Analysis of Loving-kindness practice

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I have one quick question. If loving kindness is paramount in the Buddhist path, then why do some Buddhists on this forum engage in ad hominem attacks? E.g., calling others delusional that are not in agreement with Buddhist ideology.

Did anyone do that in this thread? Besides, it's not a fault unique to Buddhists. If some Taoists or Vedantists show flaws I don't go on their sections criticising their path and its practitioners as a whole because of it.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Seeker of Wisdom

[Simple_Jack]

Ralis you're missing the point: everyone is susceptible to varying degrees of delusion for as long as they don't attain buddhahood. That means arhats up to 10th stage bodhisattvas.

[ralis]

Ralis you're missing the point: everyone is susceptible to varying degrees of delusion for as long as they don't attain buddhahood. That means arhats up to 10th stage bodhisattvas.

 

Your argument does not follow and can only apply to your personal belief system as opposed to claiming that all sentient beings have a degree of delusion. The error in you statement is that everyone has their place on some mythical chain of being from lower to higher.

[ralis]

Did anyone do that in this thread? Besides, it's not a fault unique to Buddhists. If some Taoists or Vedantists show flaws I don't go on their sections criticising their path and its practitioners as a whole because of it.

 

There are a few on this site that have called me delusional when I have asked questions or critiqued their arguments. My question is apropos.

[Simple_Jack]

Did anyone do that in this thread? Besides, it's not a fault unique to Buddhists. If some Taoists or Vedantists show flaws I don't go on their sections criticising their path and its practitioners as a whole because of it.

 

Though an Indian trumpet flower has wilted,

it is unrivaled by other common flowers,

Though one of my followers has broken his discipline

he is unrivaled by common tīrthikas.

— Daśacakrakṣitigarbha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra

[Seeker of Wisdom]

...claiming that all sentient beings have a degree of delusion...

Are you claiming complete gnosis of the fundamental nature of reality? I'm guessing not. If you don't have complete gnosis, by definition, you must have partial ignorance.

 

To suggest anything else is cognitive dissonance, i.e simultaneously knowing you have ignorance and believing you don't. It's like trying to insist that every being has equal muscular strength.

 

You seem to take the reality of ignorance as a value judgement, like original sin. But this comes inextricably along with the empowering recognition that you, and only you, can do anything about it. I take it as a challenge to achieve complete unbinding of mind.

[Aetherous]

Perhaps Metta by itself is incomplete. But doesn´t the Bhramavihara of equanimity provide the necessary balance of wisdom?

 

Some would say no...but I would say that you're grasping the true meaning of the teachings here.

[Simple_Jack]

You guys need to distinguish the 4 immeasurables as they are taught in Theravada and how they are taught in Mahayana.

[Aetherous]

To answer ralis...at least personally, when I'm rude and angry, it's just because I'm human. We make mistakes, have high ideals that we always don't live up to, actually being blatantly hypocritical at times. This is not to make excuses for bad behavior, or doing it on purpose and knowingly being fake...everyone who strives for such high ideals fails often, and learns their faults.

Loving-kindness is a practice that gets us to eventually manifest the innate loving-kindness of our Buddha nature (which is love and kindness for all beings in any circumstance). So, we practice something in order to get better at it, because we're currently not good at it. At least not on the surface level.

[thelerner]

We've witness this phenomena many times on the bums, strangely it happens on discussions of love and god..

 

Writer 1: Flowers, love and peace to all. May tears of joy flow like gentle rain upon the desert.

Writer 2: Well, that's just a piece of sanctimonious self serving shit.

Writer 1: Fuck you.

 

 

And that's why we need a metta practice, because compassion and understanding are so hard to 'do' consistently. Especially in the face of those we reconsider rivals or others.

Edited January 5, 2015 by thelerner

[Wells]

.

Edited February 11, 2015 by ZOOM

[Bubbles]

Please find below an extract from the chapter 2 of the Joy of Compassion by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

 

I haven't understood everything here, but what I am sure is that the thread is about loving-kindness- an element of it being compassion.

 

Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinchope states quite clearly what relationship enlightenment has to compassion and bodhicitta.

 

Hope we can come back to the main subject of this thread;

 

"No matter how much you help the person to whom you are most attached, no matter how kind you are to that person, all you want is for that person to be happy. If that person receives help, achieves happiness, you’re satisfied. That’s your goal; you don’t want anything in return. You don’t need that person to respect you, to praise you or to do something good for you in return; you don’t have any such expectation. Your attitude is such that you are simply satisfied by that person’s receiving happiness or help. What do you call it—unconditional love? Anyway, that kind of attitude, whether it’s all sentient beings or one sentient being.

First in your heart, your first priority, at least intellectually, should be all sentient beings. Then, enlightenment is the method. As in the example above, to enjoy food you need a plate on which to put it. When you’re looking for lunch, you’re not looking for the plate; your main aim is the food. So here, what we’re really looking for is the happiness of sentient beings.

Although you might be thinking, “I’m working for enlightenment, practicing Dharma, doing retreat to attain enlightenment,” sometimes you can make the mistake of leaving one particular sentient being out. Even though your enlightenment depends upon that sentient being’s kindness, you leave that sentient being out; you give that sentient being up as an object of compassion or loving kindness. That sentient being becomes the object of your anger. You say, “I’m meditating to reach enlightenment,” but you use that sentient being who gives you enlightenment as an object of anger—to hurt, to give harm. You treat that person as useless, worse than garbage.

If you have that kind of attitude, it’s not sure that your thought of seeking enlightenment is actual bodhicitta or not. Even though you use the term “enlightenment,” perhaps it’s just your self-centered mind wanting to attain the highest possible level of happiness for yourself. The essence, the very heart of your attitude, what’s really deep within, is the wish to experience the highest happiness yourself. It’s possible for this to happen."

 

- See more here

 

edited to fix the link

Edited January 5, 2015 by bubbles

[Simple_Jack]

Since the 4 immeasurables have been brought up in the context of Vajrayana: I assume people aren't going to stick solely with mind training and are going to eventually engage in the special preliminaries (ngondro), the path of creation and perfection stages, etc., in order to actualize buddhahood.

[Wells]

.

Edited February 11, 2015 by ZOOM

[Simple_Jack]

Zoom, it seems you and ralis are trying to get a rise out of me by posting, so in relation to the hypocrisy in breaking discipline I post this: Though an Indian trumpet flower has wilted,

it is unrivaled by other common flowers,

Though one of my followers has broken his discipline

he is unrivaled by common tīrthikas.

Daśacakrakṣitigarbha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra

[Chang]

Moderation Message

Please keep to the topic without the casting of aspersions chaps.

[Simple_Jack]

FYI Zoom, I accidentally clicked the "like" button twice. Thank you for the thoughtful sentiments, lol. You guys are awesome! Really!

[Bubbles]

Here is a dedication Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche asks people who read the teachings given in his book- The Joy of Compassion- to do. It looks like loving-kindness:

 

"

Joy of Compassion: Dedication

[Please dedicate the merit of having read the teachings in this book as follows.]

 

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, buddhas, bodhisattvas and all other sentient beings, may bodhicitta, the source of all the happiness and success of myself and all other sentient beings, be generated in my own mind and in the minds of all sentient beings without even one second’s delay and may that which has been generated increase.

 

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, buddhas, bodhisattvas and all other sentient beings, may all my father-mother sentient beings have all happiness, may the three lower realms be empty forever and may all the bodhisattvas’ prayers succeed immediately. May I be able to cause all this by myself alone.

 

“Due to all the merits of the three times collected by me, buddhas, bodhisattvas and all other sentient beings, from now on may I offer extensive benefit like the sky to all sentient beings as Lama Tsongkhapa did by having within me in all my future lifetimes the same qualities that Lama Tsongkhapa possessed.

 

“Due to the merits of the three times collected by me, buddhas, bodhisattvas and all other sentient beings—which appear to be real merits, existing from there, from their own side, as projected by my hallucinating mind’s ignorance, but are in reality empty of that—may I—which is projected by my hallucinating mind’s ignorance as a real me, a real self existing from there, appearing from there, but which is empty of that, empty of the hallucination of a real I appearing from there—achieve enlightenment—which appears to be a real enlightenment as projected by my hallucinating mind’s ignorance but which is in fact empty of a real enlightenment appearing from there—and lead all sentient beings—which appear to me as real ones from there but which are a hallucination, a projection of my ignorance, empty of being real sentient beings appearing from there—to that enlightenment—which appears to me to be a real one from there but which is a hallucination projected by my ignorance, empty of being a real one appearing from there—by myself alone—who also appears to my mind as a real one appearing from there but which is a hallucination projected by my ignorance, which means that this me, this I, is totally empty of a real one appearing from there.

 

“May Lama Tsongkhapa’s complete path to be actualized within my mind and within the minds of my family members and all students and benefactors of this organization, spread and flourish in all directions, and may I be able to cause these teachings to be actualized in the minds of all sentient beings by myself alone.”

 

- See more here

 

This is probably my last post in this thread, thanks Aetherous

[Aetherous]

Since the 4 immeasurables have been brought up in the context of Vajrayana: I assume people aren't going to stick solely with mind training and are going to eventually engage in the special preliminaries (ngondro), the path of creation and perfection stages, etc., in order to actualize buddhahood.

 

The purpose of this thread is to explore the deeper meanings of the words used in Mahayana loving-kindness practice. This exploration can be from any context...it's all good.

 

Anyone can practice loving-kindness, and anyone can contemplate deeper meanings from any context, without restriction.

 

Specifically, this thread was started to help my friend, who isn't a Buddhist but likes the idea of increasing her love and kindness. In my experience, understanding the words that we're saying during the practice greatly increases the cultivation of bodhicitta.

 

I don't even fully understand the words...so perhaps we can explore them, as well as other fundamental concepts...

 

May the viewers of this thread be happy. May the viewers of this thread possess the causes of happiness: loving-kindness, compassion, and wisdom.

[Simple_Jack]

Liking the posts bubbles! Aetherous, the meaning behind those words goes deep, so any and all explorations of that meaning is beneficial: Bodhisattvas must be expert in all treatises. That is the entrance to omniscience. ~ Ārya-niṣṭhāgantabhagavajjñānavaipūlya-sūtraratnānanta-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra

Edited January 5, 2015 by Simple_Jack

[Simple_Jack]

Vasubandu states in the the Vyākhyāyukti:

 

Whoever listens with faith obtains the merit of the joy of higher realms. Some develop the seed of the discerning wisdom that attains nirvana.

 

Since there is nothing more virtuous than studying the Dharma, as Maitreya states in the Uttaratantra:

 

When someone always offers the Dharmarāja golden buddhafields studded with jewels equal with the number of atoms in a buddhafield for the purpose of awakening, and someone else hears just a single word of this text and has faith arising from such hearing, the latter obtains much greater merit than the virtue that arises from that generosity. When an intelligent person who wishes for unsurpassed awakening guards their stainless discipline without mental, verbal or physical effort for many eons, and someone else hears just a single word of this text and has faith arising from such hearing, the latter obtains much greater merit than the virtue that arises from that discipline. When someone cultivates the concentration that destroys the fire of afflictions of the three realms in this life, cultivating the method of unchanging full awakening, surpassing the deva and brahma realms, and someone else hears just a single word of this text and has faith arising from such hearing, the latter obtains much greater merit than the virtue that arises from that concentration.

 

And:

 

Why? Generosity accomplishes enjoyments. Discipline cultivates higher realms and abandons afflictions. Discerning wisdom completely abandons the afflictions, therefore, this is the best, and hearing is the cause of this.

 

~ Loppon Namdrol

Edited January 5, 2015 by Simple_Jack

[Simple_Jack]

Basically, it's the motivation which sets the precedent for the cultivation of the 4 immeasurables which distinguishes Hinayana and Mahayana.

[Simple_Jack]

Basically, it's the motivation which sets the precedent for the cultivation of the 4 immeasurables which distinguishes Hinayana and Mahayana.

 

Distinguishing it from non-Buddhist paths also since the 4 bramaviharas are found in the "Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" (a Hindu shastra) too:

 

Without bodhicitta, teachings on the view and meditation, however profound they may seem will be no use at all for attaining perfect Buddhahood. Tantric practices like the generation phase, the perfection phase and so on, practiced within the context of bodhicitta lead to complete Buddhahood in one lifetime. But without bodhicitta they are no different from the methods of the tirthikas. Tirthikas also have many methods for meditating on deities, reciting mantras, and working with the channels and energies; they too behave in accordance with cause and effect. But it is solely because they do not take refuge or arouse bodhicitta that they are unable to achieve liberation from the realms of samsara.

~ Patrul Rinpoche

[C T]

In the Triple Excellence program, they say that the causes of happiness are loving-kindness, compassion, and wisdom. And the causes of sorrow can be summed up as attachment (I like this versus that), aversion (I don't like this at all), and ignorance (I could care less).

 

What are the real and assumed causes of happiness and sorrow in your learning?

 

Refuge: It actually means a safe direction. It’s a direction that we put in our life, working toward what the Buddhas have achieved in full and what the highly realized beings have achieved in part. What a Buddha has achieved is – we go back to these four noble truths – true stopping of the causes of suffering and obviously suffering itself. A Buddha has achieved that and achieved the level of understanding, the pathway minds that will bring that about. So, a Buddha has achieved all of that in full and what’s called the Arya Sangha are those who have achieved it in part, but not in full yet. So we want to go in that direction.

 

That means we understand that if we can achieve a true stopping, which means that they never occur again, these causes for suffering in our mental continuum, our confusion etc., that if we really could get rid of that, that would prevent suffering, it would prevent the problems and we’re totally convinced of that, so “That’s the direction I want to go in in my life.”

 

When we talk about safe direction or refuge, it’s in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Dharma is referring to these true stoppings and true pathway minds. Having the Dharma go toward the Dharma or as Dharma – there are many meanings that we can understand in that, but what it’s saying is: take the teachings as a way to proceed toward the Dharma jewel, to refuge as a preventive measure. That is the ultimate preventive measure – get rid of all the causes of suffering and you have prevented all suffering.

 

How do we start to go in that direction? Well, we need to at least continue to have a precious human life, or some god-realm life with which it’s somewhat possible to follow the Dharma, but not as fully as with the precious human one. But they’re both included here.

 

And when you go in that direction, it’s to understand karma, cause and effect in terms of our behavior. If we understand that destructive behavior leads to gross unhappiness and suffering and pain, and that constructive behavior leads to happiness, then – at least initially, it’s initial scope – to prevent gross suffering then we avoid destructive behavior. Having the Dharma function as a preventive measure here covers the initial scope teachings in the lam-rim graded stages.

 

The view here is the view of safe direction, or refuge, and karmic cause and effect. The meditation is meditation on karmic cause and effect. And the behavior is to accomplish or habituate constructive behavior to rid ourselves of destructive behavior, which is what leads to gross suffering.

 

(Snipped from the Berzin Archives)

 

 

 

Loving kindness practices are those practices which assist in promoting

correct/positive view, meditation and action.