Loving kindness – known in Sanskrit as maitri – is a cornerstone of the entire Buddhist path • without loving kindness, no matter how much you meditate or how much you study the dharma, it will lack ultimate value • maitri is the valve through which the power of the dharma can flow • it is the foundation of true spiritual practice; it is transformative; and it is fundamental to our human nature • yet, ironically, it's easy to lose our connection, to lose that sense of the heart of things • at first, maitri might arrive just as simple little pinpricks, little noticings in the midst of our struggles and dramas • in the midst of all that, there are little refreshing moments where we're pulled out of our own dramas for a second • it might be sparked by the simplest thing — as simple as the sun coming out from behind the clouds after days of cloudiness • when we start to notice those little moments, we begin to realize that kind of tenderness and heartfulness of life is always there • instead of being caught up in perpetual strategies and struggles to secure happiness, maitri, or loving kindness, is something that is always accessible, no matter the circumstances.