By Michael Doko Hatchett

A story goes that one day the Buddha's faithful attendant Ananda came to him and declared: "I have realised how important friendship is, that it is half of the holy life."

'Kalyanamitta'; this means our 'lovely friends'. The Buddha used this word to remind us of the importance of good friends in general, but more deeply he used it in reference to our other 'lovely friends' such as stillness, concentration, compassion, joy, equanimity and kindness.

To foster a more precise association with such 'lovely friends' is the essence of how to end a human being's pain and suffering - our greed, anger and ignorance.

Mindfulness allows these skilful qualities to be seen and to work at the forefront of our efforts to understand ourselves and the world.

So the Buddha is pointing out that what really counts in terms of ending our pain and suffering are not philosophies or beliefs. What counts is to learn to see and use these universal mental qualities well.

Peace is about discovering what we can give.

Lovely friends are waiting to be noticed, waiting to be given. They are waiting for you to detach from that which is keeping you from the intimacy they are skilful at awakening.

They are waiting for you to be dispassionate about that which is keeping you from seeing what can be done - how to bring peace to this moment, transform the suffering of this moment, and awaken your capacity for a wonderfully free and fresh encountering of life.

Train in holding these friends. This is mindfulness.

Take care,

Doko