The practice of kindness

Doug Freebern sent me the link to an article entitled, "Is It Uncool to Be Kind?" It's an interview of Sharon Salzberg, a meditation teacher whom I admire very much. Here are a couple of excerpts:

In what way can kindness be a spiritual practice?

It's both an internal spiritual practice and it's an external practice. I think one doesn't have to have a kind of classically spiritual word for it, to define it or access it, but it's like a commitment. It's remembering what we care about.

Mostly, I think it has to do with attention. You're rushing down the street and somebody asks you for directions, and the first thing you feel is annoyance. Like, I'm in a hurry, can't you see? But then you stop and you look at them and they look a little forlorn maybe, certainly a little bit lost and uneasy. And you think, they trusted me, that's why they asked me. They have that kind of inclination and you stop and you talk to them and there's just that little moment of connection. If we pay attention to what's around us then I think that leads us - or that's a form itself, a form of kindness.
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Having a commitment to being straightforward and being clear and being honest and caring about others allows us not to live in fear all the time. It's also considered a gift of fearlessness to others because it's almost like that's what we are radiating is this assurance that I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to try and take advantage of you or manipulate you or deceive you. People feel that, they definitely respond to that.

I like the observation that kindness is "remembering what we care about". It's easy to forget, isn't it, when we lack mindfulness. So once again, the meditative process is the key. "Knowing what's happening, while it's happening, no matter what it is" will help us remember what we care about in all circumstances.