1. Loving-Kindness

World Scripture

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4.32

May I look on all beings with the eye of friend! May we look on one another with the eye of friend!
Yajur Veda 36.18 (Hinduism)

He who can find no room for others lacks fellow feeling, and to him who lacks fellow feeling, all men are strangers.
Chuang Tzu 23 (Taoism)

Treat people in such a way and live amongst them in such a manner that if you die they will weep over you; alive they crave for your company.
Nahjul Balagha, Saying 9 (Shiite Islam)

Gentle character it is which enables the rope of life to stay unbroken in one’s hand.
Yoruba Proverb (African Traditional Religions)

Monks, whatsoever grounds there be for good works undertaken with a view to [favorable] rebirth, all of them are not worth one-sixteenth part of that goodwill which is the heart’s release; goodwill alone, which is the heart’s release, shines and burns and flashes forth in surpassing them.
Itivuttaka 19 (Buddhism)

Even though it be the home of someone who has managed for long to avoid misfortune, we gods will not enter into the dwelling of a person with perverse disposition. Even though it be a dwelling where a man be in mourning for father and mother, if he be a man of compassion, we deities will enter in there.²¹
Oracle of the Kami of Kasuga (Shinto)

Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai said, “Go forth and see which is the good way to which a man should cleave.” Rabbi Eliezar said, “A good eye”; Rabbi Joshua said, “A good friend”; Rabbi Jose said, “A good neighbor”; Rabbi Simeon said, “One who foresees the fruit of an action”; Rabbi Elazar said, “A good heart.” Thereupon he said to them, “I approve the words of Elazar ben Arach, rather than your words, for in his words yours are included.”
Mishnah, Avot 2.13 (Judaism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

No matter that you plan to go another way; the heart of love for the sake of others will always point you in the right direction, as a compass always points north.
(138:99, January 19, 1986)

Make a habit of liking people. Tell them that you like them even if they do not like you. It is training.
(118:116, May 9, 1982)

Have you ever shed tears for others? It is easy for people to weep for themselves, but have you wept for others? There are two kinds of tears. A person who sheds tears for him or herself will go to hell, but a person who sheds tears for others will go to heaven.
(96:172-73, January 3, 1978)

Respect all things as holy things. Treat them as sacred objects. Respect all people as holy people, each one the sacred body of God. Respect yourself as a holy person, with the thought that your mind is God’s mind and your body is God’s body.
(102:113, November 27, 1978)

Do we say of someone who possesses much knowledge, “He is an outstanding person”? No. He must have a good heart. A good person has an innately good framework of life and original nature. Whether knowledgeable or not, a good person has a good heart.
(39:315, January 16, 1971)

Your eyes should become more benevolent. Of course they shine when you look at a good person, but even when you see wicked people you should add extra effort to look at them with a heart of compassion and love. True love has the capacity to digest even evil things. It possesses such power.
(123:225, January 2, 1983)

You may have beautiful eyes, but if they glow with the light of jealousy or personal ambition, seeking to take advantage of others or out for blood, those eyes are fearsome and ugly to behold. Yet even though your eyes may be unattractive and irregular-shaped, if they shine with the light of love, benevolence and peace, then those eyes will captivate people. They are charming and possess magnetic power. So when you act with love as the inner motivation, even wearing a mask cannot hide your beauty.
(116:53-54, December 13, 1981)