Universal Loving Kindness
by Ajahn Sumedho
From Forest Sangha Newsletter, October 1997, Number 42
December 24, 2004
...Metta, loving kindness, is an all-inclusive practice. Although liberation comes through letting go of our attachment to the conditioned world, if we concentrate on this alone we may develop an attitude which is excluding, almost annihilistic. The tendency will be to see conditions solely in terms of not being attached to them, or even trying to get rid of them. But with metta, we are relating to all conditioned experience with an attitude of kindness, accepting things as they are. Consider what this does to the mind as a practice. We contemplate all phenomena, all sentient beings, in terms of loving-kindness rather than in terms of which is best, which is worst, what we like, what we don”t like.
... Metta is non-discriminatory. It doesn”t mean liking one thing rather than another, it isn”t a question of singling out: "I love this person, I don”t love that one." Ours is a highly critical society. We are brought up to emphasise what”s wrong with ourselves, our family and friends, the government, the country, the world at large - and so we become very conscious of the negative. We see the fault in people or things and become obsessed with that, and are no longer able to see what”s right about them. In practising metta, however, we deliberately avoid clinging to faults and weaknesses. We”re not blind to them, we”re not promoting them, rather we maintain an attitude of kindness and patience towards defects in ourselves and others.
... In contemplating the law of kamma, we realise that it is not a matter of seeking revenge but of practising metta and forgiveness, for the victimiser is, truly, the most unfortunate of all. There is a justice in the world. If we do wrong we may not be discovered and punished by society, but we don”t get away with things. We must be reborn again and again until we do resolve our kamma. We don”t know how many lifetimes we have had so far, but here we are in this incarnation, with our own particular character and kammic tendencies. We have had the good fortune to come across the Dhamma, and so we have been given great gifts with which to resolve things. But how many people have such opportunities
Considering the billions who now live on this planet, there really are very few who have that chance.
... The urge to seek revenge is a common human reaction, but in terms of the law of kamma we can contemplate it and ask, "Is that really how I want to conduct my life
Isn”t it better to forgive and to develop compassion towards all sentient beings, demonic, angelic, whatever they may be
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Generosity is, of itself, better than mean-heartedness. There is a joyfulness to it, for sharing brings gladness into our lives.
... Where we can get confused is that we have idealistic concepts of what we should be: "I shouldn”t want to get my own back, I shouldn”t have vengeful feelings for victimisers. Ajahn Sumedho says I should have metta for them!" Then we might feel, "No, I can”t, it”s too hard. I can have metta for everyone else, but not that person. He”s totally hateful." But we can have metta for that very feeling - an attitude of kindness rather than criticism. We know it for what it is, we don”t indulge it or repress it, we are simply patient with that particular state as it is in the present moment.
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... The basic pattern of Theravadan Buddhist practice is dana, sila, bhavana - generosity, morality and meditation. Dana means simply to be a generous person, not selfish, able to share what one has with others; that is the basis for being a good human being. Generosity is highly developed in countries such as Thailand, and in general Thai people like themselves rather than hating…
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