The Lent Ranch Mall essays

The Lent Ranch Mall essays A city in utter chaos over the fact of expanding the cities income in a reasonable way. The common question on everyones mind as rural parts of Elk Grove/Laguna become more urbanized, attracting more crowds to Elk Grove. Lent Ranch Mall has become an issue of heated debate, lawsuits, and has become the interest of the government of Sacramento. Who would have thought that building a mall would have such drawbacks to it. In my opinion I am in favor for the mall. It would help attract more people from all over to our small city, thus increasing our revenue in local stores as well as the stores within the mall. As an economic prospect I believe the mall would be an excellent source of income. When people usually shop at a mall or outlet store, they shop for hours on end, and usually become tired and hungry afterwards. Establishing a McDonalds, Burger King etc. in the vicinity of the area proposed for Lent Ranch Mall would endure that economic prosperity. Politically this mall is a major disruption for Downtown Plaza, Arden Mall, Sunrise Mall, Florin Mall, and maybe even the outlet stores located in Vacaville and Folsom. As for right now, many people thrive on going to either Florin or Arden for all there shopping needs. There are no major stores located in Elk Grove until this year. In August, the Old Navy clothing store opened next to Best Buy, and Linens N Things, in the Laguna shopping center located right off of the freeway. Mervyns in the Marketplace 99 has also served its purpose as a clothing store for many people as well. But for majority of the population of ElkGrove/Laguna, frequent trips to Florin Mall and even Arden Mall arent out of the question. Having our own mall would not only decrease revenues for Florin Mall, and Arden Mall, but may even put some stores in Florin Mall out of commission. With an approximated $2 million worth of merchandise stolen from Florin Mall in any...

The Practice of Loving Kindness or Metta Defined

The Practice of Loving Kindness or Metta Defined Loving kindness is defined in English dictionaries as a feeling of benevolent affection. But in Buddhism, loving kindness (in Pali, Metta; in Sanskrit, Maitri) is thought of as a mental state or attitude, cultivated and maintained by practice. This cultivation of loving kindness is an essential part of Buddhism. The Theravadin scholar Acharya Buddharakkhita said of Metta, The Pali word metta is a multi-significant term meaning loving-kindness, friendliness, goodwill, benevolence, fellowship, amity, concord, inoffensiveness and non-violence. The Pali commentators define metta as the strong wish for the welfare and happiness of others (parahita-parasukha-kamana). ... True metta is devoid of self-interest. It evokes within a warm-hearted feeling of fellowship, sympathy and love, which grows boundless with practice and overcomes all social, religious, racial, political and economic barriers. Metta is indeed a universal, unselfish and all-embracing love. Metta often is paired with Karuna, compassion. They are not exactly the same, although the difference is subtle. The classic explanation is that Metta is a wish for all beings to be happy, and Karuna is a wish for all beings to be free from suffering. Wish is probably not the right word, though, because wishing seems passive. It might be more accurate to say directing ones attention or concern to the happiness or suffering of others. Developing loving kindness is essential to doing away with the self-clinging that binds us to suffering (dukkha). Metta is the antidote to selfishness, anger, and fear. Dont Be Nice One of the biggest misunderstandings people have about Buddhists is that Buddhists are always supposed to be nice. But, usually, niceness is only a social convention. Being nice often is about self-preservation and maintaining a sense of belonging in a group. We are nice because we want people to like us, or at least not get angry with us. Theres nothing wrong with being nice, most of the time, but its not the same thing as loving kindness. Remember, Metta is concerned with the genuine happiness of others. Sometimes when people are behaving badly, the last thing they need for their own happiness is someone politely enabling their destructive behavior. Sometimes people need to be told things they dont want to hear; sometimes they need to be shown that what they are doing is not okay. Cultivating Metta His Holiness the Dalai Lama is supposed to have said, This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple. The philosophy is kindness. Thats great, but remember that were talking about a guy who gets up at 3:30 a.m. to make time for meditation and prayers before breakfast. Simple isnt necessarily easy. Sometimes people new to Buddhism will hear about loving kindness, and think, No sweat. I can do that. And they wrap themselves in the persona of a lovingly kind person and go about being very, very nice. This lasts until the first encounter with a rude driver or surly store clerk. As long as your practice is about you being a nice person, you are just play-acting. This may seem paradoxical, but unselfishness begins by gaining insight into yourself and understanding the source of your ill will, irritations, and insensitivity. This takes us to the basics of Buddhist practice, beginning with the Four Noble Truths and the practice of the Eightfold Path. Metta Meditation The Buddhas best-known teaching on Metta is in the Metta Sutta, a sermon in the Sutta Pitaka. Scholars say the sutta (or sutra) presents three ways to practice Metta. The first is applying Metta to day-to-day conduct. The second is Metta meditation. The third is a commitment to embody Metta with full body and mind. The third practice grows from the first two. The several schools of Buddhism have developed several approaches to Metta meditation, often involving visualization or recitation. A common practice is to begin by offering Metta to oneself. Then (over a period of time) Metta is offered to someone in trouble. Then to a loved one, and so on, progressing to someone you dont know well, to someone you dislike, and eventually to all beings. Why begin with yourself? Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg said, To reteach a thing its loveliness is the nature of Metta. Through loving kindness, everyone and everything can flower again from within. Because so many of us struggle with doubts and self-loathing, we must not leave ourselves out. Flower from within, for yourself and for everyone.