Cultivate a heartfelt wish to see others free of suffering.
Loving Kindness as it is practiced in Buddhist tradition is the art of consciously sending positive intentions to others. 
What sometimes makes the practice of Loving Kindness distinct from actual acts of charity, (which may arise from the practice of Loving Kindness), is the way in which the person practicing views the recipient of their loving intention.
Instead of pitying the recipient of our loving intention, we instead consciously choose to see, or visualise them, as unbroken, whole and complete. In so doing, the sender of loving intentions not only helps to alleviate the recipients suffering, but also helps them remember that they too, the sender, are intrinsically unbroken, whole and complete.
When we remember that how we see others is actually how we see ourselves, it is easier to open our hearts, and become re-enchanted with the world.
The first step in this process is a simple wish that others be happy. In the book The All Seeing Boy and the Blue Sky of Happiness, the All Seeing Boy’s quest begins with a simple, heartfelt wish to help lift the spirit of the people he loved, for no other reason than to see them free of suffering.
In the same way, it’s important that we also engage in the practice of Loving Kindness for the right reasons, i.e not just for our own ends, but rather to see others liberated.
A good way to do this, is to begin the actual practice of Loving Kindness by considering the suffering of people close to us. When we empathise with someone’s suffering, it is natural to want that suffering to end. In so doing we begin to experience the ‘connection’ between ourselves and others, which is the ultimate outcome of the practice of Loving Kindness.
Thought for the day: Empathising with others suffering, is not an end point, but instead the first step in wishing great happiness for someone else.
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