Practices to Cultivate Positive Emotions Positive States of Minds

[2ndchance]

Hello all, I have been told to seek advice about practices which are used to cultivate positive emotions and positive states of minds.

Love, Joy, Happiness, Free of Afflictions, Free of Enmity, Free of Suffering, Peace, Harmony, Health, Prosperity, Confidence, Contentment, Gratitude, Humility, Etc.

Any books worth sharing, any articles worth reading, any visualization practices worth doing, I would love for this thread to become full of effective methods to cultivate positivity.

[Vasana]

Very simple meditation practice that works pretty well for me, but is a complete invention by myself:
Imagine there is a smile in your belly region (a little bit below the navel). It emits a yellow-golden, warm, soothing light in all directions.

Then there is tonglen, metta/loving kindness. There are also good guided meditations on these on YouTube to get you started or to lean on when needed. If our 'compassion circuitry ' is lacking, focussing on self compassion and loving kindness towards yourself first can help.

[Grigoris]

This is a discussion in the Tibetan Buddhism subforum.

Let's try to keep the posts on-topic please.

[Grigoris]

Hello all, I have been told to seek advice about practices which are used to cultivate positive emotions and positive states of minds.

Love, Joy, Happiness, Free of Afflictions, Free of Enmity, Free of Suffering, Peace, Harmony, Health, Prosperity, Confidence, Contentment, Gratitude, Humility, Etc.

Any books worth sharing, any articles worth reading, any visualization practices worth doing, I would love for this thread to become full of effective methods to cultivate positivity.

Lojong and Tonglen are the practices you should focus on to develop these qualities.

https://shamarpa.org/the-seven-points-o ... of-atisha/
http://www.lotsawahouse.org/topics/lojong/

[jet.urgyen]

good practice is stop following thoughts and emotions.

[Jangchup Donden]

You could look into the brahmaviharas. They're the perfection of the best states of mind: lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy (joy at the success of others) and equanimity. If you read about these in the Words of My Perfect teacher, they're applied directly towards generating Bodhichitta.

[明安 Myoan]

Lord of Love by Bokar Rinpoche. Chenrezig instructions.

[2ndchance]

Thank you for all your teachings.

If I meditate and concentrate on the aspect of loving-kindness, will there be any attachments formed to loving-kindness?

If so, do you think this attachment to loving-kindness is an attachment worth cultivating or is this attachment wrong?

The buddhist teachings teach us to destroy all attachments but I am questioning if some attachments are "good" attachments like attachments to loving-kindness or even attachments to enlightenment.

I humbly ask all to enlighten me.

[Johnny Dangerous]

B. Allan Wallaces book on The Four Immeasurables is a good resource, and directly addresses questions such as the attachment one.

According to Longchenpa we should begin the Four Immeasurables meditation with equanimity for (if I recall) the reason that if we begin with loving kindness, we risk falling into attachment. Of course, there are other formulations and explanations, but hey - it's Longchenpa. In short, any of the Four Immeasurables can fall into attachment/aversion (such as compassion becoming grief)if you lack equanimity, and equanimity is a necessary cause for Bodhicitta.

Of course, if you're not discerning equanimity can become indifference so.....

Anyway, I also think that Lojong is a fantastic place to start. One of my favorite books on it is To Dispel The Misery of The World: https://www.amazon.com/Dispel-Misery-Wo ... 1614290040 -Not a "beginner" text I don't think, but an amazing one if you are willing to be patient and keep coming back. My other favorite is Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche's book, it's a little more plain-language, it's called The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion through Training the Mind.

[Vasana]

Thank you for all your teachings.

If I meditate and concentrate on the aspect of loving-kindness, will there be any attachments formed to loving-kindness?

If so, do you think this attachment to loving-kindness is an attachment worth cultivating or is this attachment wrong?

The buddhist teachings teach us to destroy all attachments but I am questioning if some attachments are "good" attachments like attachments to loving-kindness or even attachments to enlightenment.

I humbly ask all to enlighten me.

For us beginners, there are certainly 'good' attachments as you put it. It's known as wise or appropriate attention towards factors that are commensurate with the 8 fold path or Buddhahood for the well-being of yourself and all being.Only when you are well versed in the views concerning Samadhi do concepts like 'letting go of attachments to enlightenment' come in to place.

If you are just starting out it's wise to use the three wisdom tools of study, reflection and meditation. Study lots, reflect on what you have learnt and then meditate according to your current capacity which will change over time.

[Vasana]

Guided Metta/loving kindness