Walking the
Bodhisattva Walk. Talking the Bodhisattva Talk.
May
all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness;
May all be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow;
May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is
sorrowless;
And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too
much aversion,
And live believing in the equality of all that lives.
traditional buddhist prayer courtesy of worldprayers.org
The conventional
wisdom is that the world is a dangerous place. We know there are people
in it who would do us harm. These thoughts naturally bring up fear and
anger. They may also generate a wish for vengeance. When we embrace
vengeance we are in
a state of hatred. At the moment when we have become hateful, the world
has
become a little less peaceful, a little less safe. The chain of anger,
fear,
and hatred has added another link.
If we wish ill upon our
enemy and our wish comes true, are we truly satisfied knowing that more
suffering has come into the world? Wouldn’t it be better if we wished
greater wisdom and compassion upon our enemy? Which, by the way, would
remove them from the category of enemy. If our compassionate wish came
true, the world would enjoy the kindness of the person formerly
considered our enemy, and it would enjoy a kinder us as well.
In the Buddhist Tradition,
a Bodhisattva is one who postpones his or her own entry into Nirvana
out of compassion for the suffering of others. Such an individual has
vowed to
help all sentient beings achieve Nirvana, or enlightenment, before he
or
she achieves it.
We too can choose to remove
the energy of the base emotions from our hearts and replace it with
loving kindness. We can set aside anger, hatred, jealousy, and
vengeance and wish happiness on all beings, even those who have harmed
us or have harmed those we love.
How can we lose? If we hate
someone, we typically wish bad things to happen to him or her. We
imagine the scales of justice will be balanced if the evildoer is
punished. But
wouldn’t it be even better if the evildoer had a change of heart and
became
a kind and compassionate person? What could be a better outcome than
that?
We may be tempted to make
exceptions to our wish of happiness for all beings. Some people have
done
such bad things that we feel they need to be punished by our anger. Who
is our anger hurting? People who live in hate and cruelty aren’t likely
to be too disturbed by our willingness to join them in their cruel and
hateful
state. By nurturing our hate, we must carry the burden of that emotion.
We
tie ourselves emotionally to the object of our disfavor.
Why not recognize that
people do cruel things out of ignorance of love and a misunderstanding
of the nature of life. Cruel people deserve pity and they need more
wisdom and compassion in order to change their ways. Will our wishing
goodwill to troublemakers change them? Maybe not, but at least we will
be serving ourselves by releasing emotional defilements and we will be
serving the world by reducing its load of hate.
Think about your intentions
with regard to others and make up your mind to cultivate loving
kindness. Punctuate your day with frequent repetitions of the
Bodhisattva’s wish:
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be at peace.
Metta
Sutra
of the Buddha
May all beings be happy and at their ease. May they be joyous and live
in safety. All beings, omitting none, whether weak or strong; small or
great; in high, middle or low realms of existence; near or far away;
visible or invisible; born or to-be born. May all beings be happy and
at their ease. Let none deceive another, or despise any being in any
state. Let none wish harm to another. But even as a mother loves,
watches over, and protects her child, her only child; so may all with a
boundless mind cherish all living beings, radiating friendliness over
the entire world without limit. May we cultivate a boundless goodwill,
free from ill will or enmity, and maintain the sublime abiding of this
recollection.
Courtesy of katinkahesselink.net
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