Loving kindness and compassion are two strong currents that run through the entire Buddhist path  •  they are directly intertwined with the two sides of meditation practice: shamatha, or taming the mind, and vipashyana, or cultivating insight  •  there is a lot of cruelty in the world, and things like loving kindness and compassion are often seen not as signs of strength, but as signs of weakness and vulnerability  •  but in the dharma, loving kindness and compassion are seen as the most powerful forces there are  •  loving kindness begins with meditation practice, with making friends with yourself  •  this quality of friendship is not based on struggle or striving; it’s the core of who we are  •  just as settling down, taming the mind, and being still can lead to greater friendship and understanding of ourselves; the other aspect of meditation, vipashyana, turns our attention to others  •  that stream of compassion for others is the same energy, just directed outward  •  the radical teaching of the dharma is that this force of compassion is the strongest force, the most reliable force there is  •  it is stronger than all of the aggression, anger and hatred that we find around us.