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How to practice loving-kindness towards self?

misecmisc1misecmisc1 I am a HinduIndia Veteran

hi all,

how to practice loving-kindness towards self and also how to prevent this from further increasing the sense of self in within me? please suggest. thanks in advance.

Comments

  • rohitrohit Maharrashtra Veteran

    As per siddhartha Buddha ' The best person is one who take care of self and also cares for others' .
    Neglacting self for others can not bring piece. And one has responsibility for self as well.

    Shoshinlobster
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    edited January 2016

    how to practice loving-kindness towards self and also how to prevent this from further increasing the sense of self in within me?

    I think metta meditation starts with self and can know no end. That is the gist of metta meditation, which can be done sitting with eyes closed or just by carrying a prayerful attitude in ones heart while engaged in worldly activities.

    In other words, for the practitioner of Metta there is no danger at all of the Ego (or self) building itself up as a hermetic fortress (Confident, yes, but not self-ish). Metta breaks down walls. It does not build them.

    Shoshinlobster
  • EarthninjaEarthninja Wanderer West Australia Veteran

    @misecmisc1 said:
    hi all,

    how to practice loving-kindness towards self and also how to prevent this from further increasing the sense of self in within me? please suggest. thanks in advance.

    See that the sense of self is not within you, it IS you. So you may as well love yourself, you are a miracle. :)
    Loving yourself with help others by extension. Happy people will be able to help others just by being around these people.

    Nirvanalobster
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited January 2016

    @misecmisc1
    how to practice loving-kindness towards self and also how to prevent this from further increasing the sense of self in within me? please suggest. thanks in advance.

    Learning how to practice loving kindness towards self,
    like learning how to practice loving kindness towards others,
    are simply graduated steps towards the understanding
    that the only construct separating one from the other
    is our own ignorance.

    So **if **a practice of loving kindness towards self excludes others
    or
    if a practice of loving kindness towards others excludes self,
    then our continued ignorance can be the result.

    If one does not have a teacher and is worried that their practice of loving kindness towards self or others may result in the aggrandizement of the selfish self, then just make sure that your loving kindness practice does not specifically exclude one grouping from the other.

    misecmisc1
  • ZenshinZenshin Veteran East Midlands UK Veteran

    Buddhanet's metta meditation instructions.

    http://www.buddhanet.net/metta_in.htm

  • A loving- kindness meditation I was taught begins:

    May all beings be happy and secure.
    May all being have happy minds.
    Whatever living beings there may be,
    Without exception, weak or strong,
    Long, large, medium, short,
    Subtle or gross,
    Visible or invisible,
    Living near or far,
    Born or coming to birth,
    May all beings be well...

      • +
        ... the line about 'without exception...' includes you.
    misecmisc1lobsterlittlestudent
  • misecmisc1misecmisc1 I am a Hindu India Veteran

    i say something like below lines while trying to do metta meditation:

    may all sentient beings be peaceful and happy, safe and protected, healthy and strong.
    may i be peaceful and happy, safe and protected, healthy and strong.

    but i do not feel anything inside me while i say the above lines. so may be my brain is saying those lines, but my heart is not feeling anything for these lines. so should i be feeling something when i say those lines of metta meditation. even when i say those lines for me, then also i do not feel anything inside.

    am i practicing metta meditation wrongly? please suggest. thanks in advance.

  • pegembarapegembara Veteran
    edited January 2016

    @misecmisc1 said:
    i say something like below lines while trying to do metta meditation:

    may all sentient beings be peaceful and happy, safe and protected, healthy and strong.
    may i be peaceful and happy, safe and protected, healthy and strong.

    but i do not feel anything inside me while i say the above lines. so may be my brain is saying those lines, but my heart is not feeling anything for these lines. so should i be feeling something when i say those lines of metta meditation. even when i say those lines for me, then also i do not feel anything inside.

    am i practicing metta meditation wrongly? please suggest. thanks in advance.

    Metta is a feeling of kindness towards all beings. One suggestion is to turn the contemplation into protecting this metta within us like a mother protects her only child. Arouse this feeling and protect it at all cost. This is doable instead of the unrealistic wish that all beings be safe and happy. By doing this all beings feel safe and protected from you and react accordingly.

    As a mother would risk her life
    to protect her child, her only child,
    even so should one cultivate a limitless heart
    with regard to all beings.
    With good will for the entire cosmos,
    cultivate a limitless heart:
    Above, below, & all around,
    unobstructed, without enmity or hate.
    Whether standing, walking,
    sitting, or lying down,
    as long as one is alert,
    one should be resolved on this mindfulness.
    This is called a sublime abiding
    here & now.

    Metta

    misecmisc1
  • Will_BakerWill_Baker Vermont Veteran

    @misecmisc1 said:
    hi all,

    how to practice loving-kindness towards self and also how to prevent this from further increasing the sense of self in within me? please suggest. thanks in advance.

    -Give yourself a good night's sleep...

    federicaKundo
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator

    This may be a case where I would recommend practicing it towards others so you can see what it means, and then learning how to apply it to yourself. You have a child, if I recall, that is a terrific place to start because it is so easy to unconditionally love our children. Even when you are upset with her, you still love her. You can apply that to yourself, too. We tell our kids that it's ok to make mistakes, try to learn and then go on. We tell them how worthy they are, how valuable, how talented. But we don't apply any of that to ourselves. That is a good place to start. What attributes do you assign to your child that you deny yourself?

    misecmisc1littlestudent
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