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Something Understood

Religion & Ethics

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry

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Something Understood: Cultivating Kindness

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30/09/2018

Cultivating Kindness

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, Cultivating Kindness

Suryagupta, chair of the London Buddhist Centre, asks if kindness can be cultivated.

Suryagupta Dharmacharini, chair of the London Buddhist Centre, explores the Metta Bhavana meditation practice - an ancient technique for the cultivation of compassion and kindness

Suryagupta Dharmacharini, Chair of the London Buddhist Centre, remembers seeing her mother crying when witnessing the horrors of war-torn countries on the nightly news. As a child, Suryagupta couldn't understand why her mum was so moved by the suffering of strangers. It was years later, when meditating on a Buddhist retreat, that the importance of this level of empathy first truly struck her.

Whilst kindness and compassion might seem to be innate, Buddhists like Suryagupta believe that they can be actively cultivated through meditation. In this episode, Suryagupta explores the Metta Bhavana meditation practice - an ancient technique for the cultivation of kindness created by the Buddha approximately 2500 years ago. She explains that Metta in Pali translates as 'loving kindness' and Bhavana as 'cultivation'. The meditator concentrates on channelling kindness in a number of directions, resulting in a heightened level of empathy and compassion that has been scientifically proven.

Across the five stages of the Metta Bhavana meditation, practitioners direct kindness towards themselves, towards a friend, towards a neutral person about whom they have no strong feelings, towards someone they have a fractious relationship with and finally towards all sentient beings. Suryagupta examines the challenges and benefits that each stage brings with the help of Johnny Cash, Gregory Porter, John Coltrane, Raymond Carver, Rumi and a selection of Buddhist texts.

Producer: Max O'Brien
Presenter: Suryagupta Dharmacharini
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4


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