Metta for a New Decade

A new decade is dawning and this moment feels significant.  It feels like an opportunity to expand capacity for acceptance.  It feels like there’s an opening to shift the dialogue from exclusion to inclusion.  It feels like the perfect time to focus on our human commonality – starting with compassion for ourselves and then expanding it out into the world, like rippling concentric circles of kindness.

These times can feel confusing and polarizing and we can sometimes get swept up in negative discourse.  But we have the power to shift our attention from what divides us to what unites us by finding connection points to those in our community and those beyond.

There was a story profiled on CBS Sunday Morning a few years ago about a summer camp in Maine called Seeds of Peace.  Since the 1990’s, organizers have hosted 300 Arab and Israeli teenagers for three weeks each year.  The goal is to instill leadership qualities , including civil discourse, to empower these young adults to work from a place of expanded awareness when camp concludes.

Once removed from the violence and conflict that has been raging in their homeland for decades, they can interact with each other and, with the assistance of trained counselors, discuss their experiences and views.  The generalization and oversimplification of different cultures fade and commonalities emerge, such as a shared desire of wanting the best for themselves, their families and their communities.  Many a friendship has been born out of this process of one-on-one interactions and spending time playing, eating and conversing.  These future leaders return to their homeland with a shared vision of a peaceful future.

This model is designed for success, as it includes key components:  self-reflection, goodwill, understanding and the aspiration for reconciliation.  At the core of the experience, it’s the goodwill these teenagers foster with each other that counters instilled ill-will.

Perhaps goodwill is the foundation for a much-needed new paradigm for our times.  One way of creating goodwill for ourselves and others is through Metta mediation.

Metta is another word for lovingkindness or universal love.  Metta meditation is practiced by repeating a handful of phrases designed to enhance goodwill and benevolence towards ourselves and others.  The standard Metta meditation is:  May I be safe; May I be happy; May I be healthy; May I live with ease. These phrases are then offered to another (May you be safe; May you be happy; May you be healthy; May you live with ease). Lastly, they are extended to all of humanity (May we be safe; May we be happy; May we be healthy; May we live in with ease).

Expanding on the Seeds of Peace approach, here’s a suggestion for a Metta mediation for our new decade:

May we be curious

May we engage in conversation

May we strive to understand

May we offer compassion

It’s compassion that gives us the ability to see ourselves and others without bias, emotion or fear.  It’s been my experience that the best way to stay in that space of goodwill is by spending time doing more of the things you love with the people you love.

As the new decade dawns, I thank you for considering the ideas in the blog posts I’ve shared over the last year.  I’m grateful for your readership and I wish you a year filled with curiosity, conversation, understanding and compassion.

Journal Reflections:  What do you love doing that you can do more of this year?  How might you practice presence and kindness each day?  How can you more clearly focus on what matters most to you and your community?