Hay Truck Wishes

As a young boy, I used to ride with my family as we drove from San Diego to the California desert to spend time with my grandparents. My Mom and Dad would load my sister and brother and me into the back of Dad's silver '64 Buick Riviera (into which Dad had carefully installed lap belts, the latest, greatest thing in highway safety), and we would set out on the two-hour journey. We played word games to keep ourselves entertained. One of the games Mom taught us was to make a wish whenever we saw a hay truck. Hay trucks were a common sight in those days as they plied the highways between the desert and the more fertile regions near the California coast, ferrying fodder to the livestock of the barren interior.

In those early days, I would wish for toys when I saw a hay truck. Just a year or so later, my older brother was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and I began to wish for his legs to heal. Years later, upon learning about Buddhism and metta, I would make a hay truck wish for all beings to be happy. This gave way to a wish for all beings to awaken. I went through a time when I would remain silent. For awhile, I asked "who?" Sometimes, I just listen. What would you wish for?

Kenneth

[ edited to remove lameness -- sheesh and some of the intro was even lamer before I posted it ]

Only recently I've started to really like doing formal metta. It feels very healing and I'm starting to do it as a way to stablize in meditation and purify my intentions, usually before making resolutions for the sit. I like the formulation that starts with me, then someone or a group that's close, then a positive influence, a negative influence, everyone I can think of, all beings including those I don't even know about, then ending again with me. The general words are: "May X be at ease, relaxed, safe and protected. May X face inevitable difficulties, challenges, and failures. May X awaken. May X be happy."

It's a chicken and egg statement, but it seems like these wishes have gone along with more rapid progress in practice.