Kindness is the Water of Humanity

Kindness is the water of humanity. without water, we harden. Kindness is an attitude, an aspiration, and a practice. It is also core to spiritual life and religions. In the tradition I am trained in, we practice metta, which is the Pali word for unconditional kindness–friendliness and genuine acceptance. Metta is part of a constellation of heart practices referred to as the Brahmaviharas, or divine abodes. 

Metta is not a prayer for help from something or someone outside of ourselves. It is not an ego-driven kindness based on possessions, attachment, or grasping, nor is it overly sentimental. Rather, metta is a genuine desire for all beings, without exception, to be safe from inner and outer harm, to be healthy and content, and to live with ease….We all have ways of protecting ourselves from racial harm. we may strike out, walk out, or numb out, depending on the situation. Yet underneath all of our actions, despite appearances, is a shared and deep desire for kindness–to both offer it and to receive it. We all wish to be able to stand in the center of racial ignorance and distress without parking our hearts at the door. 

The practice of meta supports us in priming the mind to embrace racial fear and distress in an atmosphere of nonresistance.

Through this mindfulness practice, we are not trying to change what we are facing. Rather, we are freeing ourselves in the moment by loving ourselves, and we are training ourselves to embrace what is right here, right now, with friendliness and intentional goodwill. Most important, it is about maintaining goodwill towards all, even towards our antagonist. 

Racism is a heart disease, and it’s curable. Metta practice can serve as a blood transfusion, opening the heart, and purifying generational patterns of racial ignorance, innocence, and hatred. 

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