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The Buddha compared this kind of person to a pond covered by moss.

In order to use that water, you must brush the moss aside.

Similarly, we sometimes need to ignore a persons superficial weaknesses to find her good heart.

But what if a persons words are cruel and her actions too are unkind Is she rotten through and through Even a person like this may have a pure heart.

Imagine you have been walking through a desert.

You have no water with you, and there is no water anywhere around.

With every step, you become thirstier and thirstier.

Then you come across a cows footprint.

There is water in the footprint, but not much because the footprint is not very deep.

If you try to scoop up the water with your hand, it will become very muddy.

You are so thirsty, you kneel down and bend over.

Very slowly, you bring your mouth to the water and sip it, very carefully so as not to disturb the mud.

Even though there is dirt all around, the little bit of water is still clear.

With similar effort, we can find a good heart even in a person who seems totally without redemption.

The meditation center where most often teach is in the hills of the West Virginia countryside.

When we first opened our center, there was a man down the road who was very unfriendly.

He would just frown at me and look away.

After about a year, his behavior changed.

The practice of loving friendliness was beginning to bear fruit.

After another year, when passed him on my walk, something miraculous happened.

He drove past me and lifted one finger off the steering wheel.

Again, thought, Oh, this is wonderful Loving friendliness is working.

The third year, he lifted two fingers in my direction.

Then the next year, he lifted all four fingers off the wheel.

was walking down the road as he turned into his driveway.

He took his hand completely off the steering wheel, stuck it out the window, and waved back to me.

One day, not long after that, saw this man parked on the side of one of the forest roads.

He was sitting in the drivers seat smoking a cigarette.

went over to him and we started talking.

First we chatted just about the weather and then, little by little, his story unfolded It turns out that, several years ago, he had been in a terrible accidenta tree had fallen on his truck.

Almost every bone in his body had been broken, and he was left in a coma for some time.

When first started seeing him on the road, he was only beginning to recover.

It was not because he was a mean person that he did not wave back to me he did not wave back because he could not move all his fingers Had given up on him, would never have known how good this man is.

One day, when had been away on a trip, he actually came by our center looking for me.

He was worried because he hadnt seen me walking in a while.

The Buddha said, By surveying the entire world with my mind, have not come across anyone who loves others more than himself.

Therefore one who loves himself should cultivate this loving friendliness.

Accept yourself just as you are.

If thoughts arise as to how you should be such and such a way, let them go.

Let the power of loving friendliness saturate your entire body and mind.

Expend this feeling to your loved ones, to people you dont know or feel neutrally aboutand even to your adversaries Let each and every one of us imagine that our minds are free from greed, anger, aversion, jealousy, and fear.

Let the thought of loving friendliness embrace us and envelop us.

Let every cell, every drop of blood, every atom, every molecule of our entire bodies and minds be charged with the thought of friendliness.

Let our minds and bodies be filled with the thought of loving friendliness.

Let the peace and tranquillity of loving friendliness pervade our entire being.

May all beings in all directions, all around the universe, have good hearts.

Let them be happy, let them have good fortune, let them be kind, let them have good and caring friends.

May all beings everywhere be filled with the feeling of loving friendlinessabundant, exalted, and measureless.

Just as we walk or run or swim to strengthen our bodies, the practice of loving friendliness on a regular basis strengthens our hearts.

At first it may seem as if you are only going through the motions.

But by associating with thoughts of metta over and over, it becomes a habit, a good habit.

In time, your heart grows stronger, and the response of loving friendliness becomes automatic.

As our hearts becoming stronger, even toward difficult people we can think kind and loving thoughts.

May no harm come to them, may no difficulty come to them, may no pain come to them.

May they always meet with success.

How can we wish our adversaries success What if theyre trying to kill me When we wish success for our adversaries, we dont mean worldly success or success in doing something immoral or unethical we mean success in the spiritual realm.

Our adversaries are clearly not successful spiritually if they were successful spiritually, they would not be acting in a way that causes us harm.

Whenever we say of our adversaries, May they be successful, we mean May my enemies be free from anger, greed, and jealousy.

May they have peace, comfort, and happiness.

Why is somebody cruel or unkind Perhaps that person was brought up under unfortunate circumstances.

Perhaps there are situations in that persons life we dont know about that cause him or her to act cruelly.

The Buddha asked us to think of such people the same way we would if someone were suffering from a terrible illness.

Do we get angry or upset with people who are ill Or do we have sympathy and compassion for them Perhaps even more than our loved ones, our adversaries deserve our kindness, for their suffering is so much greater.

For these reasons, without any reservation, we should cultivate kind thoughts about them.

We include them in our hearts just as we would those dearest to us.

May all those who have harmed us be free from greed, anger, aversion, hatred, jealousy, and fear.

Let these thoughts of loving friendliness embrace them, envelop them.

Let every cell, every drop of blood, every atom, every molecule of their entire bodies and minds be charged with thoughts of friendliness.

Let the peace and tranquillity pervade their entire being.

When we practice metta meditation, our minds will become filled with peace and happiness.

When our mind becomes calm and peaceful, our hatred, anger, and resentment fade away.

But loving friendliness is not limited to our thoughts.

We must manifest it in our words and our actions.

We cannot cultivate loving friendliness in isolation from the world.

You can start by thinking kind thoughts about everyone you have contact with every day.

If you have mindfulness, you can do this every waking minute with everyone you deal with.

Whenever you see someone, consider that, like yourself, that person wants happiness and wants to avoid suffering.

When we recognize that common ground, we see how closely we are all connected.

The woman behind the checkout counter, the man who passes you on the expressway, the young couple walking across the street, the old man in the park feeding the birds.

Whenever you see another being, any being, keep this in mind.

It is a practice that can change your life and the lives of those around you.

At first, you may experience resistance to this practice.

Perhaps you feel unable to bring yourself to feel these kinds of thoughts.

Because of experiences in your own life, it may be easier to feel loving friendliness for some people and more difficult for others.

Children, for example, often bring out our feelings of loving friendliness quite naturally while with others, it may be more difficult.

With mindfulness, little by little you can change your responses.

Does sending someone thoughts of loving friendliness actually change the other person Can practicing loving friendliness change the world When you are sending loving friendliness to people who are far away or people you may not even know, of course, it is not possible to know the effect.

But you can notice the effect that practicing loving friendliness has on your own peace of mind.

The only way to find this out for yourself is to try it.

Practicing metta does not mean that we ignore the unwholesome actions of others.

It simply means that we respond to such actions in an appropriate way.

One day he went to the Buddha and asked whether the Buddha was ever harsh to others.

At this time the prince had his little child on his lap.

Suppose, Prince, this little child of yours were to put a piece of wood in his mouth, what would you do asked the Buddha.

If he put a piece of wood in his mouth, would hold the child very tightly between my legs and put my crooked index finger in his mouth.

Though he might be crying and struggling in discomfort, would pull the piece of wood out even if he bleeds, said the prince.

Why would you do that Because love my child.

Similarly, Prince, sometimes have to be harsh on my disciples not out of cruelty, but out of love for them, said the Buddha.

Loving friendliness, not anger, motivated his actions.

The Buddha provided us with five very basic tools for dealing with others in a kindhearted way.