This is what should be done, by one who is skilled in goodness?

Question:This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness is the first line of the English translation of the Metta Sutta http://manapa.multiply.com/video/item/68... and Audio scroll down) but what else should be done???
In case anyone has been paying attention I have asked this before But have gotten few answers to it (14 out of 2 questions), so I am asking again
As always I ask this Question with Loving Kindness
(((((All Sentient Beings)))))

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness is the first line of the English translation of the Metta Sutta http://manapa.multiply.com/video/item/68... and Audio scroll down) but what else should be done???
In case anyone has been paying attention I have asked this before But have gotten few answers to it (14 out of 2 questions), so I am asking again
As always I ask this Question with Loving Kindness
(((((All Sentient Beings)))))

It seems to me that one who is skilled in goodness should also be engaged in the world, and engaged within their community. It isn't good enough to passively watch the world go by. One must actively bring goodness into the world.

It isn't good enough to passively watch evil happen; one has a duty to prevent it. In my experience, more evil is brought into the world through laziness or carelessness than through actively engaging in evil acts (although that does happen as well). To be perfectly honest, the evil things that I have done in my life have been done through acts of omission rather than acts of comission.

I do believe most of the things that are mentioned in the Metta Sutta to be precursors to engagement in the world. How can you not do all those things, and be impelled to act? But I have concerns about this one line:

- Unburdened with duties

Surely, duties are a measure of ones' engagment. And I believe that someone who is skilled in goodness *should* be burdened with duties.

Perhaps I misunderstand the intent of the passage.

{{With kind regards}}

I think the problem is we don't understand the question.
One of the difficulties is who will stand up and say they are skilled in goodness. As human beings we have the possiblity for great goodness and unthinkable evil. It is the human condition and our unending struggle. In North America we have the convenience of a comfortable life that allows us to be generous but given times of crisis both sides of humanity will extremes will be visible.
Those skilled in goodness and those fighting to supress their own darkness have equal responsibility to be the change they want to see.

I do not believe that the problem is not being skilled in goodness, but in being willing to change to become the best person that you can be and to forgive others who offend you.

It also depends how you define 'goodness'.

wonderful, i read it.
wonderful words, but how to be practised? one can easily make statements, repeat the words of the awakened ones and still, trapped in ego-mind one suffers. how can one practise goodness by still being attached to one's suffering? only in dispelling the ignorance of separation one can come to loving all beings. but the metta sutta surely is an inspiration to come to self-knowlede. until awakening happened, this text sounds like a dream, a hope, one is hoping that one day maybe all human beings could be like this, but one really doubts it in seeing all this hate, separation and judgment going on in the world. but it is possible to live one's life as an expression of "goodness" if you wish to call it like this. once it is seen, that that what you are is unbreakable, can never die, can never be lost - how can you lose what you are...? - and you realize that all human beings are an expression of this, then love naturally flows from you, no effort, no discipline necessary to "be good", because you are goodness itself and you can only act from your inherent being...
realize the goodness inside, the wholeness that you are.. then love is flowing effortlessly towards all beings.
.
thank you for sharing

This is a beautiful poem, a wonderful expression of life.

Lets remember this, India is a nation full of billion peoples, these words are gentle and strong. But they are directed towards the masses who believe in a cast system, where the belief and the government and the powers that be determine mans ability to be mobile within the society. And this system has been embedded into the religious conscience of their peoples, for thousands of years. Giving them little if any material hope of moving upward in an economic way.

Mankind needs something to always hold onto, to make his/her existence worth the struggle of life. The wonderful sages of yore and today, in India, continue to give these masses something to hang onto in a world that is most brutal them. We ALL-- in all parts of the World -- would do well to live by these words, for indeed the world would be a gentler kinder place for all mankind and all living creatures. But like most of the eternal truths of the Universe, mankind is not at that threshold of this level of awakening yet. It will take utter chaos to bring mankind back around to this realization.

I read the other answers and am reminded of a Zen story.
A man is walking by a pond, and comes across another man who is drowning. What should he do? He has three options; He can save the man, He can pass by and leave the man to his own resources, or he can push the man under the water.
The question is, are any of these right? Are any of them wrong?
The answer is: It depends.
It depends on what the man walking by thinks is right.

the Metta Sutta seems to be espousing non-involvement in the world, much as the Zen story does in another way.
The world of Maya is not real in the sense that we think of reality. It is a way of looking at reality and there are infinitely many others. Imagine the world we know as the ripples from many pebbles thrown into a pond meeting and making patterns. Those patterns are interpreted by us as the world, but are really just vibrations in the water. How can we be so serious about it? We should practice unattachment to the illusion.

Om Shalom

Each persons spiritual (learning) journey is a personal one. No one can do it for them. To judge who is skilled in goodness and who is not, is not examining one self, and unfairly judging others. The worst psychopaths in the world throughout history have always felt they did what they did for the greater good. It is possible that they had some insight that did create some greater good. To harm no living thing is very difficult. From plant life to insects to fish, birds, reptiles, and animals of all kinds. All end up as food in some food chain. The circle of life. The Metta Sutta includes the re-incarnation principal.
You are not asking a question. Are you advertising, or preaching? To live as suggested results in becoming a perfect being and not returning for further life lessons. Supposedly to reach such a point is to become perfect (God like) To spend eternity with God. Many of the principals mentioned appear in other teachings. The common premise is to be kind to your neighbor. Pacifism is apparently not the road to world peace. Since no government has ever achieved peace through negotiation alone. You can not overthrow an unjust and cruel government through peaceful demonstration and negotiation. The holy war that has begun and is getting uglier every day, will not be stopped by spreading happy feelings. Seek understanding of other cultures beliefs, learn why they believe what they do. You can not change other people, they must want to change themselves. You can only change yourself. Knowledge is understanding. Understanding leads to peace. If you can live as they life, you are on the road to enlightnment.