Love - The First Of Four Divine States Of Mind

Dhamma Talk + Guided Meditation
Session 044: Nov 4th, 2020, by Sophia Ojha Ensslin and Cristof Ensslin

Banner Photo by Pedro Kümmel - Thank you!

Handout

This week we have prepared a multi-page handout for you. It is posted below as blog content. Plus, you can download it as PDF by clicking on the following button:

Introduction

Bhante Vimalaramsi taught us in his Zoom session with us that we should focus on our scope of influence. The weather we cannot control. What others think about us is out of our hands. Who wins the election and who is the better loser, is out of our control. 

So, whenever a thought comes up in our mind which deals with issues like worries about what may happen or frustrations of what did happen already, Bhante taught us to “6R” it - recognize, release, relax, re-smile, return, repeat. These days, Sophia calls after me as I leave the home to drive to the grocery store: “6R everything!”.

After going through the first three steps, we must create wholesome thoughts in our mind. That’s what re-smile, return, and repeat are all about. Smiling allows us to be more mindful and is a wholesome action in itself. Then we are to return to our object of meditation. Bhante recommends to use “Metta” - loving kindness - as our object of meditation.

Metta: Love, Loving Kindness

I would like to let a master explain what metta is and how it fits in with Buddha’s teaching. So, I am reading you now from the book “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching” by Thich Nhat Hanh, the 94 year old Vietnamese Buddhist monk who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, pages 169-172. These are the beginning pages of chapter 22 titled The Four Immeasurable Minds.

Conclusion

Metta, loving kindness, is the first and easiest state of mind and heart that we should strive towards at all times - on and off the meditation cushion. We can radiate it to ourselves and to others. We can start with an easy subject to direct our metta-filled heart, such as a puppy, a kitten, a baby, or a plant that we love or that never fails to uplift us.

With practice, we can share our love with all beings and the whole kosmos. Every single being wants to live, be happy, and be loved. We can practice being generous by giving just that. It will purify our minds and hearts from negative, painful, unwholesome, divisive states altogether. 

So, smiling, returning to metta as our meditation object, and repeating to A) stay with it for as long as we can and B) to “roll” the “6Rs”, is an essential practice on the meditation cushion. We can feel immense, positive spill-over effects for our daily lives, in which, too, we can practice to radiate metta generously to all beings at all times.

So, now, let’s practice meditation.