"We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness." Charlie Chaplin, from the Great Dictator
Every day I take the subway to get to work, it takes me about 25 minutes to get to work not a bad commute especially since I work in the downtown area of the city, with so much chaos, noise and traffic!
On my way to work every morning I have a routine, once I get on the subway I do a silent tree meditation where I imagine myself as a tree and I ground myself to the earth, my roots going deep beyond the subway car, and further still from the tunnel and railway tracks. I imagine my arms as branches that reach way up to the sky where I receive all the love, happiness, healing and peace that my body deserves. Once I feel grounded I turn my attention outward and I look around and I choose three people to pray for on the subway. I do this silently and reverently, and I try to choose people who seem to be having a rough start to their morning or those who just seem like they could use a hug, such as the student who appears to be anxiously studying for a test reading their highlighted notes, or the man wearing his construction work gear who seems exhausted with his eyes closed trying to get a few more minutes of sleep before he gets off at his stop and head to work, or the teenage girl who is pregnant holding hands with her partner, and I always pray for the subway conductor that they may have a steady hand to conduct the subway to all the different areas of the city. I say this prayer for them in the silence of my heart, "May you be filled with loving kindness, may you be well, may you be peaceful and at ease, may you be happy."
I started this practice years ago and it's so much a part of my daily meditation practice, but it's also a way in which to look out for others on my journey. I don't know the strangers that I pray for, and I may never cross paths with them, but I like to believe that we are all in this journey together so why not be gentle with others, the way I'm gentle with myself. All of us have the capacity to invoke goodness within ourselves and in others, our ability to exchange in positive interactions with others manifesting peace around us.
How are you gentle with yourself? How do you manifest gentleness in your life? How do you share that spirit of gentleness with others?
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