Where does it hurt? The practice: Recognize suffering in others. We’re usually aware of our own suffering, but seeing the suffering in others: that’s not so common. All the news and pictures of disaster, murder, and grief that bombard us each day
Understanding facial expression gives us a chance to feel connected to others. Try to open to and receive the faces of others.
To have compassion is to have the wish that beings not suffer combined with feelings of sympathetic concern.
Much of the time the fear we trigger in others is mild but people can feel threatened by stimuli they’re not actually aware of.
There are two wolves in ones heart, a wolf of hate and a wolf of love. The wolf of hate breeds alienation and conflict with others. The wolf of love is fed with our hearts, hope and by our sense of what’s good.
Love is like air. It may be hard to see – but it’s in you and all around you.
In what ways do you wish that people were different? See what it feels like to stop resisting what another person is like while also taking care of your own needs in the relationship. Acceptance is a gift that gives back.
Choose to love. Love is more about us being loving than about other people being lovable. In fact, choosing to love is twice loving: it’s a loving act to call up the intention to love, plus there is the love that follows.
To blissful is to see what is tender and beautiful, and wish well. Look for good things in others. Know what the act and attitude of blessing feel like, and take in the experience to call upon it in the future.
Do not underestimate the impact of a small deed. We all know that the needs in this world are great. And so are the opportunities to make a big difference to the ones we touch.
Being at peace with others’ pain helps us be supportive of their pain.
Encourage love in all its forms to flow through you. Implicitly, and more fundamentally, this practice means a relaxed opening into the love – in a very very broad sense – that is the actual nature of everything.
Liking feels good, and it encourages us to approach and engage the world. We’re wired to like some things, but our liking or disliking depends greatly on what we pay attention to and our own perspective.
Liking feels good, it encourages us to approach and engage the world. Know what benevolence feels like in your body, heart, and mind, and realize that it is natural and normal. Appreciate some of the benevolence that buoys you along. Most people are fair-minded, empathic, cooperative, compassionate, and kind: in a word, benevolent.
See the good in others—it’s a simple but very powerful way to feel happier and more confident and become more loving.