Cattāri Brahmavihārā

Maybe it comes from years of trying to assiduously follow the precepts but for whatever reason I find that making a conscious determination to follow a training rule obtains a good result. So, as I contemplate the set of training rules that I am working with, I keep finding new areas in my life that I have neglected to address and that I think could benefit from being included. One area that sprung to mind this morning was that of peacemaking and my consistent failure to effectively do so especially at work. As a result, I would like to include in my personal list of precepts a rule that might go something like the following:

May undertake the precept to promote harmony and concord whenever there is conflict or disagreement.

As a precept to be recited on a daily basis it obviously needs to be short, terse and memorable but there is so much more that I would like to say about it. I often find myself in situations where my business partner is complaining about another company we are working with and I have almost invariably supported his ideas and stoked the flames of aversion up until now. From now on I would like to try to offer him an alternative perception about the difficult party and to help us think of ways that we could come to a mutually beneficial solution ot, at the very least, to open our narrow view of the situation. How can I consider myself a disciple of the Lord Buddha if I were to do anything less?