We are not currently meeting 'in-person'

We are not currently meeting 'in-person.'
I have made the difficult decision to stop holding our in-person Sunday night meetings - you can read more about this in my post here. I will be continuing to post weekly content here and in our newsletter. Do remember to sign up for the 'Metta Letter' newsletter below as I will be sending out weekly meditations there.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Meditation with Dedication of Merit [AUDIO]

We usually end our meditations with the following short 'Dedication of Merit':

May all beings - without limit, without end -
have a share in the merit just now made,
and in whatever other merit I have made.
May they attain liberation,
and their radiant hopes be fulfilled.

This is actually a shortened version of a longer traditional chant. In this week's meditation we discuss why we Dedicate Merit, and we use the longer version of the dedication at the end of the 30 minute meditation period.



If you wish to jump straight to the meditation period it starts 13 minutes in. The full text of the chant is given below.

Dedication of Merit 
May all beings - without limit, without end -
have a share in the merit just now made,
and in whatever other merit I have made.

Those who are dear and kind to me -
beginning with my mother and father -
whom I have seen or never seen;
and others, neutral or hostile;

beings established in the cosmos -
the three realms, the four modes of birth,
with five, one, or four aggregates -
wandering on from realm to realm:  
If they know of my dedication of merit,
may they themselves rejoice,
and if they do not know,
may the devas inform them.

By reason of their rejoicing
in my gift of merit,
may all beings always live happily,
free from animosity.
May they attain the Serene State,
and their radiant hopes be fulfilled.


Monday, January 12, 2015

Mindfulness of Breathing [AUDIO]


A Mindfulness of Breathing meditation, using counting of the breath. Recorded 11 Jan 2015 at Camas Meditation Group. It starts with a short introduction. If you are familiar with meditating by counting breaths you can skip to 11:00 where the meditation begins.

Must Hear: Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman on NPR's "On Being"

I caught this program while I was driving home from last week's Metta Meditation, listening to "On Being" on NPR as I usually do. It was especially poignant given the fact that I had quoted Sharon Salzberg during group - and here she is talking about metta!

This is a great interview from Krista Tippett with Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman - two of the greatest teachers in the US today. I strongly recommend setting some time aside to listen to this - maybe with a nice cup of tea.


Monday, January 5, 2015

Metta (Lovingkindness) Meditation [AUDIO]

This is a full 35 Minute fully guided Metta (Lovingkindness) meditation. If you are new to Metta, read this introduction or listen to the short introduction recorded before this.

Recorded at Breathe Massage and Yoga, Vancouver WA on 4th Jan 2015.

As always, I'd love to hear what you think of these recordings. Are they useful?

    Metta, Chris


Introduction to Metta [AUDIO]

The audio recording experiment continues! Here is a recording of the comments made before we did Metta meditation at our meeting on 4th January 2015. The recording of the meditation itself will be posted after this.

The Pema Chodron passage I read can be found here.

I hope you find this useful and interesting. I'd love to hear your feedback.

    Metta, Chris