Searching all directions
with one’s awareness,
one finds no one dearer
than oneself.
In the same way,
others are fiercely dear
to themselves.
So one should not hurt others
if one loves oneself.
~ The Buddha, Udana ~
_/\_
Is Loving Yourself Okay?
by Bodhipaksa
Loving yourself has a bad press in the West. We often associate it with being self-centered and not caring about others. In fact, we have a tendency to want to put ourselves down to avoid being thought of as self-centered.
But in the Buddhist tradition, which has produced countless outstandingly generous and selfless individuals, there is an emphasis on developing love for yourself as an indispensable prerequisite for loving others.
But in the Buddhist tradition, which has produced countless outstandingly generous and selfless individuals, there is an emphasis on developing love for yourself as an indispensable prerequisite for loving others.
_/\_
The Practice of
Loving-Kindness (Metta)
Loving-Kindness (Metta)
As Taught by the Buddha in the Pali Canon
compiled and translated by Ñanamoli Thera
Right at the start, the meditation of loving-kindness should be
developed towards oneself repeatedly in this way:
"May I be happy and
free from suffering" or
"May I keep myself free from
hostility and
trouble and live happily"
(though this will never produce the full
absorption of contemplation).
It is by cultivating the thought "May I be
happy" with oneself as example, that one begins to be interested in the
welfare and happiness of other living beings, and to feel in some sense
their happiness as if it were one's own:
"Just as I want happiness and
fear pain,
just as I want to live and not to die,
so do other beings."
_/\_
Facets of Metta
by Sharon Salzberg
Contemplating the goodness within ourselves is a classical
meditation, done to bring light, joy, and rapture to the mind. In
contemporary times this practice might be considered rather
embarrassing, because so often the emphasis is on all the
unfortunate things we have done, all the disturbing mistakes we have
made. Yet this classical reflection is not a way of increasing
conceit. It is rather a commitment to our own happiness, seeing our
happiness as the basis for intimacy with all of life. It fills us with
joy and love for ourselves and a great deal of
self-respect.
Significantly, when we do metta practice, we begin by directing
metta toward ourselves. This is the essential foundation for being able
to offer genuine love to others. When we truly love
ourselves, we want to take care of others, because that is what is
most enriching, or nourishing, for us. When we have a genuine inner
life, we are intimate with ourselves and intimate with
others. The insight into our inner world allows us to connect to
everything around us, so that we can see quite clearly the oneness of
all that lives. We see that all beings want to be happy, and
that this impulse unites us. We can recognize the rightness and
beauty of our common urge towards happiness, and realize intimacy in
this shared urge.
