate and hating the haters is a fine one. How easily we fall into the latter trap, spewing our own brand of hate and find ourselves contributing to the debilitating contempt that mars so much of the public discourse. Check out Facebook and Twitter.
Recently one of the members of staff who attend the mindfulness sessions at the Meeting House commented that we can really do with a meditation on world peace. So followed an exercise on loving kindness at the following Friday’s mindfulness session.
We used a variation of the popular Buddhist meditation, the Meta Bhavana – which means ‘the development of meta or loving-kindness’. This is a gentle yet powerful exercise that supports our connection with our own humanity and that of others. The exercise begins with directing intentions of loving kindness toward ourselves. The capacity for compassion and kindness toward ourselves is the bedrock of our ability to have compassion for others. This is followed in turn by intending loving kindness toward a friend, mentor or benefactor, then a casual acquaintance, and eventually toward someone with whom we have a difficult relationship.
Our perception of the last individual may be rather fraught with negative emotions and responses. People are advised not to choose someone overly charged with negativity or with whom one might personally be locked in a destructive relationship. One might even choose a public figure who evokes negative emotions for the purpose of this exercise. Penetrating the labels we may attach to the person and negative thoughts within which we tend to hold them, we seek to connect to the humanity of the individual, intending their wellbeing. ‘May they be well, be happy, know peace, have ease of being…’ etc., using whatever words may embody the intention of loving kindness.
The purpose is not to don rose-tinted spectacles as we think about this person, or ourselves or anyone who may be a part of our field of attention in this exercise - but rather to humanise the person. It is easy to hate a caricature, less so someone we recognise as a real human being like us.
To be sure, it is challenging to hold someone we may be in the habit of loathing within the intention of loving-kindness. It is rather like weightlifting and exercises aimed at developing muscle and body tone. It can leave you sore at times. But the effort can make a difference in the way we see things, relate to people or even watch the news. Developing the habits of loving-kindness that we take into all areas of life can – eventually – transform us and radiate warmth and compassion that touches those around us. It may sound a bit Polyannaish but it beats stewing in broth of anger, contempt and blame.
A little Meta can go a long way