Friday, March 10
“If you want to get ahead, show people compassion. When other people attack you, defend yourself with compassion. It’s the most powerful force in the universe.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (Taoist)
THIS WEEK’S LESSON
Compassion
Today’s Excerpt:
Who do you wish you were kinder to?
In the Buddhist tradition, there’s a practice called a loving-kindness meditation.
Watch “Loving-kindness Meditation” (2-min video) from Jewish-Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist Sylvia Boorstein.
This particular video only gets at the self-compassion portion of a metta meditation, which is an essential place to start (and which is expanded on in our lesson on self-compassion).
To complete the meditation, turn your thoughts toward people who are suffering and repeat the same phrases in your mind:
- “May you feel safe.”
- “May you feel strong.”
- “May you live with ease.”
(If you’re feeling particularly brave, you might even turn toward each other and say these words out loud!)
Of course, merely saying these words to self and others isn’t the full way to show compassion. To this, we must put compassion into action.
