Photo Credit: Lucas Ludwig
This meditation was given by Freeman at the Boundless Love Project’s weekly group meditation on 3.24.2020. For the article, video, or audio of the talk given at this group meditation, please visit the blog post Understanding God (Love). This talk is part of The Wisdom of Peace Pilgrim training series.
Using the Meditation Script
We make this meditation script available so practitioners may review the content of the meditation, and so experienced meditators may offer this meditation to their meditation groups. If you want to offer this meditation to others, please read the article Twelve Tips to Peer-Leading Guided Meditations. For a printable copy, download and print this PDF of the Feel the Love Meditation Script. Enjoy!
Feel the Love Meditation Script • 30 min • Beginner Level
Ring Bell
We do this practice for the benefit and welfare of all beings and all life everywhere, including our own.
May we know the peace of accepting the truth of reality as it is.
May we know the security of having our intentions arise from unconditional, boundlesslove.
May we know the freedom of renunciation which liberates us from greed.
May we know the joy of living skillfully for the benefit and welfare of all beings and all life everywhere.
May all beings and all life everywhere be free of delusion, suffering, and dissatisfaction.
May all beings and all life everywhere be loving, peaceful, compassionate, and joyful.
Breath Meditation
We start with breath meditation.
Calmly take several slow, quiet, breaths through the nose and deep into the abdomen.
During each inhale, peacefully feel the energy and life of the body.
(3:45)
During each exhale, lovingly invite the muscles of the body to relax and soften.
Let your breaths be slow, silent, effortless, and soothing.
Calmly feel any and all sensations felt throughout the body. Notice any areas where there is tension or stress. Send these areas your love and compassion, and invite them to relax and soften.
Kindly do your best to be still. Being still will help your mind become more focused. But if you do need to move, do so slowly, quietly, and mindfully.
Gently anchor your awareness on the feelings you feel on the skin found between your nose and upper lip, as well as the skin in and around your nostrils. Here is where you will feel your breath as it moves in and out of the body.
With ease and patience, notice whatever sensations arise here. We are not looking for anything out of the ordinary. There may be heat... coolness... moisture... dryness… pressure... emptiness… an energetic sense of flow... tingling... vibrations… pulsing... simply notice whatever sensations arise.
If you don’t feel anything, feel into that peaceful, spacious, empty, nothingness. What does nothingness feel like? Does it feel peaceful?
Give the breath your full attention. If you get lost in thought, lovingly notice that, and in a kind voice label it “thinking,” and then gently and peacefully return your awareness to feeling your breath.
(7:30)
Feel all of the feelings of breath… Let the breath be where you can anchor your awareness to find calmness, tranquility, balance, serenity, and peace.
Any time, your attention gets lost in thought. Calmly label it “thinking” and patiently and lovingly return to feeling the breath.
Understanding Mindfulness
The moment between where you are lost in thought and where you feel sensations, help you feel the difference between being unmindful and mindful.
The moment that you notice you are lost in thought is mindfulness. It feels clear, calm, peaceful, and balanced. Those moments where you hold your attention on the feelings of breath, are also mindfulness.
Notice the difference of how it feels to be mindful and contrast it to how it feels when you are not mindful.
Feel the peaceful sensations of breath.
Feel the Love
Next we are going to move onto sensation-based meditation. In this we anchor our awareness on the sensations of the body.
As you breathe, expand your awareness to feel all of the sensations of the body. Focus on trying to feel your inner love.
Love can be felt in many ways, but it always feels pleasant, and it is often less noticeable than troubling emotions.
(11:15)
Notice if you feel any of these aspects of love.
A heart that feels warm… open-hearted… connected… fearless…
Having a sense of being whole… content… peaceful…
A feeling of calm… open… spacious… empty… balanced… and content...
Having some faint energetic feelings. There may be some faint tinginling feelings… subtle vibrational feelings… pleasant bubbling feelings… or a sense of energy flowing through parts of the body.
Allow the love in you to fill your body so you feel it in every cell.
Notice how this relaxes, clams, and sooths the body and mind.
Not Feeling the Love?
If you don’t feel your inner love, then notice what thoughts you are thinking and believing. If these thoughts contain any judgment or wanting, then they will show up as an upsetting feeling.
Notice how believing these judgmental or greedy thoughts prevent you from feeling your inner peace, love, and well-being.
This doesn’t mean you need to stop thinking these thoughts. In truth, we have little control over what thoughts we think.
Trying to control our thoughts will cause us much suffering, and we still won’t be able to do it.
(15:00)
Therefore, welcome all thoughts into your mind. Thoughts in themselves are harmless.
But when we believe a judgmental or greedy thought, that causes us to suffer.
Whenever you are not connected to your love, notice how this is true in your own experience.
Body Scan
In this body scan meditation we will move our loving awareness through the body part by part. As we move our awareness to each part, we will feel the sensations in it, offer it our love, and relax it.
If any thought arises that blocks your love, or steals your attention away, simply notice it, set it to the side, and gently return your attention to lovingly scanning the body.
Starting at the top of the head, lovingly rest your awareness on your scalp. Soften and relax and the scalp, offer the scalp your love and feel the love in the scalp.
Now love, relax, and feel the forehead…
The muscles in around the eyes…
Love, relax, and feel the nose and cheeks…
The muscles in and around the mouth, in the jaw, the tongue, and chin.
Love, relax, and feel the left side of your head including the left ear…
(18:45)
The back side of your head…
And now the right side of your head including the right ear…
Offer love to the neck muscles and let them relax.
If you find pain, stress, tightness, or difficulty in any part of the body, give that part an extra dose of love.
Breathe your love into that area of the body and just fill it with your kindness, your compassion, your peace, and your joy.
Offer love to your shoulders. Let them drop into, a comfortable, relaxed position.
Feel the love in your upper arms…
Lower arms…
And hand. Feel the life, energy, and joy in every cell in your hands.
Love, relax, and feel the muscles in the chest and around the heart. Let the area surrounding your heart be open, calm, expansive, relaxed, and warm.
Offer love to the belly. Relax the belly and allow it to move freely with the breath.
Let the back muscles be loved. Release the muscles in and around the spine, and throughout your back. Let the back be soft and relaxed. Offer the entire back your energetic love and feel how the back responds to it.
(22:30)
Offer love to the pelvis…
the upper legs…
the lower legs…
And the feet… Again feel the life, energy, and joy in every cell in your feet.
Again, open your awareness to feel all of the love throughout the body. Continuing to relax any areas that may be tight or stressed.
Sharing of the Merits
Meditation helps us develop wisdom and skillfulness at a deeper level than mere intellectual understanding. Meditation gives those who practice it many, many benefits. Out of love for all life, and out of our generosity, we freely share these benefits with all people, all beings, and all life everywhere.
Gently prepare to share the merits of our practice by calmly anchoring your awareness on your heart area. This is your upper chest in the space in and around where your heart is.
Feel free to gently place one or both hands over your heart.
Tenderly feel whatever sensations you feel in the heart area: warmth, tingling, vibrations, openness, expansiveness, pulsing.
Continue to feel the love in your heart area as we share the benefits of our practice, and offer love to all beings and all life.
(26:15)
We share any merits gained from this practice with all beings and all life everywhere.
May all beings and all life everywhere be free from suffering and misery.
May all beings and all life everywhere abide in a deep and lasting peace.
May all beings and all life everywhere know the highest forms of happiness and be at ease.
May all beings and all life everywhere know their deepest essence to be: joy, peace, compassion, and unconditional, boundless love.
May all beings and all life everywhere be liberated, fully liberated, permanently liberated.
Ring Bell
(30:00)