First off, let me tell you that I’ve already anticipated some of your objections.
“But, Gerry,” you say, “you can’t merely wish wellness on others. What’s the use in that? Wish? What is that? Nothing!”
Also, “Gerry. Where did you get your psych training? Isn’t there some projection going on here? Won’t you merely be wishing improvements on others that you really need yourself? Again with the “wishy-wishy”! What a lot of hooey!
Well, I get your objections. I had a little time (a couple of years actually) to think about them myself, while I was thinking about whether or not to do loving kindness meditation. After I thought about it for awhile (two years?) I thought, “Well, if it’s good enough for several meditators and meditation teachers over the centuries (the least of which was a guy named Buddha), maybe I should give it a shot.
I’ve mentioned in other posts, there’s a lot more hear than meets the eye; that loving kindness meditation isn’t just some airy-fairy idea that has no basis in fact or science. There is, in fact, a growing body of research that indicates that this particular form of meditation can lead to powerful results. Powerful results not only from the story telling of great meditation leaders, but from science research as well! Indeed, loving kindness meditation is reported to (in addition to everything else) alter the structure of the brain over time? And it’s more than just a couple of well-funded researchers that are telling us this!
So, I’m going to continue my humble loving kindness practice. Me and my meditation buddy, PJ.
And we’ll see. That’s always a good tack to take I think–let’s just wait and see. (I learned this from my mother).
Your thoughts?