We can understand the inherent radiance and purity of our minds by understanding metta [lovingkindness]. Like the mind, metta is not distorted by what it encounters. Anger generated within ourselves or within other can be met with love; the love is not ruined by the anger. Metta is its own support, and thus it is free of inherently unstable conditions. The loving mind can observe joy and peace in one moment, and then grief in the next moment, and it will not be shattered by the change. A mind filled with love can be likened to the sky with a variety of clouds moving through it—some light and fluffy, others ominous and threatening. No matter what the situation, the sky is not affected by the clouds. It is free.