Offering listeners the gift of receiving metta, JoAnna Hardy leads a guided meditation using The Awesome Book of Love.
This dharma talk was originally published on Dharma Seed.
“What does it feel like just to let someone tell you they care about you, to let somebody show you kindness without anything expected in return?… It is a huge act of generosity to let somebody give to you.” – JoAnna Hardy
In this episode, JoAnna describes:
- The ways that love can be felt and expressed
- Touch deprivation and the power of a hug
- Mātā Amritānandamayī, the hugging saint
- Allowing ourselves to receive kindness and love
- The generosity in letting someone give
- The Awesome Book of Love and the beauty of listening to stories
- A guided meditation on love
“Maybe the expression or experience of love, maybe it’s through the way that you feed your body, or the way that you eat, or the way that you exercise, or the way that you share a smile with a stranger when you’re walking down the street. Maybe it’s how hard you work and the care that you put into your profession. Maybe you’re a good friend. Maybe you’re a good listener. – JoAnna Hardy
About JoAnna Hardy:
JoAnna Hardy is an insight meditation (Vipassanā) practitioner and teacher; she is on faculty at the University of Southern California, a meditation trainer at Apple Fitness+, a founding member of the Meditation Coalition, a teacher’s council member at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, a visiting retreat teacher at Insight Meditation Society, and a collaborator on many online meditation Apps and programs.
Her greatest passion is to teach meditation in communities that are dedicated to seeing the truth of how racism, gender inequality and oppression go hand in hand with the compassionate action teachings in Buddhism and related perspectives to social and racial justice.