Of course, developing loving-kindness and compassion toward those we know already isn’t so hard after a bit of practice. It’s a little bit more of a stretch to extend the same sense of warmth and relatedness toward those we don’t know, and in many cases, can’t even possibly know. As we hear about tragedies around the world, or even in our neighborhoods, a sense of helplessness and hopelessness may develop. There are only so many causes we can join, and sometimes our work and family lives prevent us from helping out in a direct way. The practice of immeasurable loving-kindness/compassion helps to relieve that sense of hopelessness. It also fosters a sense of confidence that whatever situation in which we find ourselves and whomever we face, we have a basis for relating in a way that is not quite so fearful or hopeless. We can see possibilities to which we might otherwise be blind and begin to develop a greater appreciation for the possibilities within us.
Mingyur Rinpoche
from the book Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom
Read a random quote or see all quotes by Mingyur Rinpoche.
Further quotes from the book Joyful Wisdom:
- The right thing to do
- Looking directly
- Not alone
- Courage to be as we are
- A moment of direct pristine awareness
- Embracing the conditions that trouble us
- Meditation isn’t something separate from your life
- Beginning to identify with pristine awareness
- Bringing an end to suffering
- No greater inspiration
- Importance of understanding our basic situation
- Embracing the conditions that trouble us
- Ability to fly
- Clarity 24/7
- Essence of all our experiences
- Clarity
- Awareness and apprehended objects
- Samsara is an expression of nirvana
- Taking life on the path