Loving Kindness Barn (in Plymouth, MN)

Learning Compassion

I am reading a book by Richard Davidson called The Emotional Life of the Brain. Known for his research on the brains of long-term meditators, Davidson is a meditator himself.

“The Dalai Lama challenged me – he said, ‘Why can’t you use technological tools to study kindness and compassion?’ ” — Richard J. Davidson

Davidson has studied compassion and discovered that compassion can be taught. Any one of us can increase our compassion. One of my favorite ways of increasing my own feelings of compassion is the practice of Loving Kindness Meditation.

Try this loving kindness meditation yourself. Start by directing the thoughts to yourself, then choose a loved one to direct it to, then someone neutral, and finally towards someone you have difficulty wishing loving kindness towards. You can also send loving kindness wishes to all beings. Check out this article on Loving Kindness Meditation for more ideas.

May I be filled with love and kindness.
May I be safe and protected.
May I love and be loved.
May I be happy and contented.
May I be healthy and strong.
May my life unfold with ease.
May I be a person of joy.
       — Donna Jackson Nakazawa, The Last Best Cure

Wouldn’t it be great if learning compassion was a part of every school’s curriculum? Imagine the ripples of change this could create.

May you walk in beauty.