A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Lovingkindness
Whatever you intend, whatever
you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the
basis on 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)
Reflection
The mind is
always a work in progress, insofar as it is always changing. This change
is not random but is directed by the mind, which both shapes and is
shaped by itself. You cannot just decide something once and behave
altogether differently ever after, but you can gradually train your
mind, like a growing plant, in one direction or another. Training
yourself to become kinder, using the power of intention, is a healthy
thing to do.
Daily Practice
You can develop
lovingkindness on a regular basis, practicing every day to strengthen
your ability to feel kindly, and this will slowly incline your mind
toward feeling kindly more often and for longer periods of time. Or you
can intentionally practice lovingkindness whenever you feel ill will
toward someone, in which case lovingkindness can act as an antidote to
the poison of hatred. Or, of course, do both.
Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech One week from today: Cultivating Compassion
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