At the heart of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching… boiled down to its most essential practice… the beginning, middle, and end is actualized Kindness… hench the Metta-Sutra. It is the clear path to liberation. It is an end to suffering, when we give ourselves to it. We have clear evidence and verification of this as a fact and not a theory. The practice of kindness is not complicated. It goes like this…
“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 or demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
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 (might) protect with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness within 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
In creative activity free from dullness,
One is invited and encouraged sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
We meet each moment in spontaneous kindness,
having clarity of vision,
Being freed from pushed and pulled
by physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual insecurities,
The fire of suffering is put out once and for all.”
The Way of Kindness is the Way of Kindness. Clear… decisive… direct… please confirm for your Genuine Self, and see. This is no small thing.
一Dignity and Grace
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