Hành Trình Vô Ngã by
Vô Ngã Vô Ưu
Transcript of Thich Nhat Hanh English Dharma Talks
38 The Four Immeasurable Minds
Published in the Mindfulness Bell, #18 Winter 1997
During the lifetime
of the Buddha, those of the Brahmanic faith prayed that after death they would
go to Heaven to dwell eternally with Brahma, the universal God. One day a
Brahmin man asked the Buddha, “What can I do to be sure that I will be with
Brahma after I die?” and the Buddha replied, “As Brahma is the source of Love,
to dwell with him you must practice theBrahma-viharas — love, compassion, joy,
and equanimity.” A vihara is an abode or a dwelling place. Love in Sanskrit is
maitri; in Pali it is metta. Compassion is karuna in both languages. Joy is
mudita. Equanimity is upeksha in Sanskrit and upekkha in Pali. The
Brahmaviharas are four elements of true love. They are called Immeasurable,
because if you practice them, they will grow every day until they embrace the
whole world. You will become happier and those around you will become happier,
also.
The Buddha respected
people’s desire to practice their own faith, so he answered the Brahmin’s
question in a way that encouraged him to do so. If you enjoy sitting
meditation, practice sitting meditation. If you enjoy walking meditation,
practice walking meditation. But preserve your Jewish, Christian or Muslim
roots. That is the way to continue the Buddha’s spirit. If you are cut off from
your roots, you cannot be happy.
According to
Nagarjuna, the second-century Buddhist philosopher, practicing the Immeasurable
Mind of Love extinguishes anger in the hearts of living beings. Practicing the
Immeasurable Mind of Compassion extinguishes all sorrows and anxieties in the
hearts of living beings. Practicing the Immeasurable Mind of Joy extinguishes
sadness and joylessness in the hearts of living beings. Practicing the
Immeasurable Mind of Equanimity extinguishes hatred, aversion, and attachment in
the hearts of living beings.
If we learn ways to
practice love, compassion, joy, and equanimity, we will know how to heal the
illnesses of anger, sorrow, insecurity, sadness, hatred, loneliness, and
unhealthy attachments. In the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha teaches, “If a mind
of anger arises, thebhikkhu (monk) can practice the meditation on love,
compassion, or equanimity for the person who has brought about the feeling of
anger.”
Some sutra
commentators have said that the Brahma-viharas are not the highest teaching of
the Buddha, that they cannot put an end to suffering and afflictions. This is
not correct. One time the Buddha said to his beloved attendant Ananda, “Teach
these Four Immeasurable Minds to the young monks, and they will feel secure,
strong, and joyful, without afflictions of body or mind. For the whole of their
lives, they will be well equipped to practice the pure way of a monk.” On
another occasion, a group of the Buddha’s disciples visited the monastery of a
nearby sect, and the monks there asked, “We have heard that your teacher
Gautama teaches the Four Immeasurable Minds of love, compassion, joy, and
equanimity. Our master teaches this also. What is the difference?” The Buddha’s
disciples did not know how to respond. When they returned to their monastery,
the Buddha told them, “Whoever practices the Four Immeasurable Minds together
with the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble
Eightfold Path will arrive deeply at enlightenment.” Love, compassion, joy, and
equanimity are the very nature of an enlightened person. They are the four
aspects of true love within ourselves and within everyone and everything.
The first aspect of
true love is maitri, the intention and capacity to offer joy and happiness. To
develop that capacity, we have to practice looking and listening deeply so that
we know what to do and what not to do to make others happy. If you offer your
beloved something she does not need, that is not maitri. You have to see her
real situation or what you offer might bring her unhappiness.
In Southeast Asia,
many people are extremely fond of a large, thorny fruit called durian. You
could even say they are addicted to it. Its smell is extremely strong, and when
some people finish eating the fruit, they put the skin under their bed so they
can continue to smell it. To me, the smell of durian is horrible. One day when
I was practicing chanting alone in my temple in Vietnam, there was a durian on
the altar that had been offered to the Buddha. I was trying to recite The Lotus
Sutra, using a wooden drum and a large bowl-shaped bell for accompaniment, but
I could not concentrate at all. I finally carried the bell to the altar and
turned it upside down to imprison the durian, so I could chant the sutra. After
I finished, I bowed to the Buddha and liberated the durian. If you were to say
to me, “Thay, I love you so much I would like you to eat some of this durian,”
I would suffer. You love me, you want me to be happy, but you force me to eat
durian. That is an example of love without understanding. Your intention is
good, but you don’t have the correct understanding.
Without
understanding, your love is not true love. You must look deeply in order to see
and understand the needs, aspirations, and suffering of the one you love. We
all need love. Love brings us joy and well-being. It is as natural as the air.
We are loved by the air; we need fresh air to be happy and well. We are loved
by trees. We need trees to be healthy. In order to be loved, we have to love,
which means we have to understand. For our love to continue, we have to take
the appropriate action or non-action to protect the air, the trees, and our
beloved.
Maitri can be
translated as “love” or “loving kindness.” Some Buddhist teachers prefer
“loving kindness,” as they find the word “love” too darigerous. But I prefer
the word love. Words sometimes get sick and we have to heal them. We have been
using the word “love” to mean appetite or desire, as in “I love hamburgers.” We
have to use language more carefully. We have to restore the meaning of the word
love. “Love” is a beautiful word. We have to restore its meaning. The word
maitri has roots in the word mitra, which means friend. In Buddhism, the
primary meaning of love is friendship.
We all have the seeds
of love in us. We can develop this wonderful source of energy, nurturing the
unconditional love that does not expect anything in return. When we understand
someone deeply, even someone who has done us harm, we cannot resist loving him
or her. Shakyamuni Buddha declared that the Buddha of the next eon will be
named Maitreya, the Buddha of Love.
The second aspect of
true love is karuna, the intention and capacity to relieve and transform
suffering and lighten sorrows. Karuna is usually translated as “compassion,”
but that is not exactly correct. “Compassion” is composed of com (“together
with”) and passion (“to suffer”). But we do not need to suffer to remove
suffering from another person. Doctors, for instance, can relieve their
patients’ suffering without experiencing the same disease in themselves. If we
suffer too much, we may he crushed and unable to help. Still, until we find a
better word, let us use “compassion” to translate karuna.
To develop compassion
in ourselves, we need to practice mindful breathing, deep listening, and deep
looking. The Lotus Sutra describes Avalokiteshvara as the bodhisattva who
practices “looking with the eyes of compassion and listening deeply to the
cries of the world.” Compassion contains deep concern. You know the other
person is suffering, so you sit close to her. You look and listen deeply to her
to be able to touch her pain. You are in deep communication, deep communion
with her, and that alone brings some relief.
One compassionate
word, action, or thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring him
joy. One word can give comfort and confidence, destroy doubt, help someone
avoid a mistake, reconcile a conflict, or open the door to liberation. One
action can save a person’s life or help him take advantage of a rare
opportunity. One thought can do the same, because thoughts always lead to words
and actions. With compassion in our heart, every thought, word, and deed can
bring about a miracle.
When I was a novice,
I could not understand why, if the world is filled with suffering, the Buddha
has such a beautiful smile. Why isn’t he disturbed by all the suffering? Later
I discovered that the Buddha had enough understanding, calmness, and strength.
That is why the suffering does not overwhelm him. He is able to smile to
suffering because he knows how to take care of it and to help transform it. We
need to be aware of the suffering, but retain our clarity, calmness, and
strength so we can help transform the situation. The ocean of tears cannot
drown us if karuna is there. That is why the Buddha’s smile is possible.
The third element of
true love is mudita, joy. True love always brings joy to ourselves and to the
one we love. If our love does not bring joy to both of us, it is not true love.
Commentators explain
that happiness relates to both body and mind, whereas joy relates primarily to
mind. This example is often given: Someone traveling in the desert sees a
stream of cool water and experiences joy. On drinking the water, he experiences
happiness. Ditthadhamma sukhavihari means “dwelling happily in the present
moment.” We don’t rush to the future; we know that everything is here in the
present moment. Many small things can bring us tremendous joy, such as the
awareness that we have eyes in good condition. We just have to open our eyes
and we can see the blue sky, the violet flowers, the children, the trees, and
so many other kinds of forms and colors. Dwelling in mindfulness, we can touch
these wondrous and refreshing things, and our mind of joy arises naturally. Joy
contains happiness and happiness contains joy.
Some commentators
have said that mudita means “sympathetic joy” or “altruistic joy,” the
happiness we feel when others are happy. But that is too limited. It
discriminates between self and others. A deeper definition of mudita is a joy
that is filled with peace and contentment. We rejoice when we see others happy,
but we rejoice in our own well-being as well. How can we feel joy for another
person when we do not feel joy for ourselves? Joy is for everyone.
The fourth element of
true love is upeksha, which means equanimity, nonattachment,
nondiscrimination, even-mindedness, or letting go. Upe means “over,” and ksh
means “to look.” You climb the mountain to be able to look over the whole situation,
not bound by one side or the other. If your love has attachment,
discrimination, prejudice, or clinging in it, it is not true love. People who
do not understand Buddhism sometimes think upeksha means indifference, but true
equanimity is neither cold nor indifferent. If you have more than one child,
they are all your children. Upeksha does not mean that you don’t love. You love
in a way that all your children receive your love, without discrimination.
Upeksha has the mark
called samatajnana, “the wisdom of equality,” the ability to see everyone as
equal, not discriminating between ourselves and others. In a conflict, even
though we are deeply concerned, we remain impartial, able to love and to
understand both sides. We shed all discrimination and prejudice, and remove all
boundaries between ourselves and others. As long as we see ourselves as the one
who loves and the other as the one who is loved, as long as we value ourselves
more than others or see others as different from us, we do not have true
equanimity. We have to put ourselves “into the other person’s skin” and become
one with him if we want to understand and truly love him. When that happens,
there is no “self’ and no “other.”
Without upeksha, your
love may become possessive. A summer breeze can be very refreshing; but if we
try to put it in a tin can so we can have it entirely for ourselves, the breeze
will die. Our beloved is the same. He is like a cloud, a breeze, a flower. If
you imprison him in a tin can, he will die. Yet many people do just that. They
rob their loved one of his liberty, until he can no longer be himself. They
live to satisfy themselves and use their loved one to help them fulfill that.
That is not loving; it is destroying. You say you love him, but if you do not
understand his aspirations, his needs, his difficulties, he is in a prison
called love. True love allows you to preserve your freedom and the freedom of
your beloved. That is upeksha.
For love to be true
love, it must contain compassion, joy, and equanimity in it. For compassion to
be true compassion, it has to have love, joy, and equanimity in it. True joy
has to contain love, compassion, and equanimity. And true equanimity has to
have love, compassion, and joy in it. This is the interbeing nature of the Four
Immeasurable Minds. When the Buddha told the Brahmin man to practice the Four
Immeasurable Minds, he was offering all of us a very important teaching. But we
must look deeply and practice them for ourselves to bring these four aspects of
love into our own lives and into the lives we love.
This Dharma talk is
from Teachings on Love, to be published by Parallax Press in March.
39 Taking Good Care of Our Habit Energies
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