In the Golok province of Eastern Tibet, where I was born and grew up, I knew many older laymen and laywomen who joyfully and vigorously prayed with unreserved devotion to the Buddha of Loving-Kindness and enjoyed heartfelt blessings.
For a novice like me, there is no other way to enter the Dharma than by grasping on to virtuous objects and deeds at the beginning. Meditating on loving-kindness will initially be dualistic.
We should always recognize whatever meditation progress we experience. Doing this will strengthen the experience, hasten our progress, and refine its quality.
Rejoicing magnifies the beneficial effects of meditation. When we are self-critical—thinking, say, that our meditation was too short or not good enough—we take away from its power to help us.
When you focus on praying with the heart of total devotion and trust in the Buddha by enjoying his loving-kindness, then before long, unconditional love—the Buddha’s blessings and loving-kindness—will take birth in you.
If we train our mind to become peaceful and loving, then whatever we say and do will be peaceful and loving, and will inspire peace and joy in those around us.
To understand how the world can be a creation of the mind, it is useful to recognize that our mind has two aspects: ordinary mind and enlightened mind.
In recent years, it began to dawn on me that most Buddhist practices, such as those on devotion and loving-kindness, lead meditators through four distinct stages.
