The Power of Kindness

Stephanie Swann
February 28, 2025

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on something Sylvia Boorstein said in a recent talk she offered our sangha. I would consider Sylvia one of the great mothers of American convert Buddhism, especially the Insight tradition. Her wisdom is deep and her kindness expansive. At age 89, she reflected to us that at this time in her life her practice is simply kindness. This statement revealed so much to me. It honored her long history of intentional dharma practice and spoke to the extraordinary power of kindness.

As she spoke to us, I was also reminded of the Dalai Lama’s frequent acknowledgment that kindness is his religion. I suspect that he is saying that more than rituals, doctrines, or religious identities, what truly matters is how we treat one another. His Holiness’s statement also reflects the Buddha’s teaching that true spirituality is not about belief systems but about how we live and interact with the world.

And, frankly, that is what we are doing here, right? Aspiring to live kinder, more peaceful lives? From a Buddhist perspective, kindness is not just sentimental goodwill; it is rooted in wisdom. True kindness arises from recognizing our interdependence. When we clearly see that our happiness is bound up with the happiness of others, kindness becomes a natural response.

One of my favorite contemporary poets, Naomi Shihab Nye, in her poem titled Kindness says…

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

With these powerful words and your own tender heart, dear reader, I invite you to take a moment of pause. Feel your own breath as it moves in and out of the body. With each inhale, open to presence; with each exhale, relax and release tension. Recognize that this is the same breath that the Indian in the white poncho breathed. We breathe with each other in this human experience. We breathe with all sentient beings. This is the beginning ground of true kindness.

The Buddha spoke often about the transformative power of kindness, which we most likely understand through the practice of metta, or lovingkindness. In the Karaniya Metta Sutta, Buddha encourages us to cultivate a boundless heart of goodwill. The sutta is translated as, “even as a mother protects with her life, her child, her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings.” This teaching reveals something profound. Kindness is not a passive or sentimental feeling. It is an active force, a way of living that requires intention, courage, and practice.

In the world we live in, especially now where strongmen seem to be gaining power in many places, including our country, kindness is sometimes seen as soft, as something secondary to success or power. Or, perhaps not even on the radar. But the Buddha’s teachings tell us otherwise. Kindness is a strength, one that can dissolve fear, build bridges, and even transform the heart of an enemy.