Directing Compassion To Enemies

ajani_mgo

For months I have seen the idea of using compassion againt your enemies, I never realized how powerful this is until recently I had many chances to try them out, especially today, where I used it against one guy I hated for the past two years.

It was beautiful. It gave the peace of what one got in meditation, but it was not metta-love as it usually is. It was alot more powerful, a beautiful feeling... It's really wonderful, nothing else to describe it. I have been practising metta-love since a couple of months ago but this is amazing.

THIS IS AMAZING. :rocker: :thumbsup: :vimp: :cool:

Argon.Aid

Agreed on that..But I do think that sometimes some enemies don't really deserve the compassion..According to a Malay saying,melepaskan anjing tersepit..which literally means to let a dog go..This mean that doing a good deed to someone who d not deserve it and sometimes repay it with a bad deed instead.
Today,together with Ajani,we tred compassion[N+]to someone whom we hated from last year.I had my doubts though all the way until our dear old "enemy turn friend" said something.He said that we both had changed,had turn to some one friendlier..A simple saying but yet it had so much effects..
Yes..Maybe compassion towards your enmies have its benefits..

"May Your Faith in Your Religion remain strong"
-Ar.Aid

buddhafoot

I just found this little tid-bit that really made me think about things like this:

On one occasion, the Buddha was invited by the Brahmin Bharadvaja for alms to his house. As invited, the Buddha visited the house of the Brahmin. Instead of entertaining Him, the Brahmin poured forth a torrent of abuse with the filthiest of words. The Buddha politely inquired:

"Do visitors come to your house, good Brahmin?"
"Yes," he replied.
"What do yu do when they come?"
"Oh, we prepare a sumptuous feast."
"What do you if they refuse to receive the meal?"
"Why, we gladly partake of them ourselves."
"Well, good Brahmin, you have invited me for alms and entertained me with abuse which I decline to accept. So now it belongs to you."
From the Akkosa Sutta

The Buddha did not retaliate but politely gave back what the Brahmin had given Him. Retaliate not, the Buddha advised. "Hatred does not cease through hatred but through love alone they cease."

While I understand that this may not be possible to do - I think it's a good practice to keep in mind whenever possible.

-bf

_BeautifulSpringtime

Peacefulness is invincible - it is unmovable.

Simonthepilgrim

The very title of this thread illuminates: once I direct loving-kindness to 'enemies', I discover that enmity itself is a delusion. Loving kindness has no enemies.

Palzang

In Vajrayana, this is known as "tonglen", giving and receiving. You practice breathing in all the negativity in the world, purifying it, and breathing out compassion and love for all beings. A very powerful practice, easy to do, and very effective.

Palzang

Simonthepilgrim

A quote from Guru Puja is,
"Even if all living beings become my enemy, may I cherish them more than my life."

federica

"Loving The World to me's no chore...
My big problem's the guy next door....!"

This is why it is said, if you wish to bring about a change in the World, it is best at first to start with a small garden.....

How often I have seen people embrace the World with Loving Kindness, feeling compassion for the people they see in world-spread images on television, who are caught in earthquakes, floods, fires and famines....
How often have I watched a church full of devoted practising Roman Catholics offer each other the Sign of Peace.....

But then how often have I witnessed the same people then talk about others in a derogatory gossiping manner, or behave towards other people (in shops, on the road) in a completely selfish and ignorant way?
isn't it amazing how all Roads lead to Rome....? Or how all discussions on this Forum, in one way or another, entail being Mindful, Aware, and pertinent to Walking The Middle Way.....?