[StPete-news] Mindfulness Practice on Wednesday

[stpete-updates at floridamindfulness.org]

Please join us Wednesday, February 13 at 7:15 p.m. for our mindfulness
practice at Yoga Moves studio, 1045 9th Avenue North, St. Petersburg.  Our
evening will include seated and walking meditation, followed by our dharma
discussion.

Participants have been asked to bring ideas of readings that could serve
as the basis for our discussions on the evenings when Fred is not
teaching.  Since Thursday is Valentine’s Day, when love is celebrated, one
suggestion for Wednesday’s discussion is being offered below in this
email.

We look forward to practicing with you on Wednesday.  Enjoy your breathing


Following are excerpts from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book True Love, the chapter
entitled ’The Four Aspects of Love:’

According to Buddhism, there are four elements of true love.

The first is maitri, which can be translated as loving-kindness or
benevolence.  Loving-kindness is not only the desire to make someone
happy, to bring joy to a beloved person; it is the ability to bring joy
and happiness to the person you love, because even if your intention is to
love this person, your love might make him or her suffer.

Training is needed in order to love properly; and to be able to give
happiness and joy, you must practice deep looking directed toward the
person you love.  Because if you do not understand this person, you cannot
love properly.  Understanding is the essence of love.  If you cannot
understand, you cannot love. That is the message of the Buddha
.Without
understanding, love is an impossible thing.

What must we do in order to understand a person?  We must have time; we
must practice looking deeply into this person.  We must be there,
attentive; we must observe, we must look deeply.  And the fruit of this
looking deeply is called understanding.  Love is a true thing if it is
made up of a substance called understanding.

The second element of true love is compassion, karuna.  This is not only
the desire to ease the pain of another person, but the ability to do so. 
You must practice deep looking in order to gain a good understanding of
the nature of the suffering of this person, in order to be able to help
him or her to change.  Knowledge and understanding are always at the root
of the practice.  The practice of understanding is the practice of
meditation.  To meditate is to look deeply into the heart of things.

The third element of true love is joy, mudita.  If there is no joy in
love, it is not true love.  If you are suffering all the time, if you cry
all the time, and if you make the person you love cry, this is not really
love—it is even the opposite.  If there is not joy in your love, you can
be sure that it is not true love.

The fourth element is upeksha, equanimity or freedom.  In true love, you
attain freedom.  When you love, you bring freedom to the person you love. 
If the opposite is true, it is not true love.  You must love in such a way
that the person you love feels free, not only outside but also inside. 
“Dear one, do you have enough space in your heart and all around you?” 
This is an intelligent question for testing out whether your love is
something real.