given by Nomon Tim Burnett
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
July 31, 2009
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Continuing now into the 2nd section of the Metta Sutta, the sutra on loving-kindness. We can recall that the sutta is considered to mirror the three main thrusts of Buddha's teachings: sila: morality or conduct, samadhi: meditation or concentration, and pranna: wisdom which we usually hear the Sanskrit version of which is prajna.
When we left off last time we were discussing different classes of beings and I was saying they aren't just listing off these different classes of beings to be thorough and make a point that we really mean all beings when we say all beings. They are listing them off in different divisions in a sort of systematic way as meditation instructions. The idea is to direct your feeling of loving-kindness towards each of these classes of beings.
So let's finish looking at this list with verses 4 and 5 and then I want to share with you that even though these are in fact seen as meditation instructions they are not in practice the meditation instructions that practitioners usually follow. Those are found in the commentaries.
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4 |
Ye keci pāṇabhūt' atthi tasā vā thāvarā vā anavasesā Dīgha vā ye mahantā vā majjhimā rassakā aṇukathūlā |
Whatever beings there may be, weak or strong, without exception, Long, large, middling, short, subtle, blatant, |
All living beings, whether weak or strong, in high or middle or low realms of existence, small or great, |
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5 |
Diṭṭhā vā ye vā addiṭṭhā ye ca dūre vasanti avidūre Bhūtā vā sambhavesī vā sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā |
Seen & unseen, near & far, Born & seeking birth: May all being be happy at heart. |
visible or invisible, near or far, born or to be born, may all beings be happy. |
The classes of beings listed are tasā and thāvarā which means moving and stable. The implication is kind of the opposite of Western thinking. We say 'I'm still moving' or 'I'm still getting around' to imply strength and perseverance, but in Buddhism following Indian thinking it's the opposite. Those who are strong and stable don't need to move. Those who need to move are in difficulty. Think squirming I guess.
Then we lists of sizes. We recognize Digha and Majjhima from the names of other collections of suttas - the Digha Nikaya is the collection of long suttas, the Majjhima Nikaya is the collection of middle length suttas. One thing kind of strange here is one of the lists of sizes appears to refer to density. So have less dense, more sense and middle density beings at the end of verse 4.
And verse 5 is pretty literal in both of our translations too. Diṭṭhā means seen and addiṭṭhā means not-seen. This could imply the beings on this realm of existence the humans and animals as opposed to the beings in the other 3: the hungry-ghosts, the beings in the hell realms, and the Devas, the god-like beings.
Or we could maybe more usefully take it in the sense of perception and awareness. So many beings we either can't see because they aren't here physically or we just don't notice in a literal way or a psychological way. Do we really see the person behind the counter? Do we really see the people we live with fully every time they are in the same room as us? So we wish all beings seen or unseen happiness. And the implication is that it's not like we would say that 'I will do my best to see you and remember you and when I manage that I will wish you loving-kindness' it's more like 'when I see you and remember you or not I always wish you loving-kindness' - it's a kind of boundless and limitless aspiration.
Next we have those living far away, dūre vasanti, and those who are not-far avidūre. And far away again can be physically far away, in Asia, in Africa on other planets, or cosmologically far away, on other plains of existence. The teachings in commentary apparently are quite specific about casting one's inner glance in each cardinal direction one at a time and into each plane of existence. Very systematic and step by step. Not a kind of global thing.
And lastly the born and to be born part is kind of interesting. The word for birth in Pali is jati which is not seen here. va is a form of to be, so Bhūtā vā means 'have come to be' and ambhavesī vā means 'are coming to be.' So we can take this literally in a rebirth kind of way if we want or again we can see it more metaphorically and psychologically to include beings moving through different stages of life, or existence, or awareness. Maybe we can include people who are so twisted by hate and confusion that we can't imagine them being happy as beings who are moving towards that possibility who are not yet 'born' into the circumstances that allow happiness.
And then we close the verse with the wish sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā that all of these beings be happy.
And then into verse 6 we have another transition. Still within the samadhi section, still seeing this as both explication and meditation instruction we shift from a sense of me over here wishing good will to those beings over there to an emphasis on practicing loving kindness as relational. That it's the relationships between beings that makes all the difference. And this is literally true - what are all the conflicts and wars and horrors in the world other than issues of relationship.
I will restrain myself a bit from textual analysis in this next bit because both our translation and Thanissaro Bhikku's are pretty literal but I can email you a detailed thing I put together on what each Pali word means if you want.
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6 |
Na paro paraṃ nikubbetha nâtimaññetha katthacinaṃ kañci Vyārosanā paṭighasaññā nâññamaññassa dukkham iccheyya |
Let no one deceive another or despise anyone anywhere, Or through anger or irritation wish for another to suffer. |
Let no one deceive another nor despise any being in any state. Let none by anger or hatred wish harm to another. |
[read both translations and play the chant recording]
So in our relationships first we have the negative case in morality. Don't ever wish or bring negative stuff to others, even if you get angry or irritated with them. That there is no justification for this. Just one little bit in the Pali is notice the second to last word in this verse: dukkham. So this is dukkha again. Suffering. Don't wish suffering upon another.
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7 |
Mātā yathā niyaṃ puttaṃ āyusā ekaputtam anurakkhe Evam pi sabbabhūtesu mānasam bhāvaye aparimāṇaṃ |
As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, Even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings |
Even as a mother at the risk of her life watches over and protects her only child, so with a boundless mind should one cherish all living things, |
[read both translations and play the chant recording]
And here in the second most famous line from the sutta after the may all being be happy bit, the Buddha uses the simile of a mother with an only child. Your only child - so special, so unique, the one through whom all children can be loved.
I was listening to Bhikkhu Bodhi about this line and he an interesting story to tell about this verse. He said there was a practitioner where he was staying, a woman, who was a very smart person who had just finished her training as a lawyer. The problem was she was really choking in job interviews. She'd get into these interview and be just completely incapable of expressing herself or showing that she new anything about her field or her ability to be a competent person. So she was asking Bhikkhu Bodhi for advice and he thought of this line. He said well why don't you go into those interviews and put yourself in the place of your mother wishing love and support and kindness for everyone in the room. See if coming from that place makes it possible to express yourself with confidence. And she said, well I have actually a really horrible relationship with my mother - she was never able to express her love and was always criticizing me, I didn't feel like she wanted to protect me or cherish me. So no go. The simile of the mother and her only child wasn't helpful to this woman. So Bhikkhu Bodhi took another tack, he knew that this woman really cherished her relationship with her Dharma teacher who was someone who expressed a lot of compassion and love so he suggested that she go into the interview imagining herself to be her teacher meeting with students. And pretty soon she went to another interview and it went much, much better. She didn't actually get the job because the position wasn't exactly her specialty in the law but it went really well - she said she felt calm and compassionate and was able to interact with the other people in the interview by first establishing that feeling of how it is to be with her teacher. The interview committee was quite impressed by her and said they'd try to figure out another opening and call her back.
So the point being we can work with these sutras as practical teachings. This thing about a mother with her only child is very sweet but can we fully enter into that spirit? And when we do it may be that we can operate more freely in the world and express ourselves more fully as a child of Buddha. But also that this simile is pointing to something - to boundless and committed and compassionate love - and if that particular simile isn't our simile we can look below that and find our own way of understanding.
One last verse for today and then I want to talk about metta meditation practice as it's usually done and we can try it.
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8 |
Mettañ ca sabbalokasmiṃ mānasam bhāvaye aparimāṇaṃ Uddhaṃ adho ca tiriyañ ca |
With good will for the entire cosmos, cultivate a limitless heart: Above, below, & all around, unobstructed, without emnity or hate. |
suffusing love over the entire world, above, below, and all around, without limit. So let one cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world. |
[read both translations and play the chant recording]
Did you notice that first word? Mettañ is a form of metta - finally we get to the word the whole sutta is about. This is typical of sutras which can have a fairly non-linear structure. This one actually is quite linear but it's still interesting that we've used lots of other words to get at this idea of metta since the 3rd verse - different forms of happiness and so on - but only how eight tenths of the way through the sutra do we see the key word of metta or loving kindness.
So speaking of metta the commentaries give the instructions that are used for actual metta meditation as it's done by Theravadin practicioners and in this lineage family we sometimes take up metta meditation when it seems helpful. Although as an aside I was surprised when I was talking to serious Zen student from another Soto Zen line that he'd never even heard of this term 'metta' or that there was a meditation around is so clearly it's not a universal or traditional thing in Zen. Maybe I should have asked if he'd heard of maitri which is the Sanskrit version of the word.
So what you do is to settle into good conditions for meditation. The commentary says 'when he has done the work connected with the meal and got rid of any dizziness due to it, he should seat himself comfortably on a well-prepared seat in a secluded place.' So take care of your life and put energy into setting up good conditions for meditation.
Then remind yourself of the value of metta practice and the terrible consequences of negativity and hate. And various sutras that you could study about this are mentioned the main point being that negativity towards others leads to nothing but bad stuff.
Then you work through a series of classes of beings. With each class of beings you bring up someone specific that you know and hold the thought of that person in mind as you wish that person metta. As you wish them according to the formula we now know from the Metta sutta: good health, safety, and happiness. There are various phrases that are recommended but those three points are the explication of metta: May she be healthy, may she be safe, may she be happy. The translations of the recommended phrases in the commentary are that you would say 'May he be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety and live happily.' This particular translator Bhikkha Nanomoli is an English guy born in 1905 so he language may feel a little old fashioned to us - enmity in particular does not roll of the tongue really. The other suggested phrase is 'In joy and safety may she be joyful at heart.' But just remembering the three points in the famous 'may all beings be happy' part of the Metta Sutta is the main thing: healthy, safe or free from danger, and happy.
The first example you direct Metta towards is yourself. And the commentary has a long explication about this - that it's not to pump up your self-image or try to convince yourself in the reality of the concept of self but to use the best know person you have in your consciousness as an example. To practice both giving and receiving loving-kindness. Giving and receiving makes us think of the Tonglen practice in the Tibetan Lojong teachings and it's a very similar idea.
So first you wish good health, safety and happiness to yourself. You breath with this. You feel warmth and love around this. You allow yourself to feel this and receive it from yourself.
And then after a while you shift to a dear friend. They recommend not someone you might have lustful feelings about so if you're straight not someone of the opposite sex or someone you are in an intimate relationship. A dear platonic friend or mentor. Maybe your teacher. Someone with whom you have a dear and loving and unconflicted relationship. Wish that person health, safety and happiness.
Then you move on to a neutral person. An acquaintance. A friend of a friend. Someone you see around. Maybe a checker at the grocery store that you've noticed. It should still be a specific person but someone with whom you don't have much connection or relationship. Wish that person health, safety and happiness.
And then the last person is the advanced course. Bring up someone with whom you are in difficult. Someone who seems hostile towards you. See if you wish that person good health, safety, and happiness. And really notice if you can make that wish completely loving, unconditional and non-manipulative. There are subtle ways in which the mind adds a few strings or conditions or wishes for an outcome when we practice metta towards the hostile person in our life. It's easy to wish them love so that they will straighten out and stop being mean to you. So if you find that happening then you aren't ready to work with that person. You could pick someone a bit less difficult as your exemplar or hostility or you could pull back to a neutral person.
And the idea as we've been saying is that doing this practice really does change your mind. That you can kind of rewire your mind to be more loving and compassionate through this practice done consistently over time. That there's something deeper going on here than kind of good wishes or resolutions. That it's a transformative practice.
[try metta practice if there's time or make it a homework assignment]
Resident Priest Nomon Tim Burnett has been a student of Zoketsu Norman Fischer since 1987 when he was a resident at San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm. After sitting practice periods at Green Gulch and Tassajara Zen Monastery, Tim helped found the Bellingham Zen Practice Group in 1991. Tim was ordained as a Zen Priest by Norman in June, 2000. Like his teacher, Tim is interested in the possibility of deep and complete practice by lay people.
A person of wide-ranging professional interests, Tim has been a botanist, elementary schoolteacher, writer, and computer programmer. In addition to his work at the Resident Priest of Red Cedar Zen Community, Tim works as a software developer.