RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Lovingkindness
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Whatever you intend,
whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will
become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop
meditation on lovingkindness, for when you develop meditation on
lovingkindness, all ill will will be abandoned. (MN 62)
The far enemy of lovingkindness is ill will. (Vm 9.98)
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Ill will is the
far enemy of lovingkindness because it is so clearly in opposition to
it. These two polar opposites cannot occupy the mind at the same moment.
This means that at any point we are are feeling kind or aversive or are
experiencing a moment of mindful equanimity. Right intention means
learning to use every opportunity to cultivate lovingkindness, since it
is such a beneficial mind state.
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You cultivate
mental and emotional states by encouraging them to arise and then
working to maintain them as much as possible. Practice feeling friendly
and kindly, if only in your mind, toward all the people and other beings
you encounter each day. The more you do this, the more inclined your
mind will be toward friendliness and kindness. One consequence of this
is that the tendency toward ill will will diminish.
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Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Compassion
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