Metta Meditation Script
By One Mind Dharma
Find a comfortable position in which to sit for this period. As you allow your eyes to gently close,
tune into the body and make any minor adjustments. It can be helpful to remember our
intentions of both ease and awareness. Sit in a way that feels comfortable but alert.
We’ll start with a few minutes of concentration practice, just to help our minds settle and arrive in
our present time experience. As you allow the body to resume to natural breathing, see where in
the body you can feel the breath. It may be in the stomach or abdomen, where you can feel the
rising and falling as the body breathes. It might be in the chest, where you may notice the
expansion and contraction as the body inhales and exhales. Perhaps it’s at the nostrils, where
you can feel a slight tickle as the air comes in, and the subtle warmth as the body exhales.
You can pick one spot to stick with for this meditation practice. As you feel the body breathing,
try to stay with the breath all the way through. Stick with it from the beginning of the inhale all
the way through the end of the exhale.
(Allow for some silence here for as long as you see fit)
You may have noticed the mind wandering. When the mind wanders, it really offers us an
opportunity to cultivate mindfulness and concentration. Each time we notice the mind
wandering, we’re strengthening our ability to recognize our experience. Each time we bring the
mind back to the breath, we’re strengthening our ability to focus on an object. Treat is as an
opportunity rather than a problem, and return to the breath.
(Allow for some silence here for as long as you see fit)
You can begin the practice by bringing to mind yourself as you sit here right now. Try to connect
with your own deepest intentions for happiness, ease, and safety. You don’t need to dive into
stories of what will make you happy, but connect with that natural desire you have.
You can cultivate this intention to open the heart to your own wellbeing by silently offering
yourself some phrases of metta. In your head, slowly offer yourself the phrases:
“May I be happy.”
“May I be healthy.”
“May I be safe.”
“May I be at ease.”
You can offer these phrases silently in your head, saying them slowly enough that you can
connect with their meaning and the intention behind them.
(Allow for some silence here for as long as you see fit)
You can now bring to mind a good friend. This may be a loved one, a friend, a teacher or
mentor, or maybe a pet.
You can connect with your natural desire to see this person happy and at ease. Just like you,
this person wants to be happy, to feel safe, and to be healthy.
In an effort to cultivate this intention of kindness, you can offer this person a few phrases of
metta:
“May you be happy.”
“May you be healthy.”
“May you be safe.”
“May you be at ease.”
(Allow for some silence here for as long as you see fit)
You can let this person go from your mind and bring to mind a neutral person. This is someone
you see, maybe regularly, but don’t know very well. It may be somebody who works somewhere
you go a lot, a coworker, or maybe a neighbor.
Although you don’t know this person well, you can recognize that this person wants to be happy
as well. You don’t need to know what their happiness looks like necessarily. Again, offer this
person the phrases of loving-kindness, connecting with the intention to care about their
wellbeing.
“May you be happy.”
“May you be healthy.”
“May you be safe.”
“May you be at ease.”
(Allow for some silence here for as long as you see fit)
And as you let this neutral person go, you can bring to mind somebody who you find difficult.
You may not want to pick the most difficult person in your life, instead choosing someone who is
minorly difficult. Maybe it’s someone you find yourself agitated with or annoyed by.
You can offer the phrases, recognizing that this is connecting with our intention to care for this
person. Although we may not mean it whole-heartedly every time we offer a phrase, we can
make an effort with the phrases.
“May you be happy.”
“May you be healthy.”
“May you be safe.”
“May you be at ease.”
(Allow for some silence here for as long as you see fit)
(Ring bell)
