Inner Work

For the week of August 1, 2005

From Heartless to Kindness

All too often we notice ourselves falling into a heartless attitude toward others: some ill-will, criticism, anger, hatred, or an impulse toward emotional cruelty or even physical violence. If we aspire to the spiritual path, we need a way to deal with such unbecoming processes in our psyche.

The noticing itself forms the first essential step. If we do not see how we are inwardly, we have no chance of changing. The practice of clearly seeing our own inner and outer manifestations supports us in noticing our occasional heartlessness.

But only if the seeing is strong and objective, can it enable us not to identify with the thoughts and emotions, and not react against them. Then our situation can begin to change. For that we can take an inner action to replace our nastiness with kindness. If we try to stop the callous impulse directly, it will nearly always find a way around our effort. However, if at the very moment we see the heartlessness, we deliberately evoke a feeling of friendship or warmth, kindness or compassion, appreciation or well-wishing, we may well succeed in overwhelming our unkindness with love. With persistence, the deeper and truer feeling of connection supplants the more superficial, though possibly powerful, feelings of antagonism.

For this week, when you notice a heartless thought or feeling in yourself, make an effort to shift into kindness.

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