(#300,365) Offerings, Maitre

[thoreau]

(title: each war is different, each war is the same, flickr user kevindooley)

"Wars between people are simply a reflection of our own inner conflicts and fear"
- Jack Kornfield

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I have been spending time working on maitre practice - particularly setting the tone with my morning meditations. Translated this means unconditional friendliness and in particular unconditional friendliness to oneself.

The question is how do you relate when things are uncomfy? How do you relate with the feelings you have and situations you find yourself in? How do you keep the friendliness at the core of maitre practice present even in the most difficult situations?

Pema Chodron says: "This particular teaching on the Four Limitless Ones, on maitri, compassion, joy and equanimity is really a teaching on how to take the situations of your life and train- actually train- in catching yourself closing down, catching yourself getting hard, and training in opening at that very point, or softening. In some sense reversing a very, very old pattern of the whole species, which is a pattern of armoring ourselves. It's sort of like the essence of the whole Path is in that place of discomfort and what do you do with it?"

it is a lot to think through - and try and keep present with.