The Loving-Kindness Meditation

I am halfway through an interactive online wellness course hosted by Deborah Maragopoulos FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner). As a member of a small pilot group for this new course, and am being introduced to a whole new world of information that I was previously unaware of. Ideas about hormones, exercise, diet, mindset, and more…

So, when Deborah touched on the Loving-Kindness Meditation (also called Metta Meditation) during this week’s class, I made a note and went off to consult the Oracle Google once the class was over. It was a productive search and I found more than enough information to help me learn more.

The more I read, the more I realized that my dogs and horses have already mastered this meditation. They don’t know the words – but they sure know the unspoken part.

“Loving-kindness, or metta, as it in called in the Pali language, is unconditional, inclusive love, a love with wisdom. It has no conditions; it does not depend on whether one “deserves” it or not; it is not restricted to friends and family; it extends out from personal categories to include all living beings. There are no expectations of anything in return. This is the ideal, pure love, which everyone has in potential.” ~ more here

Billy the Quarter Horse, Bailey the Black Lab, and I enjoy a moment under the willow tree. I wear my trusty Treat Pouch whenever I am outside, to keep my phone handy along with treats for everybody. Photo by Lauren Duncan

Nobody knows how to do love better than these two.

Billy was once a rental trail horse in the rugged South Dakota Black Hills. Horses work hard there, the culture and the climate do NOT suffer weaklings, and those that are, perish. I met Billy in 2009. His body was battered and scarred; I could tell he was tired and sore, but he cheerfully and carefully carried me on those challenging trails so I could enjoy the scenery on my vacation. How much easier it would have been for him to plod along, not doing any more than I was able to make him.

His wise and accepting demeanor made such an impression on me, that I wrangled an exceptionally complicated and expensive plan to purchase him and have him shipped 1,000 miles to Indiana a few months later. For all the hardship, pain and confusion this horse has suffered in his life (full story here), one look at his eye tells you he is, indeed, filled with light and love.

Bailey was half grown when she and her sister Ellie were tossed out beside the road and left to fend for themselves in 2010. Named for the main character in the best selling book (and now movie) A Dog’s Purpose, she is exemplary at showing love toward those who do not love her back.

The internet is full of websites outlining the Loving-Kindness meditation, ranging from short and simple to lengthy and complex. But I know that if I forget the words, all I have to do is look at these two – and do what they do.

 

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