Welcome to this meditation program based on a concept we hear a lot about and which is particularly essential in our lives: “benevolence”.
Etymologically speaking, it comes from the Latin “bénévolence”, meaning to want good, and it’s so important to want good. To wish well is to have a positive orientation of attention towards someone or something without passing judgment, it’s to want that person to be well, to want that person to feel good, whether it’s towards the people we live with, towards our children, our parents, towards all those around us, perhaps also for people we hardly know, or don’t know at all.
It’s really a way of being deep inside, it’s a state of being, benevolence, it’s something that opens up, and allows us to feel the amplitude of the relationships we have with each other. Benevolence is a quality we can cultivate that creates bonds. It’s knowing how interdependent we are with others. Kindness is also something we can experience in relation to ourselves, because we are often our own worst enemies and we judge ourselves very negatively. A little gentleness for ourselves makes a big difference. This is what we’re going to tackle step by step in these different meditations on the central theme of kindness.
Before concluding this introduction, I’d like to tell you a story attributed to the Amerindians.
A wise old man was talking to his grandson and said: “We all have two wolves fighting within us. An aggressive, snarling, raping black wolf and a benevolent, warm, loving white wolf.”
The child listens very carefully and asks his grandfather: “Yes, but who wins this battle?”
And the grandfather replies: “The one we feed.”
I’ll leave you to reflect on this story. Thank you and see you soon for a practice session.