The second form of right resolve is to get rid of ill-will, which is the desire to see other people suffer. You want to be happy and you realize your happiness cannot depend on the misery of other people.

"The second form of right resolve is to get rid of ill-will, which is the desire to see other people suffer. You have to look at why you would want them to suffer, and how you justify that desire to yourself. Go down the list of people you would like to see suffer and ask yourself: “What would you gain from their suffering?” There may be thoughts of revenge or thoughts of justice, you might say. It’s not fair that these people get away with all the horrible things they’re doing in the world. But why do you have to get involved in that? Why do you have to be the one who’s passing judgment on others in that way? It enflames the mind. There’s no real happiness there at all. And it leads you eventually to doing unskillful things.

When the Buddha talks about developing thoughts of goodwill [mettā], it’s precisely because you need that motivation to nourish your own good actions. You want to be happy and you realize your happiness cannot depend on the misery of other people. So you have to think very carefully about your attitude towards other people, when you’re going to speak to them, when you’re going to act in ways that engage them. What’s the underlying motivation? If your motivation is good, you want their happiness. Then when the time comes to sit down and meditate it’s a lot easier to settle down. You’re not carrying thoughts of revenge. You’re also not carrying thoughts of your own hypocrisy. If you’re dealing with someone and you’re pretending to be good, but you’ve got some underlying unskillful motive, there’s a cognitive dissonance right there. Dissonance like that can get in the way of being honest with yourself as you meditate."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Right Resolve"

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