International Lifestyle Magazine Issue 51 | Page 100

So, how else, you may ask, is this idea of
compassion relevant to my daily life? In
what other ways can it be practiced here
and now? Here are a few more simple
suggestions:
At the end of each day (or first thing in the
morning), sitting or lying down, close your
eyes, be comfortable, and start b y sending
feelings of love & kindness to yourself. It
may help to visualise yourself and simply
repeat these words in your mind: “may I be
happy, may I be peaceful, may I be free
from suffering”. You may like to visualise
the ‘loving-kindness’ you send as bright
white or golden light surrounding yourself,
entering into you. Then follow that up by
sending loving-kindness to your friends
and family, visualising each in turn, with
bright light coming from your heart centre,
reaching them one by one.
Continue
by sending positive feelings of love to
people that you have hurt (intentionally or
unintentionally) that day, and to those who
have hurt you, repeating the phrase “may
you be happy, may you be peaceful, may
you be free from suffering”. You can end
by sending loving-kindness to the whole
wide world and all the beings in it.
So, there it is, a very simple karma cleanse.
You can think of it like a daily detox for the
heart, if you like. Of course as you start to
do this simple little practice, you may find
that it’s not that easy. Perhaps you find
yourself feeling anger or other negative
feelings towards the people who have hurt
you or even towards yourself, but that’s
totally ok, absolutely fine! If this happens
to you, then just watch whatever feelings
do arise and give yourself and those
negative feelings a huge dose of lovingkindness too. Even negativity needs love.
In this way, this very simple practice done
just for a few minutes everyday, over time,
helps us to remember our true purpose in
life, enables us to open our hearts, and
aligns us with all that is positive, beautiful
& perfect in this world.
And then, every now and again, don’t
forget to spend a little time just listening
silently to your heart, especially after
practicing loving-kindness.
Perhaps
there’s an important message waiting for
you there. After all, “a compassionate
heart” says Kuan Yin ”is the beginning of
all wisdom.”

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