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What is Metta?
lobster
Crusty Veteran
in Philosophy
from the daka formally known as ThailandTom:
What is Metta? Unconditional love? In other word the equivalent of 'Cod is Love' in other religions?
It is stronger than compassion, which a mother might have for another's child.
It is formless, so is the tantric root buddhas, the 'wisdom that passeth all understanding'. It is not an arising. It is arisen.
Its cause is awakening but once caused, it has no start, no finish, no limits, no karma, no former, no after, no sleeping, no awaking.
Does metta matter? You bet your Buddha collection.
:clap:
This is going to be derailing this thread here a bit so sorry in advance. @lobster doesn't all phenomena come into being due to causation, even the type of compassion you speak of? Yes it is not the type of love you hear people talking about that is riddled with attachment, but surly it has a cause to come into being and a cause to cease?My vehicle when it runs of gas, considers the MettaRay or Maitreya as a primary motivator.
What is Metta? Unconditional love? In other word the equivalent of 'Cod is Love' in other religions?
It is stronger than compassion, which a mother might have for another's child.
It is formless, so is the tantric root buddhas, the 'wisdom that passeth all understanding'. It is not an arising. It is arisen.
Its cause is awakening but once caused, it has no start, no finish, no limits, no karma, no former, no after, no sleeping, no awaking.
Does metta matter? You bet your Buddha collection.
:clap:
2
Comments
This, and also your thoughts @lobster , remind me of many years ago when I was a Christian of sorts very mystical minded. I read that passage from I John, 'God is love,' quite literally: If God is Love, then it is just as true the other way around, Love is God. The word 'love' here is of course the Koinos Greek word agape, which is understood as 'unconditional love' which is probably a rough equivalent of karuna. Basically my own thought was where there is no love, there is no God. The two are inseparable and if anyone tries to separate the two, they are only deluding themselves.
My way of expressing and understanding this has changed, but only slightly. Compassion means for me that in the selfless act of compassion, *I* am not the one doing the act--it is something bigger than me or the other person--mythopoetically speaking it is Avalokiteshvara that is engaging in this act of love. In order for that to happen *I* have to stand out of the way. This is why there is less compassion in the world--our reified and essentialised egos keep standing in the way.
Less mythopoetically speaking, in compassion there is no *I* and there is no *you* -- and out of that seamlessness love flows. There's a quote from Rumi that I love: ' Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.'
Put differently, the Diamond Sutra says, 'no one can be called a bodhisattva who creates the perception of a self or who creates the perception of a being, a life, or a soul.'
The barrier is the delusion of duality, of separation, of permanence. We dam up that river in ourselves and also in others. Love needs to flow freely and that is why all these teachings about nonduality are not just mere fancy ontological jargon. It cannot flow freely as long as we are deluded into thinking there are permanent entities called 'me' and 'you.' Love too is wonderful emptiness. Wisdom and compassion are not two. Love does not belong to anybody. Let Avalokiteshvara do her work--be one of her hands!
Does anyone have any specific recommendations for texts or other forms of Metta education? Now that I have a more solid understanding of the Buddha's basic teachings (I think I have graduated Kindergarten), I want to make more of a commitment to Metta practice within the broader scope of my practice. While I do try to spend time thinking about compassion and helping others the best I can, I think it would be best for me to have a tangible form of Metta education to help me focus on it, on and off the cushion.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/buddharakkhita/wheel365.html
(1) The last part of my zazen routine involves doing a very simple four-line metta chant followed by repeating the 'Om Mani Padme Hum' mantra (each repetition I try to focus on various people I know are going through some kind of suffering, regardless of who they are). I don't suppose that's anything new for you though!
(2) Smile -- not necessarily a full-blown smile full of teeth, but just a subtle relaxation of the muscles around the cheeks and temples. The body and emotions and mind are not separate entities but one, and emotions are very much tied to the body (this is just as true of anger, which tenses up the body in a particular way). The smile does not have to be obvious at all-- it is more like being on the verge of a smile. It helps to break (or brake!) any kind of 'negative momentum' you might have building up.
(3) From only two weeks of recent experience, I can see how participating in a sangha makes a huge difference. When you are around others who are at least aiming for positive feelings which make Buddhist practice easier, it is contagious. It is a place to practice with others with mindfulness...
(4) ...which in turn helps even more in the workplace, where people do not deliberately cultivate maitri. It is an opportunity to practice serving others (co-workers or customers).
(5) I have recently created a sound file of a bell followed by 15 minutes of silence which I play on the computer on repeat. This is essentially how it is set up at Magnolia Grove. When the bell rings out, I stop whatever I am doing to breathe mindfully. I think of it almost like a mental speedbump to slow things down and pay attention. Whatever feelings might be accompanying my thoughts at the moment are given a chance to re-calibrate so to speak, and short circuit any potential 'non-maitri' sorts of feelings. I am soooo glad I started doing this!
(6) I have started associating my breathing like this sometimes: inhalation = gratitude, exhalation = generosity. I am sure I've read something like this before somewhere... Pema Chodron maybe? But what got me to doing this recently is thinking about how gratitude and generosity are two sides of the same coin, and are really the same thing when understood nondualistically. You can't have generosity without gratitude and vice versa. The greater a sense of gratitude, the greater a sense of generosity. It seems to have been of some help for me this week. I'll have to see how things go further down the track with that.
Something else I have discovered about myself: cultivating metta makes karuna easier to come about. And once the cycle gets going, a kind of metta momentum builds up. I suppose it isn't too different than learning any new skill--the more you work at it, the easier it becomes, and it is harder for that momentum to be lost once it gets up to speed. (This is not to say I have not had my bad moments at work the past couple weeks, but I recover from such moments a little more easily too).
People are not encouraged to find good company to convert them but to resonate with a community centered around good will. Go join a charity if you prefer . . .
The worldly life is hard for the non 'loved up'. You need to be practically a Buddha to cope with it . . . .
Sangye Cho dang Tsok kyi chog nam la
Jang Chub bar du dag gi jin gyat su chi
Dag gi jin so yi pe tsog nam ki
Dro la pen Chir Sangye drub par shok (probably Bulgarian)
Until I am enlightened,
I go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Through the virtue I create by practising giving and the other perfections,
may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings.
Mostly what is not what.
Formless questioning, where we have a question but not an answer is very useful.
For example what is metta without form? You can not think of such a thing?
Does it 'exist'?
You bet your what not . . .
Yours sincerely
Crusty S Lobster (Buddha in training)
lol.