Cultivating a Loving Heart
Previously we began practicing with traditional Buddhist meditations and reflections to help us awaken our heart of universal love and compassion. Specifically, we focused on the practices which help us upend our self-centered biases and extend our love beyond only our closest circles. These can be considered the foundational practices of our altruistic transformation and will hopefully continue to be a part of our meditative practice going forward.
Now, we will shift our focus to the practices aimed specifically at cultivating a loving, warm, friendly heart, and that give us the ability to face suffering and care for others in a compassionate way. Specifically, we will be practicing with the meditations on Loving Kindness, Tonglen, Joy in the Joy of Others, and practicing with difficult people.
Please begin to practice these reflections and meditations both in your formal meditation periods and throughout your day as you encounter people. Please feel free to find other similar guided meditations if you find that helpful. We encourage you to incorporate these practices into your daily and weekly intentions.
These practices, if practiced consistently, can ignite the warmth of love and compassion in our hearts. Not only can they help us become more other-focused, but they can also go a long way in helping us to be happier and more content. We hope you enjoy the opportunity to spend time cultivating these wonderful practices.