Skip to main content

metta and the 4bv brahma viharas are much easier than you think, lots of wrong ideas out there, such as vism.

(work in progress - sharing prematurely because friend asked a question about it)

Nobody ever taught dogs how to do metta

(from a post in 2017-mar.)
For many years I had the same questions [on how do you actually practice metta?]

Then one day, I figured it out. Look at the prototypical dog in a developed western country. No one ever taught them what suttas they should read or study, or how to first visualize dogs in their family, then ones they feel neutral towards, and then cats which they might feel animosity towards, and then one quarter of the universe, then the other… No complicated stuff.

But they do a pretty convincing job of spreading good will don’t they? Their body language seems to say, “hey! how you doing? good to see you! have a good day! Want to be friends?”

Or you see a stranger on the street with a beaming smile, may not even be directed towards you, but its contagious right?

So it simply boils down to be happy and energetically spread that feeling out. Treat all living beings the way you wish to be treated, reduce the flavor to its essence and it can take you into jhana. Or you can get into jhana first and then spread out that feeling energetically. You don’t really need to be taught how to do metta. The hard part may be to be genuinely happy. If you can do it, just don’t block it and let it spread out. I found that if I wasn’t able to be happy, I could at least partake in happiness of others and vicariously do metta that way.

With asubha practices, if you practice it enough you become desensitized like a coroner who cuts up dead bodies every day. Just like you take a shit and eat 5 minutes later and it doesn’t shake you up right? But always remember Vesali sutta SN 54.9, where scores of monks committed suicde from doing asubha. If you think you might be one of them, don’t do asubha yet.

Karuna (compassion)

This is actually my preferred brahma vihara to start out with, because it's always ready and instantaneous. Whereas with metta, I'm a hermit who prefers solitude and noble silence, and I've found that emanating metta tends to be attractive, it draws people and beings toward you and they often want to talk to you. With karuna, it's a basic instinct to want to be free from pain and suffering. So you hold on to that feeling in regard to yourself, wishing yourself to be free of suffering, and you extend your energy bubble outwards to encompass others. When you see bugs  or animals in trouble, and it takes little effort to give them a hand and save their life, don't you do it? It's that simple. Just recall your mind state from the last time that happened, how instantaneously that karuna can spring to mind. Bring that feeling to mind, and spread it in various directions.  


 Some wrong ideas and misunderstandings about brahma viharas


* you have to be able to do this or that jhana or formless samadhi before you can properly attempt to do metta or brahma vihara
* mudita (virtuous mirth/rejoicing) doesn't mean non jealousy at others' good fortune. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Advice to younger meditators on jhāna, sex, porn, masturbation

Someone asked: Is porn considered harmful sexual.activity? I don't have a sex life because I don't have a partner and I don't wish to engage in casual sex so I use porn to quench the biological urge to orgasm. I can't see that's it's harmful because nobody is being forced into it. The actors are all paid well and claim to enjoy it etc. The only harm I can see is that it's so accessible these days on smart devices and so children may access it but I believe that this is the parents responsibility to not allow unsupervised use of devices etc. Views? Frankk response: In another thread, you asked about pleasant sensations and jhāna.  I'm guessing you're young, so here's some important advice you won't get from suttas   if you're serious about jhāna.  (since monastics are already celibate by rule)   If you want to attain stable and higher jhānas,   celibacy and noble silence to the best of your ability are the feedstock and prerequiste to tha...
Post a Comment
Read more

SN 48.40 Ven. Thanissaro comments on Ven. Sunyo's analysis

This was Ven. Sunyo's analysis of SN 48.40: https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2024/05/exciting-news-honest-ebt-scholars-like.html And here is Ven. Thanissaro's response to that analysis: I think there’s a better way to tackle the issue of SN 48:40 than by appealing to the oldest layers of commentarial literature. That way is to point out that SN 48:40, as we have it, doesn’t pass the test in DN 16 for determining what’s genuine Dhamma and what’s not. There the standard is, not the authority of the person who’s claiming to report the Buddha’s teachings, but whether the teachings he’s reporting are actually in accordance with the principles of the Dhamma that you know. So the simple fact that those who have passed the Buddha’s teachings down to us say that a particular passage is what the Buddha actually taught is not sufficient grounds for accepting it. In the case of the jhānas—the point at issue here— we have to take as our guide the standard formula for the jhānas, a...
Post a Comment
Read more

1min. video: Dalai Lama kissing boy and asking him to suck his tongue

To give more context, this is a public event,  * everyone knows cameras are rolling  *  it's a room full of children * the boy's mom is standing off camera a few feet away watching all of this * the boy initiated contact, he had already had a hug with Dalai Lama earlier and then asked Dalai Lama for another hug which triggered this segment  17 min. video showing what happened before that 1 min. clip and after, with some explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0qey5Ts78 16min talk from Ajahn Acalo with his thoughts on Dalai Lama kissing boy, relevance to Bhikkhu monastic code, sexual predators in religion in general, and how celibate monastics deal with sexual energy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK2m0TcUib0 The child's comments about the incident in a filmed interview later https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2023/04/18/643eba5d46163ffc078b457c.html The child: It's a great experience It was amazing to meet His Holiness and I think it's a great ex...
Post a Comment
Read more