Eknath Easwaran's Commentary
When we first set out to learn this “disposition for benevolence,” the going may be rough. The conditioning of stimulus and response, “an eye for an eye,” is strong. But as meditation deepens, you find there is a fierce satisfaction in letting go of your own way so that things can go someone else’s way instead. Gradually, you develop a habit of goodness, a positive passion for the welfare of others. In terms of emotional engineering, you are using the mind’s enormous capacity for passion to develop the power to put other people first: and not just verbally, but in your thoughts and actions as well. Eventually kindness becomes spontaneous, second nature; it no longer requires effort. There is nothing sentimental about this quality, either; kindness can be as tough as nails.