The importance of practising loving kindness - with Frank Cooke

Zenways sangha member Frank Cook has worked in finance as a stock broker until his retirement a few years ago. He first got into meditation in the 1990s as a way of helping him deal with the stresses of work and having a young family, and has, over the years, primarily practised mindfulness of breathing and metta (loving kindness).

In our interview, Frank describes how he’s found the breath-focused meditation of more immediate benefit - helping him to “dial down the noise”and step back from the busyness of daily life. But in more recent years, he’s begun to realise the - perhaps more subtle – but deep, long-term benefits of loving kindness practice. He’s come to realise how much loving kindness practice has benefitted his interactions in work and family by helping him love and forgive himself, see others more kindly, and understand why he finds certain people so difficult.

He talks about having a healthy disrespect for authority, which has helped him deal with certain spiritual teachers over the years as well as difficult bosses at work. He honestly discusses how he himself has often been his own troublesome person when, for example, his conviction in his own opinions has become too strong, or when he’s felt envious of other people’s good fortunes. In dealing with envy in particular, he describes how important letting go is - recognising that the pain of holding on is greater than pain of letting go.

As an accompaniment to this episode, I’ve recorded a Zen-style loving kindness meditation. I wanted to offer this because I totally agree with Frank that this kind of practice can be of great benefit in helping us deal with our difficult people (ourselves included!).