loving kindness

One of the most beautiful aspects of the teachings of Gautam Buddha is his emphasis of loving kindness. Gautama urges us to develop an attitude of loving kindness to our fellow human beings and to all living things. This loving kindness of which the Buddha speaks is really love in the deepest sense of the word.

So often when we talk of love we are thinking of sexual attraction, romance, intimate relationships, and this is not what Gautama is referring to when he speaks of loving kindness. There is a way of relating to each other, to the animals, to the plants, a warm way of relating which accepts totally what the other is. And more than just accepts, it welcomes, embraces, appreciates all that the other is. And in this appreciative state of mind, we are open to the other. There is an energetic connection, a flow. There is warmth. There is love.

And of course, relating from that energy, we are kind and considerate for the other – we do not wish them any harm. On the contrary, we wish them well. We want to help them if they are in need. We hope that they are living joyfully, feeling healthy, well, and in peace. And our actions flow from this attitude of good will.

Gautama was very wise to encourage us to develop such an attitude to others. For strangely, the way we see others is a reflection of how we see ourself. So the more loving we feel towards other people and other beings, the more warmly we feel about ourself. And in that self-acceptance, in that appreciation of the self, all our tensions melt away, and we become happy. But the way to that happiness is to develop a feeling of loving kindness towards others.