As I rest in this “Abode,” I am suddenly aware that I harbor a strong preference:
“It should have been the first one we explored.”
How could I give Metta to a world so fragmented and judged by my own preferences?How could I be compassionate in a world so wounded by my own prejudice?
How, indeed, can I be loving and compassionate to myself as I cling to so many notions of “individual specialness”?
Especially resourceful and independent, especially wasteful of freedom and resources, especially experienced in diverse activities, especially cloistered in a tiny cosmos of my own, etc. etc.
Equanimity is, for me, a far more challenging ‘abode’ than either loving-kindness or compassion.With loving-kindness and compassion I could avoid giving those to myself while almost totally focusing on “others.”With equanimity, I am challenged to look into world that mirrors my own projections, judgments, and reactiveness.
And thus the practice expands:
Looking inward and looking outward, see whatever rises free of preference and prejudice.