Love
All beings are important from the point of view of our spiritual development. Even enemies are important because they incite our anger and thus give us the chance to work on patience, one of the most valuable qualities on the spiritual path.
All beings are the same in wanting happiness and not wanting suffering. They are, at heart just like ourselves.
Every being has Buddha-nature, the potential to become free and enlightened. Even those who live unethically and do many harmful deeds have a nature that is pure and good, and one day (probable after many lives) they will attain enlightenment. If we can accept these ideas and keep them in mind whenever we meet another living being, then instead of feeling, “you are different from me,” we will feel, “you are just like me” and loving-kindness will arise naturally.
The love we develop should be pure and unselfish, expecting nothing in return. Pure love also transcends boundaries.
Love is an inexhaustible energy. Learning to be more loving is like discovering a natural spring within us: however much love we give, more will always come bubbling up. It is our habitual self-centeredness and self-limiting ways of thinking that constrict the flow of love. As we gradually lessen these, our ability to love will increase.
Extracted from Awakening A Kind Heart by Ven. Sangye Khadro
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