… Of course the more stringent side of metta is that if you really do wish yourself happiness, what are you doing? Why are you living this way? Why do you do these things? Why do you say these things? Why do you think these things? If you were really serious about your happiness, you’d change the way you live. In this way, thoughts …
… In the
Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta, the Buddha talks about
all that goes into living a life that makes it possible for your
goodwill to be honest and sincere.
It requires being restrained. In fact, the Buddha calls goodwill a
type of restraint. You don’t usually think of it that way. As an
unlimited attitude, how is it restrained? It’s restrained in that …
… Ajaan Suwat was once sitting in the sala at Wat Metta*. *He pointed to
Mount Palomar, which is across the large valley there, and asked some
of the lay people, “Is that mountain heavy?” Now, you know when an
ajaan asks a question like that, it’s a trick question. Nobody dared
to answer. So he provided the answer himself. He said, “If you …
… Is your way of
life really in line with that intention?
That chant we had just now, the Karaniya Metta Sutta: Go back and look
at the first several passages. It doesn’t start out immediately with
just saying goodwill for everybody. It talks about how you live: You
want to be someone who takes criticism easily, someone who’s not so
busy with …
