Nurture the garden of Loving-Kindness!

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It was a 10 day long retreat on practicing Metta-Loving-Kindness. On the 8th day, I was able to share Metta with my spiritual friend for like 30 minutes without getting distracted. The more I was practicing forgiveness for myself, the more I was able to develop Metta within me effortlessly. It felt like I was cleaning a pipe that got choked with loads and loads of garbage. It felt like the water was flowing freely-naturally without any obstruction. 

After the formal sitting, I reflected and found that when I 'genuinely' started forgiving myself, I realized, that is all I have to do. I don't need to forgive the other person if I have forgiven myself. As when I looked more closely, I could see that it was all my mistake or craving or clinging towards some feelings/people that caused me pain and suffering. I suffered because of my own ignorance, not because of the other person.

But one question was kept on coming in my mind, as Goenka ji said, "जितना गहरा राग है, उतना गहरा द्वेष" , What can I do so I don't crave for the joyful moments/pleasant feelings and don't develop aversion towards unpleasant feelings during my meditation as well as in my daily life..?

So I went to my teacher and shared the confusion with him.

He told that you don't cross the line of developing Craving (I like 'it' mind) or don't cling to it. Rather you direct it towards practicing 'Metta' and send loving-kindness to the people. In that way you are using those vibes and energies for the benefit of all sentient beings. Likewise, you also don't cross the line of developing aversion (I don't like 'it' mind). Rather you direct it towards practicing 'Forgiveness', forgiving the other person and forgiving yourself too.

There are so much happiness around us, the genuine happiness around us. When we start forgiving ourselves for all the mistakes that we've made, then we can clearly see and experience the joyful moments and happy things happened/happening to us! And in the process, we support others too in their journey by simply sending metta to them. :)


PS : We are the happy ones, but we have forgotten it!! :)

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