[charley]

Originally Posted by knight

My suffering is your suffering and your suffering is my suffering... this is my understanding of Metta...

... everything can be achieved by technique and the use of a method...

"Metta" actually means goodwill - not compassion.
It is "karuna" which means compassion - from which Sanskrit word yields the English words cardio, coronary, etc. and the French word "coeur" - all pointing to the heart - which means compassion. It is important to remember that words themselves are only referents, they are not the things themselves.

One can use thought to learn how to drive a car, how to manipulate things, matter, how to go from A to B, etc. and such like. It is thought that thinks that, as you say, "everything can be achieved by technique and the use of a method". Here, one must understand that the word "thing" literally also means think/thought. So, it is only possible to think every "thing", every thought. The "I" is constructed by thought, is thought. This is an interesting discovery.

So, what I am saying it is only when thought stops that there is the possibility of filling one's heart with compassion.

Therefore, what I am saying is that compassion lies outside thought and, therefore, outside the self; thus, it is impossible to use thought to fill one's heart with compassion. If that were so, then everyone on the planet could/would be loving, but that is just not the case. So, to insist on self-love would mean that somewhere along the line that the "I" (the self) thought it could invent the idea, the idea of compassion. There is noone on the planet whose heart is filled with love when looking at themselves in a mirror while brushing one's teeth. It is here, I think it is important and crucial to realize that the word "love" is grossly misused just about everywhere. People don't really feel "love", when they say, "I love Coca-Cola" or "Pepsi" or whatever. What people really mean is that they like x, y or z. The only thing one can think when one thinks of oneself is that one either likes or dislikes oneself, but definitely not "love". The whole "idea" of self-love is nothing but narcissism insofar as I am concerned.