"Unlimited Friendliness" with Jane this Sunday at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

Sunday 10am Community Practice & Discussion

From Jane:  Some 30 years ago Pema Chodron introduced me to the healing potential of the teachings and practices of the Buddha.  Since that time, I find myself returning to her teachings and also “stumbling over something” of hers on my way to something else.  

I recently “stumbled over” her article entitled "Unlimited Friendliness" in the Winter, 2009 edition of Tricycle.

And once again, I found her words to be helpful.  Here are some excerpts from the article:

[At the beginning of the article she states that her teacher] Chögyam Trungpa taught that the term Maitri (Metta/loving kindness) means unlimited friendliness toward ourselves, with the clear implication that this leads naturally to unlimited friendliness toward others. Maitri also has the meaning of trusting oneself—trusting that we have what it takes to know ourselves thoroughly and completely without feeling hopeless, without turning against ourselves because of what we see.

She goes on in the article to lay out ways in which we can do this and she then ends the article with this statement:

So we start by making friends with our experience and developing warmth for our good old selves. Slowly, very slowly, gently, very gently, we let the stakes get higher as we touch in on more troubling feelings. This leads to trusting that we have the strength and good-heartedness to live in this precious world, despite its land mines, with dignity and kindness. With this kind of confidence, connecting with others comes more easily, because what is there to fear when we have stayed with ourselves through thick and thin? Other people can provoke anything in us, and we don’t need to defend ourselves by striking out or shutting down. Selfless help—helping others without an agenda— is the result of having helped ourselves. We feel loving toward ourselves and therefore we feel loving toward others. Over time, all those we used to feel separate from become more and more melted into our heart.

To me these words are a great inspiration.  Trust me, I am far from this realization, but I appreciate Pema’s confidence in this process.  This Sunday, I look forward to practicing together and exploring what these words inspire in you.   Please join us.  All are welcome! Registration and Zoom information available here.

With mettā,
Minneapolis Insight

‍