04/10/2016
Centering from week of 4/3
Maitri - Loving-Kindness
"There's a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have ever been born on the earth that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain and just try to get comfortable. ...
A much more interesting, kind, adventurous, and joyful approach to life is to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring whether the object of our inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet. To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our own terms, to lead a more passionate, full, and delightful life than that, we must realize that we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure for the sake of finding out who we are and what this world is how we tick and how our world ticks, how the whole thing just is. If we're committed to comfort at any cost, as soon as we come up against the least edge of pain, we're going to run; we'll never know what's beyond that particular barrier or wall or fearful thing.
When people start to meditate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline, they often think that somehow they're going to improve, which is a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. I'ts like saying, "If I jog, I'll be a much better person.".....
But loving-kindness - maitri - towards ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. We can still be angry, crazy, jealous. The point is not to try to change ourselves. Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. Meeting ourselves right where we are at this very moment. It's about befriending who we already are."
Pema Chodron
