Loving kindness, or metta in Buddhist traditions, is probably the best correlation to the Taoist smiling exercises.
These exercises allow you to fill yourself with a powerful energy of acceptance and love… this naturally turns on the strange flows of qigong (radiant circuits) which will naturally broadcast this warmth and acceptance to those around you… some of your more perceptive friends might even be able to feel the difference consciously!
One way to do this is to do a formal meditation for 20 – 30 minutes… where you breath deep, relax, bless yourself… then bless the others meditating with you (Sangha), then bless friends and family, then bless any enemies you may have… then you complete the meditation.
But how can we quickly bring that feeling of loving kindness into everyday life? Here are are 5 fast methods to generate more loving kindness:
- Smile: just the physical act of smiling can begin to change the direction of your mind-body… the more you deepen and enjoy the smile, the more you will deepen the experience!
- Count your blessings: mentally listing and considering all the reasons you have to be happy… children, friends, spouse, job, food & shelter, awareness, etc… will quickly deepen your happiness.
- Relax: frequently, when you get your stress out of the way, you find that beneath all the built up tension and presuppositions is a powerful source of loving kindness… once you are relaxed, just allow the metta to flow through you!
- Hug someone you love: (preferably someone who likes to be hugged) just being in the presence of joyful people can help you experience powerful loving kindness… but when two (or more) people share this through hugging… the metta grows beyond the sum of the parts… it increases exponentially!
- Meditate: this can be formal meditation, or just paying close attention to the sensations in your body while you perform some activity that you love to do! If you like sports, dance, playing a certain game, conversations (or anything else), just do the activity, and be mindful of the sensations that arise in your body while you do it… you will begin to notice the powerful experience of metta growing more and more!
Any of these methods can be done very quickly, so there is no reason not to
Apply them today!
Any one of these methods can also be further amplified with deep breathing… in particular, I highly recommend hugging someone you love while you both breathe deeply… it is an incredible experience!
As with anything else… the more you take time to apply this (even for just a few moments) in your daily life… the more you will see quick, deep, and powerful results throughout your life!
keep smiling,
ben
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Ben,
Old friend, I always seem to get to be the first one to post my comments.
I thought I’d point out that one of the principles I have seen you allude to, and even use in many of your articles is the importance of instilling daily discipline into whatever practice you’re using to better your life.
Great businesses don’t try to change 1 thing 1000% percent all at once, they try to change 1000 things 1% over a long period of time. A great example of this is Toyota, one of the greatest implementations of Total Quality Management principles of any company on Earth (except maybe Walmart).
Toyota will let any company, any manager, from anywhere in the world examine and evaluate the operations of their plant, even taking tours. They do this because they know that you can document and attempt to recreate any of their processes, but without the daily, hourly and by the minute commitment to continuous improvement you CANNOT achieve their results.
Now it’s not practical for the average person to be that zealous about quality, but the principle is, continuous small improvements generate huge gains in the long run. The basic principle of the Bible given to the Jews is “remember”, give thanks daily, read the bible daily. It’s not because God needs their prayers, it’s because God (their maker) knows you cannot improve in anything without daily reinforcement.
My humble 2 cents,
Scott C
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Ben reply on August 21st, 2008 3:44 PM:
Thanks, Scott.
I’m glad you pointed this out. This is why I came up with the 1 minute meditation. No matter how busy you are (or think you are), anybody can find 1 minute a day. Most people can find 1 minute several times a day. Consistency is much more important than intensity.
When you take a little bit of practice, and you continue to practice consistently, you can make incredible improvements, in any walk of life.
One of my favorite instructors states “a single 2 hour martial arts workout per week, is not nearly as good as 20 minutes per day!”
Again, this carries over to all areas of life…
keep smiling,
ben
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