Following the dharma in the 21st century

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.-Buddhist Quote

I’ve been doing a fair amount of Loving Kindness meditation recently – not only formal “sitting” meditation but also what I call “here and now” – wherever I am and whatever I am doing.  I always found it difficult when coming to consider the neutral person or the person you don’t like/have problems with, but more recently my perseverance has shown me what a difference it can make to keep working away at this.

Some of the people I focus on for the neutral person are those who work for the same organisation as me, but I don’t necessarily work with them on a day to day basis – I perhaps know their face, know roughly what they do, but that’s about as far as it goes.  I wouldn’t usually talk to them because I don’t know anything about them, and wouldn’t know where to start!

That is what I have noticed has changed!

Recently, if I pass someone like this, who I don’t really know, I always now say good morning, or ask them how they are.  It’s suprising how nice it is just to chat to different people!  Also some people who I (and others) had found to be quite “grumpy” – every office has some I’m sure! – have now became quite friendly and chatty, perhaps because I had bothered to take the time to ask how they were, or remembered something they had told me about what was going on in their life and asked how it was going.

It made me realise that all too often we tend to float along in our own little bubble, not really appreciating or taking on board the fact that other people have their own bubbles too, and this might affect they way that they interact with us (or not, as the case may be).  Through the Loving Kindness meditation I have started to become more aware of this and have certainly found it has had a profound way in which I interact with people on a day to day basis.  I’m currently reading Vajaragupta’s book “Buddhism: Tools for Living Your Life” which has a really good section on this – I highly recommend it.