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.
As we engage the matter of life and death, as we take up the Zen way, we’re being invited into the place of poetry. Awakening is always like finding a poem. It touches and transforms.
James Ishmael Ford, “Zen as a Way of Magical Realism”
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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 compassion, for when you develop meditation on compassion, any cruelty will be abandoned. (MN 62)
The purpose of compassion is warding off cruelty. (Vm 9.97)
Reflection
Intention is the forerunner of the mind, guiding us toward the next moment. Intention steers a course through the world, directing our path to tread healthy or unhealthy terrain. However we set our minds in this moment will determine where our mind goes next. Compassion is a choice that we can make over and over, and the result will be the gradual development of a compassionate character. This is a worthwhile thing to do.
Daily Practice
Cultivate intentions of compassion by encouraging yourself to be aware of the suffering of others and care for their well-being. This does not mean feeling sorry for people or merely hoping they will somehow be better off. Buddhist texts describe compassion as “the trembling of the heart” when witnessing suffering, which gives rise to an intention of caring. Allow your heart to tremble—and to care.
Tomorrow: Refraining from Malicious Speech One week from today: Cultivating Appreciative Joy
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When we practice deep listening, we can help the person we’re listening to remove the perceptions that are making them suffer. We can restore harmony in our partnerships, our friendships, our family, our community, our nation, and between nations. It is that powerful.
