COMBINING ATTENTION WITH INTENTION (LOVING-KINDNESS MEDITATION)
LOVING-KINDNESS MEDITATION
Eventually, with practice we develop an ability to concentrate, to focus our attention. Then, and only then, we may practice compassion by combining attention with intention and we have the formula for going beyond mindfulness to moral experience, for developing compassion. Love is not just a feeling, but an ability. And if it is an ability, we can practice it. We call this loving-kindness meditation.
If we have someone in our lives who is going through a very difficult illness. We say, ‘May this person be loved and protected, happy and healthy.’ You can say it for yourself. We need to be compassionate towards ourselves. We can say it for families, our loved ones. Eventually we expand our circle of love to more and more people, even to those we do not know.
When I first moved to Seoul, South Korea to teach, I became very claustrophobic on the subway. It was so crowded. If I was lucky enough to get a seat, I would wedge myself in between two people and take a quick glance around me at the tension on people’s faces. I would then close my eyes, and practice loving-kindness with a calm smile on my face. I would think over and over, ‘May everyone on this subway car today be loved and protected, happy and healthy.’ It helped me. It actually became a part of my daily routine. But the most remarkable thing was that when I opened my eyes, I could see and feel that a lot of the stress was gone from people’s faces. Some people would even smile at me. Psychiatry has a term for this phenomenon: mood contagion.
COMBINING ATTENTION WITH INTENTION (LOVING-KINDNESS MEDITATION)
LOVING-KINDNESS MEDITATION
Eventually, with practice we develop an ability to concentrate, to focus our attention. Then, and only then, we may practice compassion by combining attention with intention and we have the formula for going beyond mindfulness to moral experience, for developing compassion. Love is not just a feeling, but an ability. And if it is an ability, we can practice it. We call this loving-kindness meditation.
If we have someone in our lives who is going through a very difficult illness. We say, ‘May this person be loved and protected, happy and healthy.’ You can say it for yourself. We need to be compassionate towards ourselves. We can say it for families, our loved ones. Eventually we expand our circle of love to more and more people, even to those we do not know.
When I first moved to Seoul, South Korea to teach, I became very claustrophobic on the subway. It was so crowded. If I was lucky enough to get a seat, I would wedge myself in between two people and take a quick glance around me at the tension on people’s faces. I would then close my eyes, and practice loving-kindness with a calm smile on my face. I would think over and over, ‘May everyone on this subway car today be loved and protected, happy and healthy.’ It helped me. It actually became a part of my daily routine. But the most remarkable thing was that when I opened my eyes, I could see and feel that a lot of the stress was gone from people’s faces. Some people would even smile at me. Psychiatry has a term for this phenomenon: mood contagion.
Good one, Colin✊