Mr. Rogers and the Practice of Loving-Kindness
This blog post is contributed by Annie Welsch, who leads Mind/Body/Heart Talks - Yoga Philosophy and Gentle Movement, offered Sunday evenings twice monthly:
Yoga Sutra 1.33 states, “By cultivating attitudes of Maitri, Karuna, Mudita, and Upeksha, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.” These four attitudes are also often called “The Four Immeasurables”. So what do they mean?
Maitri- Friendliness toward the happy
Karuna- Compassion toward the unhappy
Mudita- Delight in the virtuous
Upeksha- Equanimity toward the wicked
Looking back on my experience watching Mister Rogers as a small child, I realize that he was teaching us how to do these four things. His lessons always showed how to do what was most loving in any situation. But as we grow older and have more and more life experiences, we sometimes forget those lessons we learned in kindergarten. These quotes from Mister Rogers should hopefully refresh all our memories.
Maitri
"There are three ways to ultimate success. The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind."
Karuna
"In times of stress the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers."
Mudita
"When I say “it’s you I like”, I’m talking about the part of you that knows “like” is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive."
Upeksha
"To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is right here and now."
So how do we strengthen our alignment with these four attitudes? One way is to practice a Loving-Kindness (or metta) meditation. The meditation can be done as follows:
Picture someone who is easy to love sitting with you. Make this wish for them, “May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free.”
Picture someone who you feel neutral about (a co-worker, a barista at the coffee shop you go to, someone who shares your morning metro commute…) Make this wish for them, “May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free.”
Picture someone who is challenging for you. Make this wish for them, “May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free.”
Picture a community you are part of (it can expand to include the whole world). Make this wish for everyone in that community, “May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free.”
This meditation can be emotional and at times frustrating. That is okay. You can set it aside and come back to it another day. It is called a “practice” because we are always working on it. Practicing this meditation and the Four Immeasurables in our daily lives can lead to more “beautiful days in the neighborhood”. So let’s get out there and make Mister Rogers proud! And remember…
“...that even when you’re feeling blue, that it’s you I like, it’s you yourself, it’s you, it’s you I like.” -Mister Rogers