Maitri and meditation

[micki]

I'm back to Pema Chodron. Today's chapters were about meditation techniques (posture, focusing on breath) and on maitri (loving-kindness to oneself and the world) and what that means in the context of meditation. She said that her teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, initially didn't give a lot of specific advice on meditation techniques, though the main thing was to use the out-breath as a focus, and whenever the mind wandered away (to anger, rage, fear, or other distractions), just label that "thoughts" and return to breathing. She says it's a form of maitri to oneself: not judging, not reacting, just observing and returning.