Loving Kindness of The Great Perfection

Loving-Kindness of The Great Perfection

Loving-Kindness of The Great Perfection, or Dzogchen Metta, is a meditation practice conducted in pairs. In the exercise one remains in the natural state of mind, while silently being together with another person. It is very effective in removing anxiety and stress related to other people.

During the practice, the practitioners sit facing each other, holding hands, and looking directly into each other’s eyes. Experienced practitioners who have become familiar with the natural state don’t need any preliminary exercises, but beginners may practice Jewel Visualization and Connecting Bhumi Pillars from Rainbow Body Yoga before joining the hands and gaze.

Being present with another person in this manner has lots of healing and therapeutic effects. Loving Kindness is an excellent way to know our own humanness, as well as that of others.

”It's the most beautiful practice. It's about recognising the same essence within two people. There's no difference, no separation, like two body-minds are melting as one. Despite the shadows there might arise, it's still the same. Nothing extraordinary, but very familiar to all. And still so amazing, as the heart connection and awareness recognition is so obvious and natural. I don't think we are able to make progress in the spiritual path alone, at least not very fast. We need a mirror. Metta-practice is surprisingly intense. Presence is very tangible, with almost zero thoughts. It's very powerful, very heart opening with bubbling joy, but it can be very frightening, too. It's like all humanity is faced here. It's in the core of what we are. It feels like I've waited for this practice since a small child. I've tried to seek a heart connection via looking at people's eyes, but it's been really few people, if none, who could response to the call for love and compassion. If you always face a mirror of ignoring, shame and blame, you start to believe that. Quite traumatic, that's the way the human mind is. The eye-head-heart connection we can recognise alone when resting as spacious awareness, but it truly comes alive and as living, daily experience, when practicing like this, from eye to eye, heart to heart. So warmly recommended! I hope your partner or friends would be willing to try. Actually I think this should be a compulsory training for every couple or close relationship. How could there be confusions or problems if living in natural, loving and kind connection?”
”Yes, at first I found that gazing into the eyes of another human being confronted me with a lot of behavioural patterns, subtle ways of pretending, for example, such as wanting to show loving emotions etc. but I found that when one relaxes into the experience, surrendering to the shared presence, all subtle shields and pretense fall away, and one is simply left with sitting together in a profoundly ordinary way. Just that. Together. Sometime during the first session, when I was partnered up with a teacher, at one point he said something like "ah, there was a shift now" referring to the atmosphere of the group, and allthough I didn't catch it at that point, after the first session was over, there really was a noticable difference in the group dynamic. We came closer, much more relaxed. This connection only grew closer as the days went on. This practice will benefit so many people, not only because it is a powerful practice in itself, but because it really brings out the essence of the human experience. It is a tool for unifying the mind fields of each participant, enabling each person to ease into the collective group consciousness as well as recognizing the always-already-there natural ground of this collective consciousness, it highlights all other retreat activities. Often the practice aspect of the daily lives of us modern yogis are somewhat solitary, sitting alone, familiarizing ourselves with the nature of ourselves, studying these things alone, not being totally able to communicate with people who don't care much for this stuff. What a wonderful thing then, to be able to share moments with others in familiar non-dual, non-unitary awareness. It's obvious!”

Item 1 of 2