This is a classic meditation that can be done any time. Don’t let its simplicity fool you. It is surprising powerful.

Download an MP3 of this meditation here.

How to Practice

During this meditation you repeat certain phrases silently. These phrases are chosen to express your kindness and willingness to connect deeply with others. Choose phrases that you like. I often use the phrases, “May you be safe. May you be well. May you be at peace. May you be happy.” I repeat about three times for each, very slowly.

But you start with yourself. Beginning with yourself, repeat:

May I be safe.
May I be well.
May I be at peace.
May I be happy.

Make it an honest intention – strong or weak. Make it heartfelt without being false. Let yourself sink into the phrases. When you say “May I be safe,” make it heartfelt. You may visualize a sense of security around yourself. You may see yourself as whole and hale and healthy – or perhaps energized and filled with vitality, when you say “May I be well.” I often use the image of children and puppies playing in a grassy yard to evoke the heartfelt wish for peacefulness. As you do this meditation you may find feelings of kindness or compassion or love rise in you. If this happens, the practice can become deeper by moving into these feelings of warmth and letting them expand with the phrases. If you can’t feel these feelings, the honest intention is enough.

The meditation then moves to others. First you repeat these phrases while keeping someone in mind who is close to you and easy to think of with benevolence – a good friend or someone who has been kind to you. Silently repeat the phrase, using “you” instead of “I”.

May you be safe.
May you be well.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.

Repeat about three times, very slowly, letting the feelings be a part of the meditation if possible. And if not, then make the wish genuine and heartfelt.

Then you move on to people who you see but have no feelings for, one way or another. A bank teller, a stranger on the street, a neighbour.

May you be safe.
May you be well.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.

The meditation then moves to people you may have trouble with. Perhaps someone who hurt you or a neighbour who was unkind. This may be harder, but it is here that our hearts really begin to open. Don’t expect anything. Just see where the phrases lead you.

May you be safe.
May you be well.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.

The final stage is to bring your awareness to all beings – animals, plants, birds and fish and even the beings you can not see. Everyone. Everything. Then repeat your phrases with these in mind.

May all beings be safe.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be at peace.
May all beings be happy.

Notes

All we really want when we get right down to it, is for everyone to be happy, ourselves included. This practice opens your heart, it connects you with your deepest being, and it offers that authentic kindness to others. By doing this, you develop strong positive tendencies that can allow a deeper understanding and appreciation of others. It can make the world a better place.

I sometimes do a short version of this meditation while washing my hair, waiting for my 3 minute conditioner to have its 3 minutes. I choose someone easy to wish happiness for, then I deliberately choose someone who I have had a disagreement or run-in with that I would like to heal. I finish with all beings. I find it very interesting to note where any hesitation to connect with the difficult one arises. I can often feel an actual tightening or sensation of coldness in my body which can release as I bring a genuine wish for his or her well-being into being. Or an even shorter version can be done while waiting for a traffic light, to wish all those moving through the intersection peace and happiness.