Jessica Stover 0:09 This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University. Rebecca Covert 0:22 Good evening, everybody. Thank you for joining us on tonight's healing circle call to gather together and take a collective breath. Just a reminder that tonight's call will be recorded. And all callers on the line will remain anonymous. My name is Rebecca. And tonight, I want to read a parable from India that I first heard on the "Secular Buddhism" podcast. It's called "The Blind Men and The Elephant". Rebecca Covert 0:49 In a distant village a long time ago, there lived six blind men. One day the village announced, "Hey, there's an elephant in the village today!" They have never seen or felt an elephant before and so decided, even though we will not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway. And so they went down to the village to touch and feel the elephant to learn what animal this was, and they described it as follows: Rebecca Covert 1:18 "Wow, the elephant is a pillar", said the first man who touched the leg. "No, it is like a rope", argued the second after touching the tail. "Oh no, it is like a thick branch of a tree", the third man spouted after touching the trunk. "Don't be ridiculous. This is just like a big hand fan" said the fourth man, feeling the ear. "It is like a huge wall", sounded the fifth man who groped the belly. "It is a solid pipe", said the sixth man with a tusk in his hand. They all fell into a heated argument as to who was right and describing the big elephant all sticking to their own perception. Rebecca Covert 1:59 A wise man happened to hear the arguments. And he stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." The wise man calmly said, "each one of you is correct and each one of you is wrong. Because each of you had only touched a part of the elephant's body. You only have a partial view of the animal. If you put your partial views together, you will get an idea of what an elephant looks like." Rebecca Covert 2:29 I picked this parable today because with all the uncertainty and unrest that's happening in the world right now, I wanted to read this tale as a gentle reminder that we each approach the world with our own unique perspective. A perspective influenced by our own beliefs, our history, our family and friends, where we live and what we do, the news we follow and so on. So, consider approaching any future dialogue you have whether in person or in line with love and care. Stop and take a deep breath, and step back to see the whole elephant. Taking a breath to acknowledge our personal biases, and see the whole picture might help you approach someone with more patience, love and kindness instead of anger, aggression and fear. Rebecca Covert 3:17 So I wanted to practice tonight sending ourselves and others some love and kindness through a guided meditation. Love and kindness is a way to express goodwill. It's a desire for all beings, no matter who you are, where you come from, to experience happiness. Rebecca Covert 3:38 So, get into a comfortable position. And when you're ready, go ahead and close your eyes. Take a couple of deep breaths. If that helps you settle in. Feel the breath and allow it to bring you more fully to the present moment. Allow the breath to settle and become more natural and comfortable. Rebecca Covert 4:13 Now let's focus on the body and allow the body to settle and if possible, be still. Soften the face, the jaw, the throat, the shoulder, softening the belly. Take a few breaths and feel the whole body breathing. You'll feel sensations coming and going. Thoughts coming and going. Experienced these sensations and thoughts without assigning good or bad or right or wrong to them. Just watch them float in and out. Rebecca Covert 5:01 Okay, now we're going to send love and kindness to ourselves. So you're going to say these phrases silently in your mind: May I have a peaceful heart. May I feel love and joy in my life. May I be free from animosity. May I take care of my life with ease. Rebecca Covert 5:38 And after extending this goodwill to yourself, notice what is present for you right now in relaxed awareness. Some thoughts or experiences may be pleasant, some not, some neutral. Rebecca Covert 5:54 Now bring to mind a person or an animal in your life whose presence is beneficial to you? See that person in your mind's eye, hold them in your awareness. And now we're going to extend love and kindness to them. May you have a peaceful heart. May you feel love and joy in your life. May you be free from animosity. May you take care of yourself with ease. Rebecca Covert 6:35 Having extended loving kindness to this person or being now feel into your own experience. What is present in the body, the breath, your thoughts, your emotions? When you're ready, allow that beneficial beam to fade from your awareness. Rebecca Covert 6:59 Now bring to mind our healing circle community on this call. Picture extending love and kindness through a phone or computer and strengthen that connection with love and life, light. May you have a peaceful heart. May you feel love and joy in your life. May you be free from animosity. May you take care of yourself with ease. Rebecca Covert 7:31 Feel into your own experience and notice what is present in the body. Take a breath, feel the breath moving in and out. Thoughts will come and go. Emotions will come and go. Rebecca Covert 7:52 And as you are ready, we will extend this love and kindness in all directions. You don't have to say the mantra. You can just do this in your own creative best way. We're going to send goodwill to all beings, above you, up in the sky, below you. Whether it's a floor below you or down in the ground all beings in front of you, behind you, out to your sides, extend goodwill and light in all directions to all beings. Rebecca Covert 8:30 May you have a peaceful heart. May you feel love and joy in your life. May you be free from animosity. May you take care of yourself with ease. As this loving kindness practice comes to an end. Bring your mind back to the breath in the body. Take a few deep breaths to ground yourself. Rebecca Covert 8:54 You can start moving your body stretching your arms and your legs, moving your neck, slowly opening your eyes and bringing attention to your surrounding environment and our community practicing together tonight. I thank you for hearing me out and listening to my parable and joining me and sending loving and kindness to ourselves and to others and may you be safe in this crazy time and may you find peace and I wish you all light and all things good and positive. Have a good evening and enjoy the rest of your night. Thank you. Jessica Stover 9:50 Thank you for listening. We hope the information provided was helpful. Don't forget to stop by our website and take advantage of all we have to offer. Transcribed by https://otter.ai