How to spread loving-kindness and make it work

How to spread loving-kindness

and make it work!

 

Questions from the audience:
          I am a teacher in Petchaboon province.  One day, while I was teaching the grade 7 students, a swarm suddenly flew into the class through the window.  The students called me frighteningly.  I told the students that “Don’t hurt them.  Let’s come together to spread the loving-kindness to this flowing swarm.”  The students agreed and did it.  The flowing swarm suddenly paused in the air and then, flew away.  This made me surprised.
          Why could our loving-kindness spreading stop the swarm?  Why does the loving-kindness sometimes not work?  How can we do to make it work every time?

Answers:
          The mental power of yours and your students’ could stop the swarm because on that day your minds were concentrated well and stably including all of you did it together, so your mental powers were strong enough to stop the swarm.  When the swarm had touched your mental powers, they flew away.
          There are two factors that make the loving-kindness spreading work.
1.    The doer’s concentration.  If his concentration is stable, his mental power is strong.  If his concentration is weak, his mental power is little.
2.    The receiver’s mind.  If receiver’s mind is full of defilements – greed, anger, delusion – the success of loving-kindness spreading will less.  If the spreader’s mental power is stronger than the receiver’s and the receiver has less defilement than the spreader, the success will be higher.

By Khunkru Maiyai
October 5th, 2006