Cattāri Brahmavihārā

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.

~Mother Teresa

Probably the simplest, if not altogether the easiest, way to connect with those around us and to offer metta is through our smiles. I have often found that a smile can immediately evaporate tension when one enters a room or crowded train full of strangers. But, in all honesty, it seems to take a little extra work and considerable practice to generate a real smile in more intimate settings. Nonetheless, a smile cuts through the entanglements of discourse and gets right to the heart of the matter so it seems to me that smiling practice its well worth the effort.