Category: Quotes

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

So it’s important to question our perception of concentration, and our attitude towards getting it. The ‘getting it’ approach doesn’t work in terms of appreciation of the present – but the present is all that we can directly be aware of. We’re directly aware of the present moment through feeling it and being affected by it – and… Continue reading

Mindfulness practice (sati) enables us to go beneath the surface level of our moment-to-moment life experiences, which are clouded with emotions and habitual thinking, and allows us to see the truth of what is happening. In daily life, mindfulness helps us see clearly what needs to be done, what we are capable of doing, and… Continue reading

While our brain has a flight/fight/freeze mechanism, it also has a compassion network, which includes mirror neurons that allow us to register what it’s like for another. We can sense that others want to feel loved and loving, safe and happy. When we feel that connection, it enables us to act on behalf of each… Continue reading