Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness (Shambhala Classics)

Significantly, when we do metta practice, we begin by directing metta toward ourselves. This is the essential foundation for being able to offer genuine love to others. When we truly love ourselves, we want to take care of others, because that is what is most enriching, or nourishing, for us. When we have a genuine inner life, we are intimate with

caught in this concept of linear time brings us to what in Buddhist teachings is called bhava, or becoming, always falling into the next moment. It is as if before each breath ends, we are leaning forward to grasp at the next breath.

beings. When wisdom recognizes our oneness and sees the interconnectedness of all beings, it fills us with a degree of happiness that transforms our lives.

Metta, which can be translated from Pali as “love” or “lovingkindness,” is the first of the brahma-viharas, the “heavenly abodes.” The others—compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—grow out of metta, which supports and extends these states.

When we make the courageous choice to be still, rather than running away, we have the chance to establish a relationship with what is. When I actually stopped and looked at Max, I found something of myself.

When we are alone we have one image of ourselves; when we are with other people we have another image. With people we know, we act one way; with those we do not know, we act differently. We feel fragmented and estranged from ourselves, so our gestures of friendship to others are often born out of loneliness and fear. Looking for trust and closeness

The Pali word metta has two root meanings. One is the word for “gentle.” Metta is likened to a gentle rain that falls upon the earth. This rain does not select and choose—“I’ll rain here, and I’ll avoid that place over there.” Rather, it simply falls without discrimination. The other root meaning for metta is “friend.” To understand the power or th

The Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu told this story:

“May I have physical happiness.”