The Power of Loving Kindness

“Love and kindness are the very basis of society. If we lose these qualities, society will face tremendous difficulties; the survival of humanity will be endangered.” These words of the Dali Lama ring more true for me today than at any other time in my life because we now live in an interconnected global community that’s bound together in ways it’s never been before. How we treat each other has “ripple effects” around the globe which have implications for everyone. We can no longer play the ‘blame game.’ We must take personal responsibility for ourselves.

To love means to give from your heart. In giving from your heart there’s a connection that’s universal in the human community. A warm smile speaks to love for self and others and speaks the language of kindness. How often are you aware that the people you meet wherever you go are part of you? How conscious are you that people of all ages, genders, languages, religions, origins, races and colors are your family members? How aware are you ‘that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something’, just like you?

Our similarities are greater than our differences. We all have fears, struggles, successes, failures, loves, losses, insecurities, hopes, dreams, and start out as helpless infants. We were raised differently and yet the same. The pains, sufferings, losses and challenges were formative. So were the loves, the kindnesses, the hopes,  dreams and longings for safety, security and kindly relations. We all respond when we see kindness in another’s face, in their eyes, in their smiles, in a friendly greeting. Don’t we? And if not, why not? Fear?

The power of Love is the power of creation. As such it can overcome all prejudice, transcend and include any fear, any disconnection, any violence, any death. We don’t do love or fall in love or create love. Love is who we are at our very core; it’s our essence, the heart and soul of our very being. To cover it up, belittle it, turn against it in righteous indignation and prideful hubris goes against our very creation and the Great Creating that we are all a part of. To turn against one another is to turn agains ourselves. It’s contrary to our Highest Nature, to our Essential Self.

Brene Brown says: “We cultivate love when we allow our most valuable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.” It seems to me that this is the Power of Loving Kindness. To open our hearts to another even for a moment is a powerful and significant inner action. It comes from the Source of creation. When we step into this energy field, ‘the phrase each other doesn’t make any sense’ because in the human/divine milieu, we are ultimately All One, Interconnected, Interwoven, and Gloriously Designed.

How does it feel for you to shun someone or to be shunned? How do you feel when you  are scorned, when you are angry or fearful, experiencing grief, despair, apathy, guilt, shame? Do you realize that every human being at one time or another has these same feelings? And what are the actions that usually accompany these lower levels of consciousness? Go ahead, from your experience, give the variety of actions you’ve exhibited and that have been acted out against you which continue the cycle of violence against ourselves and each other……….

Now let’s take a look at kindness and love…..How does it feel for your to affirm, empower and encourage someone and to be affirmed, empowered and encouraged? How do you feel when you are trusted, inspired, accepted, forgiven, understood and loved and how does it feel for you to trust, inspire, accept, forgive, understand, and give meaning to another? You see, the very first step in nonviolence is that we cultivate it in our daily lives by giving to others what we want them to give us. The more of anything we give to others the more of it we receive!

In this new global community the ‘ripple effect’ is almost instantaneous and our common humanity is counting on us to stand and deliver the Power of Loving Kindness no matter what our leaders are broadcasting. We must be the change we want to see everyday in every way which means attention, awareness and making progress in ongoing Loving Kindness.

Our job at this time in history is to Be Who We Truly Are; Lovingness and Kindness. It begins wherever we are in all manner of circumstances. It begins with the deep knowing that we are all together on this planetary experience in Love; that we truly are the ones we’ve been waiting for! Are you sensing this, inspired by this? Are you listening deeply to your Call to Love?

• Think of your daily life as a baking project making dessert. In the recipe, at the bottom of the page there’s a note that says *When in doubt as to the sweetness of this mix, add more sugar.” The sugar is love and kindness. Feel the disconnections and add more love. Sense the judgements and add more love. Awaken to the alienation and add more love. Practice this for the next three months and experience the difference in your interactions with your inner and outer selves.

• When thinking about “the enemy” remember this: When I was told to love my enemy I took the advice seriously. I finally began to love myself. It changed everything.

• At a very deep level in your daily prayer, meditation and contemplation, appreciate all seven and a half billion people on the planet with Love and Kindness. Feel their joys and sorrows, their pain and suffering, their hopes and dreams, their anger and despair. Identify with the ones you have the most negative emotions toward and put yourself in their circumstances. Forgive them and send them the flowing energy of unconditional loving kindness.

• Remember the ‘ripple effect.’ Drop deeply into your Inner Being and from this space receive and send the Abundant Unconditional Love of the Great Creating…….Feel It… Be It… Breathe it in and out… It’s your Gift to receive and give… Add More Love… It’s All Ways Here…