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Is metta an authentic teaching?
Read the whole thing before responding.
These are my friend's thoughts below:
The problem: cycle of birth and death
Solution: Liberation from this cycle
Practice: Detachment
Concepts like metta make us feel good about ourselves, perhaps put a smile on someone's face. But in the context of liberation, they perform no role whatsoever. Suppose I am attached to A, I keep coming back to A. But if I practice detachment, I will eventually be free of A.
Even for freedom from small habits, one has to practice detachment - and not some sentimental feel-good stuff like 'May all beings be happy' and so on. So for liberation, wouldn't detachment be the all-important practice (and metta and everything else irrelevant)?
The above sums up my friend's thought. I have my own theory on this but would like to hear yours.
These are my friend's thoughts below:
The problem: cycle of birth and death
Solution: Liberation from this cycle
Practice: Detachment
Concepts like metta make us feel good about ourselves, perhaps put a smile on someone's face. But in the context of liberation, they perform no role whatsoever. Suppose I am attached to A, I keep coming back to A. But if I practice detachment, I will eventually be free of A.
Even for freedom from small habits, one has to practice detachment - and not some sentimental feel-good stuff like 'May all beings be happy' and so on. So for liberation, wouldn't detachment be the all-important practice (and metta and everything else irrelevant)?
The above sums up my friend's thought. I have my own theory on this but would like to hear yours.
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Comments
This is very apparent in practice.
In any form of letting go when not conditioned by aversion or attachment, there is peace, joy, compassion, equanimity, and kindness/love.
And cultivating these qualities also bring letting go.
Its a two way street.
Just as metta without upekkha tends to the sentimental.
as stated above Metta is also one of the four divine abodes. it is a mental state of unconditional love and equanimity for all beings.. it is also the only love that is not conducive to suffering, as opposed to Eros(marital love) and Filia( family love) which are beset with Dukkha.
metta should be a part of your daily practice without a doubt. and as a matter of fact the Buddha stated that people could become enlightened simply through metta.
Just like with jhana they are a tool to use towards enlightenment, but they don't develop all of the qualities needed is what I have heard.
That’s an interesting way of looking at it.
Maybe the Dharma is like a diamond. It can be looked at from different angles and appear in various colors and “detachment only” could be an interesting practice; why not.
Aversion – taiyaki mentioned that – is attachment in the negative form. Maybe your friend should try avoiding both attachment and aversion and see where it takes him.
Without wisdom, detachment becomes numbness and rejection of life. You fool yourself into thinking you're "getting somewhere" because, look, I don't care about anything or anyone. I'm detached. The suffering of the world doesn't bother me because that's all karma, don't you know. I'll sit here alone and stroke my ego and cherish my hard-won enlightenment.
You end up so focused on yourself, your practice and mental state, you become blind to the chains that bind you ever tighter to this existence. Retreat to solitude on a mountaintop, and you still take your mind with you. You're so attached to detachment you can't even see it.
Metta, cultivating the connection to beings everywhere, is the force that moves you to take that focus off your own wants and needs. The hard truth is that, in the grand play of life, your own enlightenment means almost nothing. So you learn how to cultivate your whatsit and no longer get reborn. Congratulations. The world won't miss you one bit because you long ago detached yourself from it. If your life didn't matter to anyone, then neither does your death. In the meantime, the rest of us struggle on.
Metta does not make someone "feel good". To look at the suffering of the world with open eyes is not fun. Sure, at the beginning, it makes you happy to help. But as you continue the practice, you see over and over that this is illusion. You end up not giving because it helps, but because you have to respond to the suffering of the world with no expectation of reward. That's detachment. Not from the world, but from your own desire for the world to be something it is not.
So yes, metta and detachment have their place. Yin and Yang. Form and Emptiness.
Which makes me wonder, not for the first time, do you actually know any practicing Buddhists personally music ?
I think spending time with real flesh and blood Buddhists would answer many of your questions.
Although of course that may be the problem.
Just do the practice and see!
Generally, metta practice weaken the ego by breaking down the sense of separateness and opposition from/to other people. It is a direct antidote to aversion, hate, fear, greed, and probably other hindrances or unwholesome thoughts/mindstates.
This is why Gunaratana, in "Mindfulness in Plain English," strongly suggests meditators practice metta before they start their session. I encourage you to read that section of the book. He is fully aware that skeptics will think of metta as warm-and-fuzzy B.S., but gives an excellent rational for the practice.
In my experience, doing metta practice before meditation increases my focus and mindfulness. It also makes me a feel better, generally. I highly recommend it as a pre-meditation ritual, at the least.
Also I only do the two types of metta taught by the Buddha.. Exaulted and immeasurable release of mind.
My last retreat at Bhavana society was a 7 day metta retreat, an amazing experience. Metta is an integral part of dhamma practice.
http://www.google.fr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=brahma vihara mahasi sayadaw&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDYQFjAB&url=http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/brahmavihara.pdf&ei=wdvQUPeyE4u7hAey0oH4BQ&usg=AFQjCNHmgS7a6tkhTTdRHpbkr9VQEK93kA
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammatthana