As a psychospiritual relational and executive coach who works with people of all faiths, I want to share what humanistic spirituality means to me.
Since I call myself a psychospiritual and an executive coach, and there is so much talk in religious and secular communities, I want to share what humanistic spirituality means to me. I do this as a way of communing with my friends and clients, both religious and secular when they ask me about my spirituality. I also want to be clear about not stepping on the toes of anyone with a different religious or spiritual orientation – even though all my clients incorporate our work, realizing there isn’t any incongruency.
So here it is. I’ve been referring to myself as a humanistic spiritualist, which means knowing myself and others and revering myself and others – more simply, I’m a Lovist.
Positive psychology would say that access to happiness is in service of others, which resonates well with me. Self-care and creative expression, even if just for ourselves, are also valuable and rewarding and hopefully support our service to others, plants, animals, and our Earth. At the core, I believe love is all there is and all that matters – the rest is either an expression of love, an attempt at love, or an opportunity to learn love.
Meditations are part of that for me and are love practices. My specific mediations, and I do several, each with very different purposes and benefits, are all part of what I call The Deep Work™, a healing self and other love practice. They are a potent mix that fosters attuning to myself physically and emotionally by peering into the subconscious to learn, grow, and deepen love in its many forms. Others bring me to a direct experience of the elusiveness of what the Taoists call – Tao or that which can not be named and, simultaneously, a connection with everything and nothing.
My other daily practice is Buddhism. I don’t consider Buddhism a religion but rather a philosophy or a paradigm, and some of it seems like a clean and direct expression of some things I hold dear. I especially like a very practical ‘poem,’ ‘psalm,’ or closer to Sanskrit, a piece of ‘knowledge thread’ called the Kaaniya Metta Sutta, which I share below. It is, I think, an elegant piece about, from its title, unconditional and boundless love and loving-kindness that ‘should be done.‘ The idea is that by holding Metta in our minds and hearts, with every interaction we have with others and ourselves, our lives can be filled with care, understanding, and trust for us and the world.
Below, I share the Metta Sutta,
Enjoy,
Matthew
Karaniya Metta Sutta:
The Buddha’s Words on Loving-Kindness
Translated from the Pali by The Amaravati Sangha © 2004
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful,
Not proud or demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to be born —
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life,
Her child, her only child,
With a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.
Karaniya Metta Sutta ©1994 English Sangha Trust.You may copy, reformat, reprint, republish, and redistribute this work in any medium whatsoever, provided that: (1) you only make such copies, etc., available free of charge; (2) you indicate that any derivatives of this work (including translations) are derived from this source document, and (3) you include the full text of this license in any copies or derivatives of this work. Otherwise, all rights reserved. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. From Chanting Book: Morning and Evening Puja and Reflections (Hemel Hempstead: Amaravati Publications, 1994). Used with permission of the English Sangha Trust, Ltd. The last revision for Access to Insight was on 2 November 2013. How to cite this document (a suggested style): “Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha’s Words on Loving-Kindness” (Sn 1.8), translated from the Pali by The Amaravati Sangha. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 2 November 2013. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.08.amar.html
