Live Session Summary, Sunday, September 17, 2023: It was good to be with you for our Live session exploring keys to the Buddha’s heart practices. Here are some of the main themes, quotes, and poems:
I began by speaking about the difficult place we are in as a species and the challenges we face, including, the climate crisis and its implications both for humans and other species—Elizabeth Kolbert, in her book ‘The Sixth Extinction,’ shared the estimate from some scientists that 20 to 50 percent of all species may become extinct by the end of the 21st century. We are also painfully caught up in the suffering that comes from war and conflict, divisions between groups, racism, sexism, homophobia, and many other manifestations, in Buddhist understanding, of greed, aversion, and delusion manifesting on a collective level.
I shared my belief that the changes that need to happen, if we are to survive and thrive on a sustainable planet—the next revolution in human development—will not come from more advances in technology, organization, strategies, or new institutions, but from a transformation of the human heart grounded in a deep understanding of our interconnectedness and our oneness with all of life. I shared a quote Maha Ghosananda, known as the ‘patriarch of Cambodia,’ who visited Washington, DC, in the late 1990s at the time of an international campaign to ban land mines, and said on the steps of the U.S. Capitol: ‘Before we eradicate the land mines from the soil, we must eradicate the land mines from our own hearts.’
The understanding of the need for a ‘revolution of the heart’ is present in many of the great spiritual traditions: for example, Jesus’ call to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’; in Judaism, the concept of Tikkun Olam, ‘repairing the world’, responding to the suffering and brokenness of the world; Martin Luther King’s vision of the ‘beloved community’; and the Buddha’s teaching to suffuse the world with loving-kindness to all beings without exception. In the words of Leonard Cohen, ‘The heart has got to open in a fundamental way…’
What Buddhism uniquely offers to this vision are: 1) ways of seeing that help us free ourselves from suffering and connect us with all beings (for example, the four noble truths and the practice of mindfulness as a ‘direct path to liberation’ (Buddha); and 2) practices to train the heart and mind to realize the deepest joy, peace, and freedom. There’s a well-known simile used in Buddhist teachings of ‘the wings of a bird’: that just as a bird needs two wings to fly, our practice also requires two wings: the wing of wisdom (of awareness, investigation, and insight, or clear seeing) and the wing of compassion (of connection, kindness, caring, and love).
At the heart of the Buddha’s teachings of the heart are the practices of what are called the ‘Four Immeasurables’—called this because there is no limit to the extent of our loving-kindness when we train the heart—and Brahma Viharas (‘divine abodes,’ or our ‘best home’). These four qualities are loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. They can be seen as one overarching quality of unconditional friendliness that takes on different complexions based on the conditions it meets: e.g., loving-kindness responds to suffering with compassion and to another’s happiness with joy. Meditation teacher Gil Fronsdal calls them ‘the four faces of love.’
I spoke of how practicing these qualities doesn’t always come easily: we can think that the practice is about using particular words or having specific feelings. But rather than being about particular formulas or practices, it is more helpful to see these practices as ‘orientations of the heart,’ or inclining our hearts in the direction of friendliness and kindness towards ourselves and towards all beings and experiences.
I mentioned two outstanding books on the heart practices: Sharon Salzberg’s ‘Loving-kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness’; and Christina Feldman’s ‘Boundless Heart: The Buddha’s Path of Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity,’ and shared quotes from these and other teachers, including:
• Buddha: ‘What you frequently think about and ponder on becomes the inclination of your mind.’
• Sri Nisargadata, 20th century Indian spiritual teacher, said: ‘Wisdom tells me I’m nothing. Love tells me I’m everything. And between the two my life flows.’
• 20th century Indian Buddhist teacher, Dipa Ma, when asked whether a person should practice mindfulness or metta (loving-kindness) said: ‘From my own experience, there is no difference between mindfulness and loving-kindness.’ When the heart is fully open and awakened, there is no difference between awareness and love. (Amy Schmidt, ‘The Extraordinary Life and Teaching of Dipa Ma.’)
• Christina Feldman: ‘Metta is not primarily concerned with how we feel but with the attitudinal commitment and intention we bring to all moments of experience: … to learn we can stand next to all events and people and befriend them.’
• Shaila Catherine: ‘Metta is the quality of heart that embraces life without conflict—a deep friendship with life… an unconflicted relationship to all things and all beings.’
• Christina Feldman: ‘Metta is always a simple invitation and conscious cultivation of intention and inclining our hearts towards kindness.’
I also shared Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi’s poem ‘I used to reject those who were not of my faith…’; and Martha Postlethwaite’s ‘Clearing.’
I hope this is helpful. Wishing you a joyful and peaceful week ahead. I’ll see you for the next Live session on October 8 at 9am eastern. Warmly, Hugh 🙏🏻 💜 🌻
