Cattāri Brahmavihārā

The sense of urgency that my posture had taken on of late is in no small way due to my own ideas about the future. Frankly, it seems to me that incredibly rough times are ahead and that I need to cultivate a true refuge. 

I ask myself: How well I respond if someone threatens me or mine with violence? How will I react to seeing those I live in pain, suffering, without food? How will I maintain my practice in the face of attacks like those in Aleppo have suffered?

I can answer honestly that I’m not capable of skillfully confronting such situations yet. I have the feeling that I need to spend some time in meditation each day imagining these situations and trying to cultivate the brahmaviharas in them.