..续本文上一页rs have faced the pain of terminal illnesses such as cancer with great fortitude, rejecting strong painkillers or drugs that would have made them unconscious. They choose to face their deaths with full awareness and pass away with peaceful and alert minds. What could be a greater medicine to cure the affliction of misery!
Thousands of prison inmates burning in the fire of revenge go through Vipassana retreats every year. Over and over again, we witness them at the end of their ten-day exploration of the reality deep inside themselves. They proclaim their acceptance of their faults with tears in their eyes; instead of smouldering in thoughts of vengeance, they start generating loving-kindness for everyone. These examples, being lived every day, demonstrate the exquisite practicality of the Buddha”s teaching. Such examples are direct confirmation of the results it gives here and now.
2. Mettā bhāvanā: Loving kindness
The teaching of the Buddha does not build castles in the air. It does not give false hope. It teaches us to proceed with every step firmly grounded in the truth of one”s own experience of reality within. A meditator looks within-to the anchor of his or her own direct experience-to discover for oneself, that every time he generates hatred or animosity against anyone, at that very moment, he becomes agitated. He loses his peace of mind.
Aśāntasya kuto sukhaṃ
He who has lost his peace of mind has no happiness.
He observes for himself the workings of Dhamma: how far away from happiness he is when he loses his peace of mind. He understands clearly that whenever he generates anger or hatred or animosity, he becomes the first victim of that defilement. At that very moment, he becomes agitated. He also experiences that when he removes these defilements he becomes happy and peaceful. Therefore, again and again he reflects:
Ahaṃ avero homi, abyāpajjo homi, anīgho homi, sukhī attānaṃ pariharāmi.
May I be free from animosity, free from hatred, free from anger. May I experience peace within myself.
This sentiment is not just wishful thinking. One practises mettā bhāvanā (loving kindness meditation) only after one actually starts eradicating defilements through the practice of Vipassana. There naturally arises a wish in one”s mind that all others-whether friends, relatives or unknown people, (visible or invisible)-be free from defilements and become happy and peaceful.
Mātāpitu ācariya ñātisamūhā, averā hontu, abyāpajjā hontu, anīghā hontu, sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu.
May my mother and father, teachers, neighbours be free from animosity, free from hatred, free from anger. May they all experience peace within themselves.
Ārakkhadevatā, bhūmaṭṭhadevatā, rukkhaṭṭhadevatā, ākāsaṭṭhadevatā averā hontu, abyāpajjā hontu, anīghā hontu, sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu.
May the guardian deities, tree deities, deities in the sky be free from animosity, free from hatred, free from anger. May they all experience peace within themselves.
Puratthimāya disāya, pacchimāya disāya,
Uttarāya disāya, dakkhiṇāya disāya,
Heṭṭhimāya disāya, uparimāya disāya,
Puratthimāya anudisāya, pacchimāya anudisāya,
Uttarāya anudisāya, dakkhiṇāya anudisāya,
East, west, north, south, above, below, south-east, north-east, north-west and south-west: all beings of these ten directions,
Sabbe sattā, sabbe pāṇā, sabbe bhūtā, sabbe puggalā,
Sabbe attabhāvapariyāpannā, sabbā itthiyo sabbe purisā,
Sabbe ariyā, sabbe anariyā, sabbe devā, sabbe manussā,
Sabbe amanussā, sabbe vinipātikā.
All sentient beings, all animals, all living things, all who have been born, all women, all men, all ariyas (noble ones), all anariyas (non-noble ones), all humans, all non-humans and …
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