..续本文上一页ve that embraces everybody without exception, that is, altruistic love.

　　Just a word of caution, if you practice loving-kindness intensively, it is best to choose a member of the same sex, or if you have a sexual bias to your own sex then a person of the opposite sex. This avoids the risk of arousing the near enemy of loving-kindness, that is, lust.

　　Try different people to practise on, as some people do not easily fit into the above categories, but do keep to the prescribed order.

　　Three ways to arouse feelings of loving-kindness:

　　Visualisation - create a vivid positive mental picture of oneself and the four people one has chosen, in order to promote a sense of loving-feeling, well being and joyousness.

　　Reflection - think about the positive qualities of the person and the acts of kindness they have done, or make an affirmation, which is a positive statement about yourself, in your own words.

　　The exception to using the ”reflection device” is when working with the ”difficult person”, because the thinking might trigger the painful relationship and aggravate things. So just a visualisation of the difficult person, reinforced by the auditory repetition, is sufficient.

　　Auditory - This is the simplest but probably the most effective way. Repeat a phrase such as ”loving-kindness”, ”loving-kindness”.

　　The visualisations, reflections and the repetition of loving-kindness are devices to help you arouse positive emotional feelings of love. You can use all of them or one that works the best for you. When the positive emotional feeling arises, switch from the devices to the feeling, as it is the feeling that is the primary focus. Keep the mind fixed on the feeling; if it strays, bring it back to the device, or if the feeling weakens or is lost then return to the device, for example, use the visualisation to bring back or strengthen the feeling of loving-kindness.

　　The next stage is Directional Pervasion, where one systematically projects the aroused feeling of loving-kindness to all points of the compass: north, south, east and west, up and down, and all around. Bringing to mind Dharma friends and communities in the cities, towns and countries around the world can enhance the directional pervasion.

　　The last stage, Non-specific Pervasion, tends to spontaneously occur as the practice matures. It is not discriminating. It has no specific object and involves just naturally radiating feelings of universal love. When it arises, the practice has come to maturity in that it has changed preferential love, which is an attached love, to an all-embracing, unconditional love!

　　When the mind has been uplifted and is sweeten with feelings of loving-kindness, you will find that the drier Vipassana practice is very much easier. The meditator is in a heightened state of receptivity and able to tune in more sensitively to what is happening in the present moment.

《The Vipassana Retreat: 13· The Support of Loving-kindness Meditation》全文阅读结束。