Meditation is a method for acquainting
our mind with virtue. The more familiar our mind is with virtue, the calmer and
more peaceful it becomes. When our mind is peaceful we are free from worries
and mental discomfort, and we experience true happiness. If we train our mind
to become peaceful we shall be happy all the time, even in the most adverse
conditions, but if our mind is not peaceful, then even if we have the most
pleasant external conditions we shall not be happy. Therefore it is important
to train our mind through meditation.
There are two types of meditation: analytical meditation and placement
meditation. When we contemplate the meaning of a Dharma instruction that we
have heard or read we are doing analytical meditation. By deeply contemplating
the instruction, eventually we reach a conclusion or cause a specific virtuous
state of mind to arise. This is the object of placement meditation. Having
found our object through analytical meditation, we then concentrate on it
single-pointedly for as long as possible to become deeply acquainted with it.
This single-pointed concentration is placement meditation. Often, analytical
meditation is called simply `contemplation’, and placement meditation simply
`meditation’. Placement meditation depends upon contemplation, and
contemplation depends upon listening to or reading Dharma instructions.
Since most of the problems we experience when we are new to meditation come
from overstraining at placement meditation, it is important to be moderate and
avoid becoming tense from exerting too much pressure. The effort we apply
should be relaxed and steady, and whenever we become tired we should rest.
Loving
Kindness Meditation
1. Preparation
We sit in the meditation posture as
explained above and prepare our mind for meditation with breathing meditation.
If we like we can also engage in the preparatory prayers.
2. Contemplation
All living beings deserve to be
cherished because of the tremendous kindness they have shown us. All our
temporary and ultimate happiness arises through their kindness. Even our body
is the result of the kindness of others. We did not bring it with us from our
previous life – it developed from the union of our father’s sperm and mother’s
ovum. Once we had been conceived our mother kindly allowed us to stay in her
womb, nourishing our body with her blood and warmth, putting up with great
discomfort, and finally going through the painful ordeal of childbirth for our
sake. We came into this world naked and empty-handed and were immediately given
a home, food, clothes, and everything else we needed. While we were a helpless
baby our mother protected us from danger, fed us, cleaned us, and loved us.
Without her kindness we would not be alive today.
Through receiving a constant supply of food, drink, and care, our body
gradually grew from that of a tiny helpless baby to the body we have now. All
this nourishment was directly or indirectly provided by countless living
beings. Every cell of our body is therefore the result of others’ kindness.
Even those who have never known their mother have received nourishment and
loving care from other people. The mere fact that we are alive today is a testimony
to the great kindness of others.
It is because we have this present body with human faculties that we are
able to enjoy all the pleasures and opportunities of human life. Even simple
pleasures such as going for a walk or watching a beautiful sunset can be seen
to be a result of the kindness of innumerable living beings. Our skills and
abilities all come from the kindness of others; we had to be taught how to eat,
how to walk, how to talk, and how to read and write. Even the language we speak
is not our own invention but the product of many generations. Without it we
could not communicate with others nor share their ideas. We could not read this
book, learn Dharma, nor even think clearly. All the facilities we take for
granted, such as houses, cars, roads, shops, schools, hospitals, and cinemas,
are produced solely through others’ kindness. When we travel by bus or car we
take the roads for granted, but many people worked very hard to build them and
make them safe for us to use.
The fact that some of the people who help us may have no intention of doing
so is irrelevant. We receive benefit from their actions, so from our point of
view this is a kindness. Rather than focusing on their motivation, which in any
case we do not know, we should focus on the practical benefit we receive.
Everyone who contributes in any way towards our happiness and well-being is
deserving of our gratitude and respect. If we had to give back everything that
others have given us, we would have nothing left at all.
We might argue that we are not given things freely but have to work for
them. When we go shopping we have to pay, and when we eat in a restaurant we
have to pay. We may have the use of a car, but we had to buy the car, and now
we have to pay for petrol, tax, and insurance. No one gives us anything for
free. But from where do we get this money? It is true that generally we have to
work for our money, but it is others who employ us or buy our goods, and so
indirectly it is they who provide us with money. Moreover, the reason we are
able to do a particular job is that we have received the necessary training or
education from other people. Wherever we look, we find only the kindness of
others. We are all interconnected in a web of kindness from which it is
impossible to separate ourself. Everything we have and everything we enjoy,
including our very life, is due to the kindness of others. In fact, every
happiness there is in the world arises as a result of others’ kindness.
Our spiritual development and the pure
happiness of full enlightenment also depend upon the kindness of living beings.
Buddhist centres, Dharma books, and meditation courses do not arise out of thin
air but are the result of the hard work and dedication of many people. Our
opportunity to read, contemplate, and meditate on Buddha’s teachings depends
entirely upon the kindness of others. Moreover, as explained later, without
living beings to give to, to test our patience, or to develop compassion for,
we could never develop the virtuous qualities needed to attain enlightenment.
In short, we need others for our
physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Without others we are nothing.
Our sense that we are an island, an independent, self-sufficient individual,
bears no relation to reality. It is closer to the truth to picture ourself as a
cell in the vast body of life, distinct yet intimately bound up with all living
beings. We cannot exist without others, and they in turn are affected by
everything we do. The idea that it is possible to secure our own welfare whilst
neglecting that of others, or even at the expense of others, is completely
unrealistic.
3. Meditation
Contemplating the innumerable ways in
which others help us, we should make a firm decision: `I must cherish all
living beings because they are so kind to me.’ Based on this determination we
develop a feeling of cherishing – a sense that all living beings are important
and that their happiness matters. We try to mix our mind single-pointedly with
this feeling and maintain it for as long as we can without forgetting it.
4. Dedication
We dedicate all the virtues we have
created in this meditation practice to the welfare of all living beings by
reciting the dedication prayers.
5. Subsequent Practice
When we arise from meditation we try to
maintain this mind of love, so that whenever we meet or remember someone we
naturally think: `This person is important, this person’s happiness matters.’
In this way we can make cherishing living beings our main practice.
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