ACCEPT

ACCEPT

The All-Embracing Brahma Viharas

At the Botanical GardenTogether, we’re all in this mystery called life, with its joys and sorrows. Yet, receiving and accepting one another is not always easy. The following acronym, ACCEPT, can remind us of six sublime realities or truths about life.

Embedded within these six principles of living are the Brahma Viharas — loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. The acronym is as follows:

Allowing – give people the freedom and joy to be themselves, and don’t be quick to project expectations, demands, and judgments on them.

Cherishing – love and cherish people equal to one’s self-cherishing, and show them loving-kindness whenever possible.

Compassion – care for people’s welfare and foster their well-being, deeply desiring to alleviate any suffering.

Equanimity – strive to be free of attachment and aversion, and show goodwill equally to all (don’t hold some close and others distant).

Patience – endure difficult situations with people, and refrain from quickly reacting with annoyance, anger, or aggression (realize that hatred just breeds more hatred, and is only conquered by love).

Thankfulness – be grateful for our precious human existence (because any life can end quickly and unexpectedly), and extend empathetic joy toward others, rejoicing with them in their happiness and successes (why be envious and jealous?).

These noble qualities of goodwill – when used with all-important discernment and wisdom – are an ideal way of relating to all living beings. They free the heart and mind from needless suffering and unhappiness.

—ooo000ooo—

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings never be separated from the supreme joy
that is beyond all sorrow.
May all beings abide in equanimity free from attachment and aversion.
(Above four aspirations taken from The Heart of Dharma Collection
by SourcePoint Global Outreach)