Kill People with Kindness

Kindness is a virtue that people have been taught since they were a little kid. It’s the golden rule. People might think “obviously it’s important to be nice to people” but when put in situations of high stress or anger, we as humans, tend to lose sight of it.

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Article: "How Kindness Will Change Your Life and the World" from the Huffington Post Author: Tina Williamson (Student of Buddhism) Link to Source

Key Passages

1. “It is said that The Buddha first taught kindness to a group of monks meditating in the forest. These monks were scared of "spirits" in the forest. Likely just afraid of the dark, their fear turned into anger and their anger turned into hate. Many conflicts arise this way; we mistaken and exaggerate our fear of the unknown. The frightened monks went to the Buddha and asked for advice. Through meditation and mindfulness, they were taught how to live a life of kindness, they learned to protect others. The monks went back to the forest with a refreshed outlook. As they practiced the teachings on kindness the forest began to feel safe. They no longer feared ‘unknown spirits’ and with a heart of kindness the creatures and aliveness of the forest became beautiful.”
   
   Analysis: I think that when people are constantly paranoid about others being a threat to them or take things the wrong way, they tend to have negative attitudes toward those people. This passage shows how rather than assuming people are rude, it’s important to take the first step and go out of your way to be nice to someone. That’s only the real way to find out if those around you have the potential of being a friend to you. If they act negatively towards you, at least you tried by being kind to them.
   
   
2. “When our mind is full of agitation and aggression we become overly sensitive to everything that happens to us. Irritation arises at the slightest provocation. If you dwell on other's negative habits you won't get along with many people, we all have faults, big and small. Those who annoy you will increase -- not decrease. When you look at the world through a lens of kindness, non judgement and compassion, you would see good people. People just like you -- people who want to be happy.”
   
   Analysis: This passage teaches how we should not constantly be critical of those around us. We can’t let the negative things happening in our life or little irritations affect the way we treat those around us. Everyone is going through hard things in life, and treating people poorly because you’re having a bad day isn’t a good excuse. If you are having issues with someone that isn’t worth real confrontation, kill them with kindness rather than giving them a cold shoulder.
   
   

3. “Don't underestimate the ripple effect of your actions on the planet. And don't underestimate the boomerang effect your actions will have on your own life; even if not immediately apparent. Allow kindness to become the natural and spontaneous response to every situation, with this increased ability to respond compassionately, true success will follow.”

Analysis: We normally, as humans, don’t think that saying “hello” or smiling at a stranger will make a difference, but it really could make someone’s day. Something as simple as that. This also makes me think about “the bystander effect” we learned about in Psychology. If someone drops their books in the hall or just fell on the ground, we usually think “oh, someone else is going to help, I don’t need to”. It’s important that we start being that person who IS going to help out that person and not wait or assume that someone else will. Small acts of kindness go a long way.