The loving-kindness exercise was primarily centered on feelings towards others, the suffering of a loved one, and the suffering of strangers. It concentrated on breathing as a center of personal focus, but the breath was to clear the mind and shuffle away self-centeredness. The subtle mind exercise focused primarily on breathing and the inner-most part of one’s mind, more self-centered than not. Although both exercises concentrated on breathing technique and the awareness of love and genuine concern, they were like two sides of a coin. The first exercise concentrated on loving outside of the mind, the second one, inside.
The benefit of this is that is allows one to appreciate others for what they are before they turn inward to their own personal devotion; however, depending on the person it can allow them to assume others are more important than themselves, which can lead to low self-esteem. You need to learn how to love and care for yourself before you do for others. The older I get the more I understand this connection, and have been able to see how it is self-confidence rather than ego.
Good Morning Jenn,
ReplyDeleteAs always, I enjoy reading your evaluation of this week’s material. You have a point of view that I can appreciate as it is seasoned with wisdom and insight.
I never thought of the Loving Kindness exercise as being an exercise that allowed me to learn and appreciate others for what they were. I just thought of it in a selfish way of trying to give love and kindness to others when I barely had enough to give to myself. Although when I think about it, I have always found it easier to love and give to others than to myself. Perhaps it is this jaded view that gave me the selfish undertones of the Loving Kindness exercise. I believe I will try it again with the thought that I am not giving as much as I understanding. This might make it easier for me to delve into the exercise and truly get something out of it.
I did appreciate this week’s exercise in the Subtle Mind. It is one I have found myself practicing several times each day. I have found that as I begin to feel overwhelmed with all of the chatter in my head, it is easier to take 10 minutes and calm and center myself than it is to “chase my tail” and have several unfinished projects.
Keep up the good work!
Rufus J.
In the love-kindness activity, it did tend to focus on others as well as yourself. I found that that activity gained my attention in the beginning when I was able to focus only on someone that I love dearly and then center that love towards myself. The breathing in both activities encouraged me to be more focus on this type technique through exercise, focusing on one thing and clearing the mind gives a more centered feeling for making one feel calm and more at ease with life and everything that goes along with it.
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