Kindness Is Strength, How Is It Practiced?

Prince Siddharta, heir to a small kingdom at the foot of the Himalayas, abandoned a life of pleasure 26 centuries ago to find a solution to human suffering. After many vicissitudes, he reached the enlightenment that gave an answer to his search.

The dharma he preached spread throughout the East, and only more recently reached our Western culture. Its ductility has allowed it to adapt to the spiritual traditions of each country and has given rise to a certain philosophical complexity and the recommended practices.

However, when the Buddha himself was asked about the essence of his message, he replied, “Do good, avoid evil, and purify the heart.” To achieve this, three fundamental disciplines are proposed: proper behavior ( shila ), meditation ( samadhi ) and knowledge ( prajna ).

The meditation is the practice of Buddhism best known. But you also have to take into account the paramitas , qualities that must be cultivated to purify karma and remove obstacles on the way to spiritual awakening. They are ten: generosity, honesty, resignation, wisdom, effort, patience, sincerity, determination, kindness and serenity.

Kindness or wanting the good of others

Metta is one of the mentioned virtues and means goodness, kindness, benevolence. It consists of treating others appropriately, as well as wanting their material and, above all, spiritual good.

“May all beings be happy” is one of the main maxims of Buddhism. It is about putting yourself in the place of the other, taking care of their needs and accepting that they have different ideas from ours. It also means treating everyone with delicacy.

In our culture, kindness suggests a sweetened sentimentality, while for Buddhism it is the result of a search for objectivity, almost a rational conclusion: there is no radical separation between each one and the others, including animals and plants.

On the other hand, kindness must be sincere. It is not about pretending to be charitable, but about feeling it from the heart.

Goodness means strength

Another misunderstanding is to associate goodness with weakness, compared to the apparent strength and power of the wicked. However, the caring attitude has an inherent force capable of transforming things. Together with intelligence and determination, it is the characteristic of the characters that have marked history for good, such as Nelson Mandela.

Within Tibetan Buddhism, spiritual qualities can be synthesized into wisdom and compassion. Both are necessary, just like a bird needs both wings to fly. Therefore, love and knowledge should go hand in hand.

The mere goodness, without the right vision, may even be harmful. As if we feed our children only sweets according to their wishes. Urging them to eat other foods is a show of kindness, even though children may not see it that way.

In reality, we all like to do good, although it is generally easier for us to do it with family and friends. This desire shows that it is a natural tendency inscribed in our being.

But we often ignore that call deep in our fears and worries. Letting it manifest means reconciling ourselves with life. Well, as Francis of Assisi affirmed, “giving is received and by forgiving one is forgiven”.

Metta Meditation

The simplest and most effective way to meditate on goodness is to rejoice in the good of others instead of feeling envy, share the happiness of the children or that your ex-partner is doing well … Another way is to visualize a golden light that surrounds to a certain person, giving him protection and luck.

Start by practicing with yourself and then with family and friends, especially those who need more help. If you like to go further, try with those who do not like or even have a confrontation. It would not be strange if your relationship improved.