Humanism is a nonreligious philosophy of life that rejects the supernatural, but embraces the idea of caring for our fellow human beings. One way to cultivate feelings of empathy toward others is called loving-kindness practice.
Seeing the Roses contains a series of free online videos that teach loving-kindness practice and related forms of meditation. Although derived from Buddhism, these meditations have been adapted and secularized by the Humanist Mindfulness Group, which is sponsored by the Humanist Community Project at Harvard. These meditations are suitable for atheists, agnostics, and others who are skeptical of anything without a solid basis of scientific evidence.
Neuroscientists now have some understanding of how the brain produces feelings of love. Although people don't typically have voluntary control over their feelings, there are "tricks" we can use to shift how we feel. Studies have shown loving-kindness practice to be effectiveFor more detail on the evidence, look in the Table of Contents below for Deeper on Loving-kindness in producing positive emotions.
The video to the right will provide a brief introduction. Click on Next to view the full loving-kindness practice. It only takes a few minutes, yet is remarkably effective in inspiring feelings of love—for yourself and for others. Why not give it a try?
Table of Contents
Love First
Love Now
Loving-kindness and Mindfulness
Mindfulness of Sound
You Too
Roses Meditation
Focusing on the Present
Wrap-up and Next Steps