Jack Kornfield (insightla.com); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| When's it safe to love? When's it safe not to? |
The
Buddha taught that we can develop loving kindness (metta) by visualizing how a
caring mother holds her beloved child.
Altruistic love is our true nature, but it
is often covered over by a protective layer of fear [bhava, the opposite of love, rooted in dosa, aversion/hate].
The Buddhist path
uses systematic trainings to cultivate love. These trainings are found
throughout the Buddhist world. They strengthen our capacity for love,
compassion, joy, and peace. The practices that develop these qualities
combine repeated thoughts, visualization, and feelings.
These trainings
have been employed by millions of practitioners to transform their own
hearts.
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| Pick yourself up and love the world. (AP) |
Loving-kindness is the first of these trainings. In loving-kindness
practice, students visualize themselves and repeat four or five
traditional phrases of well-wishing, such as “May I be safe and healthy.
May I be happy.” Along with the recitation, a bodily sense of love is
established, and feelings of loving-kindness are invited.
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| The marriage of wisdom and compassion |
Loving-kindness develops as we repeat these phrases thousands of
times, over days and months. I often recommend a year of developing
loving-kindness for oneself.
Because of the shame and unworthiness most if not all of us carry, loving ourselves becomes a particularly powerful practice [a radical act of self-acceptance].
It
doesn’t create love; it opens the pathway to the gold of our natural
love. Then that love can spill over to touch and bless all that we come in contact with.
Join in on a joyful day of transformative teachings, wonderful
stories, heart practices, and awakening together. In these turbulent and
divisive times, more than ever we need ways to steady our hearts, calm
our minds, clear our vision and inspire our action. We will cultivate
the qualities of courage and love, how to dwell in kind awareness, and
how to enhance our natural capacity for care and connection, towards
ourselves, our society and all beings. Metta and goodwill -- combined with
compassion, forgiveness, sympathetic joy, and equanimity -- are the
revolutionary and necessary powers that can transform our lives and mend
our world.- Awakened Heart with Jack Kornfield
- 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
- Saturday, November 3rd
- First Presbyterian Church
- Santa Monica CA
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