Metta

Okay, let's send some metta out this morning. Goodwill. Compassion. I'm thinking particularly of Ann Coulter, whose smirking aspersions on Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards were replayed ad nauseam on every news station last night. The first, spontaneous thoughts that came to my mind were expressed in words like "vile" and "despicable"--not to mention more personally insulting barbs about her "soulless face" and her "skinny ass." It took me a while to come to the realization that my reaction, of course, was no better than, indeed identical in spirit to her original remarks. Nice going, Buddhist Pete. I thought about the eight-fold path... Right speech. Smearing other people is no way to honor myself, nor to arrive at greater insight or wisdom. So this morning I made a point of practicing some metta and sending it particularly in her direction. May she be happy. May she find true happiness in her life, and the source of happiness...