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Let's Meditate for Love, Peace and Happiness Researched by Myoma Myint Kywe ၿမိဳ ႔မ ျမင့္ၾကြယ္


Let's Meditate for Love, Peace and Happiness 
Researched by- Myoma Myint Kywe
ၿမိဳ ႔မ ျမင့္ၾကြယ္

We must respect that and allow the other independence. Most people believe “respect” is the most important factor in the world, however some people disagree, they believe the most important thing in a relationship is “Love” for one another.  Loving-kindness is one of the Four Immeasurable taught by the Buddha. The other three are sympathetic joy, equanimity (equal spread of feelings) and compassion. For me, both "respect" and "love" are very important for all ages, everybody and everywhere.
The cultivation of loving-kindness (mettā bhāvanā) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism. In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, this practice begins with the meditation cultivating loving-kindness towards themselves, then one's loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, enemies, and finally towards all sentient beings. Since 588 B.C, “Metta meditation” is regularly recommended to the Buddha's followers in the 2,602-year-old (B.C. 588+ 2014= 2,602) Pali canon.

Loving-kindness means you want all beings to be well and happy. Not just people you know and like, but all beings - including strangers, people that annoy you, even animals. Love should be a force that helps you expand your life and bring forth your innate potential with fresh and dynamic vitality. That is the ideal.  Love should be a force that helps you expand your life and bring forth your innate potential with fresh and dynamic vitality. That is the ideal but, as the saying "Love is blind" illustrates, people often lose all objectivity when they fall in love.
If the relationship you're in is causing your parents to worry, or making you neglect your studies or engage in destructive behavior, then you and the person you're seeing are only being a negative influence and hindrance to each other. Neither of you will be happy if you both just end up hurting each other.
If you are neglecting the things you should be doing, forgetting your purpose in life because of the relationship you're in, then you're on the wrong path. A healthy relationship is one in which two people encourage each other to reach their respective goals while sharing each other's hopes and dreams. A relationship should be a source of inspiration, invigoration and hope.
Love is a complex matter that is a reflection of each person's attitude and philosophy toward life. That is why I believe people shouldn't get involved in relationships lightly.
Loving-kindness means showing kindness to others so that they will be well and happy. Another word for loving-kindness is Metta.
We show loving-kindness to others by wishing them to be well and happy. One way to show loving-kindness is to help other people so that they will be able to do things by themselves.
We wish ourselves to be well and happy so that we can do well and help others and because we all want to be happy. We should try to make our parents and teachers well and happy because they teach us so many interesting things that we do not know about.
We should try to make animals well and happy. Animals are just like human beings because they also suffer pain and sadness.
Before going to bed, we should generate loving-kindness for all beings. If we always do this, we will be happy and peaceful.

The Buddha was once asked to summarise his teachings:
1. Do not harm yourself
2. Do not harm any living being
3. Do well whenever you can
I do not know detail anywhere where it is stated to 'love one another', but the whole concept of Buddhism is based on the principle not to harm any living being and to help every living being where you can. The following comes from a discussion about compassion and wisdom:
A common saying in Buddhism, "to develop and practise both compassion and wisdom," indicates that compassion and wisdom are inseparable and integral elements of the path of Buddha Dharma.

Metta Meditation and Karuna Meditation

Metta can be applied to both situations. Karuna Bhavana is the cultivation of compassion. In the cultivation it can be brought into concentration and absorption just like Metta. The benefits of the practice are similar to the 11 benefits described for Metta. Loving-kindness meditation can be brought in to support the practice of 'bare attention' to help keep the mind open and sweet. It provides the essential balance to support your insight meditation practice. Loving-kindness is a meditation practice, which brings about positive attitudinal changes as it systematically develops the quality of 'loving-acceptance'. The effect is unlimited.
We use ourselves as a kind of example, for we know we wish to be happy and not suffer.

May I be safe from danger
May I be happy
May I be healthy and strong
May I have ease of well being

After 15 minutes, bring to mind someone who is easy to care for. Someone who you feel gratitude toward, who you respect, perhaps who has helped you, or a dear friend. Chose someone endowed with virtuous qualities, worthy of admiration. Begin to repeat the phrases of metta for this virtuous person (another 10 or 15 minutes).

May you be protected from inner and outer harm.
May you be happy and peaceful in mind.
May you enjoy strength, vitality and health in body.
May you be blessed with ease of well being in your social and material relations.

Let the meaning of the phrases deepen in your consciousness. Contemplate the possibility of truly and simply wishing well.
You can continue to develop metta using yourself and a friend in this way for some time, allowing the stability of mind to deepen.
As the metta grows clearer and stronger it is possible to bring to mind more challenging people, those whom we may have some conflict with, offering the very same wishes of happiness for them.

Just as I wish to be happy, so may you be happy.........
May you be touched by loving kindness
May you be free of mental and physical suffering
May you live in peace and harmony.
All beings want to be happy and not to suffer. This is a universal wish.
May all beings everywhere, known and unknown, near and far, be happy, peaceful and at ease.
Let the practice develop slowly. Little by little, phrase by phrase, day after day, our hearts will incline toward a full-hearted care for all of life.
As we become more familiar with the practice we may discover spontaneous expressions of metta.

Metta is the intention of good will. It is known through the clear absence of ill will, resentment, and selfishness in the mind. Metta is not limited to reciting "May you be happy"; it is not a magical incantation. We use the phrases merely to remind ourselves of the deepest truths of love and connection. Metta is more pervasive and more natural than any words could express. Words are only pointers to the deep natural capacity of the human heart to abide in pure and complete love.
In Karuna, however, compassion is aroused instead of loving kindness. It is actually a more specific type of Metta that is applied or arises when one is able to see the suffering of another. It is an emotion that arises when we see someone suffering, then feel sorry for him and have a strong wish to relieve him of his suffering. Whilst Metta must not be mistaken for attachment, Karuna must be distinguished from sadness or grief. The direct enemy of Metta is anger, and that of Karuna is cruelty and so the ways of removing it are similar to that for removing anger.
The general steps of the cultivation can be similar, i.e.
1. Contemplation of dangers of anger or cruelty
2. Contemplations of benefits of compassion
3. Growing compassion for a suffering being
The object of compassion is a suffering being and so we have to see the suffering of a being.
Sometimes I have tried to extend this one wish to more than one to overcome monotony.
For example,
May he be free from mental suffering
May he be free from physical suffering
May he be free from samsaric suffering
Finally one can also proceed on to the specified and unspecified pervasion of.

Karuna in the 10 directions
1. May all beings be free from suffering
2. May all living things be free from suffering
3. May all creatures be free from suffering
4. May all individuals be free from suffering
5. May all personalities be free from suffering
6. May all females be free from suffering
7. May all males be free from suffering
8. May all deities be free from suffering
9. May all humans be free from suffering
10. May all unhappy states be free from suffering
Particularly it allows pain to end. This means that it must be patient, not in any hurry to force pain to end or to try officiously to get rid of pain. It is the active side of wisdom and is the Buddha's supreme or GOLDEN PURIFIER. Get happy now!



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