PEACE STARTS INSIDE
A Buddhist Meditation on Loving-Kindness
May all beings be happy and at their ease.
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be liberated from craving, hatred, ignorance and delusion.
May all beings – whether weak or strong, omitting none, small or great, visible or invisible, near or far away, born or to be born – may all beings be happy and at their ease.
Let none deceive another, or despise any being in any state; let none led by anger or ill-will wish any harm to another.
Even as a mother watches over and protects her child, her only child, so with a boundless mind should one cherish all living beings, radiating friendliness over the entire world, above, below and all around without limit. So let him cultivate a boundless goodwill towards the entire world, uncramped, free from ill-will or enmity.
Society will only become well-ordered, fair and just when the hearts of its people are free. As long as the hearts of the people are caught with desires, demands, illusions and ignorance, the best we can really do is have laws that create a certain standard. We are never going to have real equality or justice or mercy in the sensory realm, because these can only come from the heart. Serenity of mind comes when the mind is calm and cool. The serene mind is able to be with life, with the way things are, without being attached. Then the mind is even, knowing, bright. Freedom is enlightenment, the realisation of that non-grasping state in which we experience true kindness, compassion, joyfulness and serenity. Freedom is the aspiration of the human heart toward the divine, toward oneness and non-separation.
-Ajarn Sumedho.
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The Buddha taught that our suffering is caused by attachment. We tend to imbue our experiences with a sense of self, a sense of momentousness. This emphasis on the self leads to craving and aversion, which only brings us misery. Having a daily meditation practice can help us learn awareness, equanimity and compassion. These qualities are useful in seeing things as they really are and not getting swept away by our insistent "I". They help us see that everything is pretty much impermanent and not worth getting agitated about. Then we have more freedom to go about our lives doing what needs to be done – like working for environmental and social justice – without being tossed around in a storm of ego and discontent and craving. If everyone meditated, the world might be a kinder place. Doing a Vipassana retreat can be a good way of establishing a beneficial meditation practice.
Phone 66 80 3203 if you’d like to find out more.