Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Lovingkindness

 


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RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Lovingkindness
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) 

Lovingkindness fails when it produces sentimentality. (Vm 9.93)
Reflection
Believe it or not, lovingkindness is impersonal by nature. The feeling of care for another is not dependent on the specific qualities of that person but can be directed to anyone and everyone. This is what makes lovingkindness unsentimental. You don’t love only if the person is a family member or a friend. And you don’t love difficult people only if they deserve it or you have forgiven them. Lovingkindness rises above the personal. 

Daily Practice
See if you can discern, in your own experience, the difference between a feeling of lovingkindness that is laced with a sense of self and one that is not. See if you can sense the difference between the love you have for someone dear to you and the universal lovingkindness you cultivate while doing mettā practice. Personal connections are sentimental in a good sense, while lovingkindness transcends the personal.

Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Compassion

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