The Art of Zen Living

It’s hard to pick out a “favorite” from the 4 immeasurables.  They’re all pretty groovy.  Loving Kindness is probably the easiest of the 4 to start practicing immediately.  Loving kindness is, to me, a head thing.  It’s an intention or an attitude.  It goes on inside you.  The word the Buddha used was metta.  I’ve seen it translated into English as many things - peaceful harmony, goodwill, benevolance, friendly well wishes, and the list goes on.  All of these are good translations, but “loving kindness” seems to be the most popular by far, and with good reason I think.

Loving Kindness can be taken separately to mean different things, or taken together to mean different things.  Between the concepts of love and of kindness, you can cover pretty much any and all positive mental mind states that occur in human nature.  It is the ultimate measure of the ends justifying the means.  If your intention is loving kindness, then whatever actions arise from those intentions will be pure.

I think the thing I like most about loving kindness is that it is really easy to generate.  I’ve written in the past about my Loving Kindness meditation, but unless you’ve tried it, it’s hard to describe how it can change your outlook on just about anything in a few short minutes.  It’s quick and easy, takes very little practice to memorize, and you can even do it (although not as effectively) while doing other things - for instance, driving.  I use my loving kindness meditation while driving fairly frequently.  Sometimes I change it up, and wish for all drivers, on all roads, paying attention and not, in a hurry and not….you get the idea.  It’s impossible to work up a good road rage while wishing good things for the other people on the road with you.

In addition to being useful in specific situations - such as taking a deep breath, and silently wishing the person causing you so much frustration at that moment be happy, peaceful and free from suffering - taking a few minutes a day to align your inner self pays as many dividends as the time you take to align your outter self.  Just like I wouldn’t want to leave the house without shaving, putting on deoderant, brushing my teeth and so forth, I can no longer see leaving the house without spending at least a few minutes focused on loving kindness, reminding myself of where I need to be focused today.

“Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.”

-Mary Schmich

I know I should be nice to people.  I know I feel better, they feel better and my day goes better when I am.  I’m calmer, more relaxed, and better able to deal with whatever comes my way.  I find I do better when I’ve had a chance to meditate.  I do 2 different kinds of meditation right now.  The first kind is the more traditional, sitting cross legged on the floor with my eyes closed kind, which I tend to think of as “back to one”.  The reason I think of it that way is simple.  I sit, I clear my mind, and I begin counting my breaths.  I feel the inhale of air, and as I exhale I count “one”.  The idea is that I count my breaths up to ten, and then back down to one.  If at any point in time my mind wanders, I start back at one.  I’m still a beginner, so all too often my meditation practice goes something like this:

“One….”

“Two….”

“What should I have for dinner tonigh…awww, crap.  One….”

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