Metta

There's a Pali word, a very important Buddhist word: Metta. 

Metta can be translated as loving kindness, benevolence, friendliness, goodwill, active interest.

Speaking of metta, Bhikkhu Bodhi says: “Once one has learned to kindle the feeling of metta towards oneself, the next step is to extend it to others. The extension of metta hinges on a shift in the sense of identity, on expanding the sense of identity beyond its ordinary confines and learning to identify with others. The shift is purely psychological in method, entirely free from theological and metaphysical postulates, such as that of a universal self immanent in all beings.

“The procedure starts with oneself. If we look into our own mind, we find that the basic urge of our being is the wish to be happy and free from suffering. Now, as soon as we see this in ourselves, we can immediately understand that all living beings share the same basic wish. All want to be well, happy, and secure.

“To develop metta towards others, what is to be done is to imaginatively share their own innate wish for happiness.

“We use our own desire for happiness as the key, experience this desire as the basic urge of others, then come back to our own position and extend to them the wish that they may achieve their ultimate objective, that they may be well and happy.”