Category: Quotes

Quote for the Week I saw that suffering doesn’t have to disappear in order for beauty to be there, that life is about all of these things at once. It was a moment of cultivating equanimity, this ability to hold everything. How Equanimity Powers Love ~ Kaira Jewel Lingo

Equanimity is one of the most sublime emotions of Buddhist practice. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being. Equanimity ~ Gil Fronsdal

It is really important that there be a sense of joy in our practice. Joy doesn’t mean that we just have pleasant sensations, blissful experiences, or happy thoughts. It is some­thing much deeper than that. If we are going to be able to really sustain a vital and deepening spiritual practice in our lives, that… Continue reading

Sympathetic joy or being happy for another’s happiness (Pali: mudita) is one of the four brahmaviharas, the four highest qualities of the heart. In recent years, the other three—loving-kindness, compassion, and equanimity—have received quite a lot of attention from practitioners, researchers, and the press alike. But sympathetic joy has gotten little attention. How can that… Continue reading

The moment of compassion any one of us feels is as pure, as deep, as direct [as a moment of compassion by the Dalai Lama]; but what happens is that we get lost more often. We get distracted, we forget, we get caught up in something else. But we don’t necessar­ily have to make our… Continue reading

Self-compassion is the most radically transformative practice that I’ve stumbled upon in more than 30 years of exploring Buddhism. It’s helped me to cope with many difficulties I’ve faced, ranging from the mundane challenge of a child’s tantrum, to financial problems and even serious illness. It’s helped me to become kinder and more compassionate not… Continue reading

In a very real way the domain of the people we initially feel indifferent toward is the most generous and selfless domain of the path of metta. Cultivating metta with those we feel indifferent toward is an act of profound generosity and care. Indifference disappears in any moment we see another person wholeheartedly. ~ Christina… Continue reading

I discovered that while loving-kindness is taught in many ways by different teachers, ultimately it is an equalizer and an antidote to hatred and aversion. It is a state that can be developed through practices that help us cultivate the unconditional, expansive qualities of the heart. When I discovered other translations of the word metta,… Continue reading

We do not have to feel generous in order to live with generosity; we do not always have to feel compassionate in order to respond with compassion. Liking or loving something is not a prerequisite to befriending all things and to having kindness be the abiding place we commit to. Just as our minds have… Continue reading

We all have the potential to abide in loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. When we know how to do this, these capacities become an inner wealth, more valuable than any outer riches. To tap into this wealth, Buddhism teaches practices for developing each of the four Brahmaviharas. Love doesn’t have to be dependent on… Continue reading