Off to Practice Some Kindness — and Chant!

As you read this I am off to Kripalu and J is valiantly holding down the fort at home. For the next 4 days I'll be participating in a loving-kindness (metta) meditation and chanting retreat with Sharon Salzberg and Krishna Das. I do hope there's a lot of chanting.

Metta is defined as a strong wish for the happiness of other beings independent of any self-interest. Here's what Buddha had to say about kindness, from the Metta Sutta:

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in saftey,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

Later tonight I'll share an excerpt from Sharon's book, Loving-Kindness, the Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Though I'll be offline until Sunday night, I promise to send all of you positive metta-wishes from the Berkshires! Don't be afraid to fill up my email box while I'm away.