Source http://www.sonima.com/meditation/mindful-living/calm-wedding/
It could be because my own wedding is any day now, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the Buddhist view of love. Our officiant, Susan Piver, writes in her new book The Four Noble Truths of Love that an important aspect of love in a long-term committed relationship is to stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder with the other person, especially in the midst of discomfort. While my partner and I have done that for a number of years, and are committing to doing that for the rest of our lives, we feel like we do need to revisit this principle with the challenge of our wedding day in mind. As tension mounts with the vast number of friends and family coming together, we have no doubt that discomfort will be present on the big day.
So, what is one to do when approaching a large gathering, like a wedding, family holiday, or even high school reunion? Tension surfaces, people get nervous, rarely does anyone say the right thing, but we all want to be happy and live a life of love, right? In Buddhism, there are these practices known as the four brahmaviharas, or four immeasurables, that we can engage in to promote and embrace love: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Each of these are aspects of love that we already possess and can cultivat…
Source http://www.sonima.com/meditation/mindful-living/calm-wedding/
It could be because my own wedding is any day now, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the Buddhist view of love. Our officiant, Susan Piver, writes in her new book The Four Noble Truths of Love that an important aspect of love in a long-term committed relationship is to stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder with the other person, especially in the midst of discomfort. While my partner and I have done that for a number of years, and are committing to doing that for the rest of our lives, we feel like we do need to revisit this principle with the challenge of our wedding day in mind. As tension mounts with the vast number of friends and family coming together, we have no doubt that discomfort will be present on the big day.
So, what is one to do when approaching a large gathering, like a wedding, family holiday, or even high school reunion? Tension surfaces, people get nervous, rarely does anyone say the right thing, but we all want to be happy and live a life of love, right? In Buddhism, there are these practices known as the four brahmaviharas, or four immeasurables, that we can engage in to promote and embrace love: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Each of these are aspects of love that we already possess and can cultivat…
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