(For Podcast, TBD. For ITunes version, click here)
Today
we continue a series of talks based on the book by Thich Nhat Hanh entitled, Teachings on Love. He begins with this simple opening:
“The
Buddha taught that it is possible to live twenty-four hours a day in a state of
love. Every movement, every glance,
every thought, and every word can be infused with love.”
To cultivate
this enduring love, Thich Nhat Hanh begins with what he calls the Four
Immeasurable Minds, a teaching called the Brahma Viharas in Sanskrit, which is
found in the first written collections of the Buddha’s teachings. It a foundational teaching in Buddhism called
the Four Immeasurables, it’s also called the four sublime states of being. The Four Boundless Qualities that destroy the
idea of a separate self.
During the
time of Buddha’s enlightenment, there was the beginning of a shift from a
purely agrarian economic structure to some capitalism arising in small towns
that had begun to spring up around areas in Northern India. One of the things
that Buddha discovered that, along with the process selling and buying, also
came greed, corruption, stealing, killing.
Perhaps we can imagine this very primitive culture 2500 years ago, just
learning how to deal with each other in business arrangements. Hmmmm….although the time may have been very
long ago, it seems that we might still struggle with greed, corruption,
stealing, killing. Buddha identified
that there seems to be a reaction in people, that often happens in good times
and bad, when people feel a primitive
sense of lack and poverty, have a sense of separation from one another, a
desire, a craving to gain advantage over others, a need to put up defenses. As Buddha reflected on the negative impact of
these feelings, he could see that they were arising out of a sense of craving,
aversion and ignorance. This reaction caused great suffering in the
world then, and it causes great suffering in the world now.
So what do
we do? Where do we begin? Is it an impossible task to overcome these
historic and monumental struggles within and around us? What the Buddha discovered was that we can
get beyond these struggles. First, by
recognizing them for what they are, then by practicing a kinder way of being
and living, and lastly by embodying the Buddha Nature that is in each of us to
see things more clearly, to act more compassionately and wisely.
These four
qualities are LOVING-KINDNESS, COMPASSION, SYMPATHETIC JOY and EQUANIMITY. The Buddha taught
the following to his son Rahula (from "Old path white clouds" by Thich Nhat
Hahn):
"Rahula,
Practice loving kindness
to overcome anger. Loving kindness has the capacity to bring happiness to
others without demanding anything in return.
Practice compassion to overcome cruelty. Compassion has the capacity to remove the suffering of others without expecting anything in return. Practice sympathetic joy to overcome hatred. Sympathetic joy arises when one rejoices over the happiness of others and wishes others well-being and success. Practice equanimity or non-attachment to overcome prejudice. Non-attachment is the way of looking at all things openly and equally. This is because that is. Myself and others are not separate. Do not reject one thing only to chase after another. I call these the four immeasurables. Practice them and you will become a refreshing source of vitality and happiness for others." |
Equanimity - I want all sentient being to live in equanimity, beyond preferences, which is beyond fear and hope.
As the source both of inner and external peace,
they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species.'
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
So, the
practice of the Four Immeasurables calls upon each of us first to try
and cultivate these four feelings and actions.
In AA, there is an excellent phrase that says “Fake it until you
make”. In these practices, sometimes we
don’t initially feel very loving or joyful.
We start to say this prayer about everyone being happy and peaceful, and
we don’t feel very happy or peaceful ourselves.
Just sit with that reaction.
Feel it completely, then go back to the practice of visualizing feeling
loving and kind. This practice is not to
whitewash over longstanding
emotions. RATHER, it is to uproot those old habitual emotions, see
them for what they are, and replace them with kinder and more productive ways
of viewing the world.
So, the
practice of The Four Immeasurables begins with the prayer,
May all
beings have happiness and the cause of happiness,
May all
beings be free from suffering and the cause of suffering
May all
beings have sympathetic joy which is free from suffering
May all
beings come to rest in the great equanimity which is beyond attachment or
aversion to friend, enemy or stranger.
Loving-kindness - I want all sentient beings to have happiness and feel love.
Compassion - I want all sentient beings to free from suffering.
So briefly, let’s start with a deeper
definition of Loving-kindness. There are is the kind of love that many of us
have experience. That love when we see someone or something. I want that person, I want that car, that
thing. This kind of love is more like
lust and greed—it doesn’t always have anything to do with focusing on the other
person’s happiness, or at least only at the point at which it intersects with
your own. Love, in this practice, is
Love without attachment. In Greek, this word represents divine,
unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love.
Next,
compassion is described as an unselfish emotion which
gives one a sense of urgency in wanting to help others. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche often added that
this is not idiot compassion, where we feel we must over-give of ourselves and
our money, which may come from a place of our own feeling of lack or poverty or
guilt. Compassion in this sense, is
first opening up the feeling that we are all interconnected, therefore all suffering
together, then through this feeling of inter-connectedness, NOT shutting down
to other pain, and taking appropriate action to hell alleviate their suffering,
which sometimes is not action at all.
Third
is Sympathetic Joy. This is the joy we experience for others,
when others gain. Do you recall hearing
that a co-worker got a raise or a new job, and perhaps, just perhaps, instead
of feeling joy, you might have felt jealousy or frustration? Cultivating sympathetic joy is a way to
clearly see where we’re holding on to ourselves and our habitual clinging, and
to let go, even just a little, to rejoice in the good fortune of others.
Lastly,
is equanimity, and in fact, in a
longer teaching on The Four Immeasurables, this quality is sometimes taught
first, with the idea that when we can first clearly see our clinging, aversion
and ignorance to all things and people, even to ourselves, we can at that
point, begin to realize a better way of living, through non-preference, viewing
all a equal. Does this mean that we
treat everything single person and thing exactly equal? No.
Because if we are being fully present in each situation, certain
situations and certain people need different reactions and responses. BUT starting from a place equanimity, wanting everyone to experience living
beyond attachment and fear, in that place of desiring the best for others,
we each can choose a better experience for ourselves.
So,
Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity practice is a way to first see more
clearly how we are interacting in the world, and second to explore a new way of
being, to experience deeper way of being, and third to fully embody these
experience and sharing them fully with ourselves and with others.
'Compassion and love, joy and equanimity are not mere luxuries.
As the source both of inner and external peace,
they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species.'
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
As the source both of inner and external peace,
they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species.'
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
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