Context:
We begin practicing this love meditation by offering the energy of forgiveness first to ourselves, for any harm intentionally or unintentionally we may have caused ourselves and others; then offering forgiveness to others, for any harm intentionally or unintentionally, they may have caused to us and others. (This helps us soften and create spaciousness inside.) We then focus on ourselves (“I”). (Until we are able to love and take care of ourselves, we cannot be of much help to others.) Next, we can practice towards others (substituting “he,” “she” or “they”), first with someone we love, next with someone we like, then with someone neutral to us, and finally toward someone we have difficulty with and who may have difficulty with us. (We might reflect, “for someone we have difficulty with through their behavior and our lack of understanding of them and ourselves” and “for someone who has difficulty with us through our behavior and their lack of understanding of ourselves and them”)
Practice:
I offer forgiveness for myself for any harm I may have caused.
I offer forgiveness for others for any harm they may have caused.
May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.
May I be safe and free from injury and illness.
May I be free from anger, fear, and anxiety.
May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.
May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself each day.
May I learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in myself.
May I know how to nourish the seeds of joy in myself every day.
May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free; and in moments of chaos and difficulty, may I remember and remain fresh, solid, and free.
May I be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.
Baltimore and Beyond Mindfulness Community
Adapted from Chanting from the Heart. Thich Nhat Hanh and the Monks and Nuns and of Plum Village (Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 2007)