Fall 2013 Shamatha And The Bodhisattva Way Of Life

We begin the afternoon session with Tonglen meditation. After the session, Alan explains the second component of Tonglen, which is loving-kindness. Alan explains how loving-kindness is often compared with love and how they are different in nature. While ordinary love is an emotion and often comes with associated attachment (to a person, animal or thing), loving-kindness is an aspiration and a heart-felt yearning for sentient beings (both those we feel affection towards and those we despise) that they find genuine happiness (its fruition) and causes of genuine happiness. Also, attachment looks only at the surface of the person and changes with changing circumstances and the person's behavior. Loving-kindness, on the other hand, looks at a very deep substance of a person and is independent of circumstances and changes in the other person's behavior or character. Later, Alan refers to the Pali canon to explain both the near and far enemies of loving-kindness. The near enemy is self-centered attachment and the fa