Cattāri Brahmavihārā

Every morning I take my kids to school and say hello to two dozen people. Maybe it’s me or maybe it’s a New York thing, but there are some people you just get a vibe from.  It seems that, despite there never having been an obvious incident, some people just don’t seem to like you. It may be that I’m reading too much into it but that’s the feeling I get from a handful of people that I am fond of seeing. 

I often find myself wondering why this might be, sometimes plotting ways to make them know I don’t care (when I obviously do) and sometimes just worrying about it until something else comes along and grabs my attention. But today I made the concerted effort to send metta to this person and to try to understand their reasons for their apparent dislike. Of course, I will never really know how they feel but my own perceptions and feelings are very real and have equally real consequences. 

May all enemies and difficult people have happiness and the roots of happiness.