Well, someone asked me if I would talk about the so-called four Brahma-viharas. I'll explain what that means. I think most of you have heard me talk about this before. Every once in a while I talk about the Brahma-viharas. Brahma-viharas are kind of an ancient Indian set of standards for the meaning of love, basically. Sometimes people say, how come you don't talk about love in Zen? But we do talk about love all the time. We practice it all the time. But we may not use that word. That's a kind of buzzword that means so many things. But if you listen carefully, you'll see that we do not just talk about it, but practice it.

[01:11]

So, Brahma Vihara's Brahma Heaven is when the Hindu, ancient Hindu, Brahma was the chief of the gods in the Hindu pantheon. And the Brahma heaven was the highest of the heavens. And Vihara is an abode, a place where you live. So, if you want to live in the Brahma heaven, you have to follow the Brahma heavenly rules. So, the Brahma heaven is the ideal place. to live. And the place is accessed through pure love. So there are four aspects of love in the Brahma-viharas.

[02:19]

One is called love, and the next one is called compassion. And the third one is called joy. And the fourth one is called equanimity. Equanimity. So all of these four, each one contains the other three. And so you can express yourself thoroughly when you practice one, the other three are there. So, sometimes, the first one, love, is called loving-kindness. But actually, the loving-kindness, you know, the Indians and the Buddhists, let's say, I mean the Buddhists, didn't like to use the word love so much because it has the connotation of sexuality and desire and so forth.

[03:33]

So they attach the word kindness to it, loving kindness. But it's not necessary to say loving kindness. It's like kinder, like your family, you're kindred. It has the feeling of extending love to those who are close to you. Kindness, actually, is interesting. Love of kind, love of your same kind. So love goes beyond our kindred or our family or those that we feel close to. In its purest form, it's unconditioned. So for a Buddhist, the unconditioned realm is the realm of true love, beyond conditions, beyond like and dislike.

[04:44]

It has nothing to do with like and dislike. So, pure love has nothing to do with like and dislike or any kind of benefit to yourself. It's simply your expression of being connected with the universe. The universe hangs together through metta. in Sanskrit is Maitri. Meta means love. Maitri also is the Pali term, meta. We have the Meta Sutra, the Sutra on Loving, and then we have Maitri, which is more Sanskrit We see statues and pictures of Maitreya.

[05:52]

Maitreya doesn't sit with his legs crossed. He sits with one knee in a kind of relaxed posture, and he's sitting there in Tushita heaven, waiting for the right moment to come and actually sits in our Tushita heavenly mind. In the Buddhist pantheon, the Buddhists have various levels of heavens and hells that are enumerated, and the Tushita heaven is the highest one, pure heaven. And of course there are the lower hells and so forth.

[07:00]

So we have all those, the potentiality for all those heavens and hells within ourselves. Now, this is the realm of heaven, this is the realm of hell. We can create heaven or we can create hell, depending on how we go about living our life and how it affects others. So Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, lives in the two-seated heaven of our own mind, but not so easy to access. So the seeds of both heaven and hell are potentialities in our own consciousness.

[08:08]

And depending on our actions and the way we think and feel and move and act, we can produce these seeds or sprout these seeds of either heaven or hell. So, it's possible to access Maitreya of our own mind by pure love which is not biased or conditioned by desire. So there are various aspects of love, you know. We have love songs, and love songs are usually about how much we suffer. Especially the old Elizabethan love songs.

[09:18]

In the Elizabethan times in the 15th, 16th century, all those songs were about how much They're beautiful songs, just much more beautiful than most songs today, but they're all about suffering. The suffering of falling in love and being disappointed. So, if we don't want to be disappointed in love, love has to be pure. and not selfish or self-centered or dependent on desire. So this is very important in Buddhist understanding, to not get caught by desire. In the Four Noble Truths,

[10:21]

The biggest problem is desire. The cause is desire. So how do we love without being caught by suffering? Sometimes we have to suffer through it. Yes. Suffering is a great teacher and so although we don't like it, it's good for us. It's medicine, good medicine. how to take care of ourselves and others without becoming sour. How do we retain our sweetness toward all beings given the nature of suffering? And it's very difficult to let go of desire. But when desire turns toward way-seeking mind, it's no longer called desire.

[11:29]

It's called seeking the way, and the way unfolds through the purity of love. So it's really love that doesn't even necessarily look like love. of all things. So actually, basically it's emptiness, which is unconditioned but connected with everything. Zazen actually is pure love. It's simply being one with the universe. That's basic true love. just being one with the universe without any ill will, or actually even without any goodwill, just being one with everything without being biased.

[12:40]

So, you know, We don't really choose our friends. Everyone becomes a part of our family. But it's all the same. We have to treat everyone the same. So we can find something good or something that's real about each person, whether we like people somewhat or don't like them.

[13:50]

A teacher cannot be biased by like and dislike with students. Everyone is who they are, and the teacher has to have a relationship or connection with each one, good, bad, indifferent, like, dislike, it doesn't make any difference. Everyone is treated the same way. You may think, teacher doesn't treat me very well. But everyone is equal. And when we treat everyone equally, this is true love. The teacher doesn't abandon anyone just because they make a lot of trouble.

[15:01]

Even though the teacher says, get out of here and don't come back, that's still not abandonment. So then there's karuna. Karuna is compassion, usually translated as to suffer with. Passion actually means suffering, even though we usually use the term to mean sexual desire or to have a strong desire. to do something in a passionate way, but basically it means suffering. So it has a kind of double meaning. We say, Avalokiteshvara hears the cries of the world.

[16:07]

In the Heart Sutra, it says, kanji zai, boho satsagyo, kanji zai, zabudho ki jijwara, but kanji zai means the one who hears the cries of the world. So the one who listens and takes it in and tries to understand what creates such suffering. That's compassion. We suffer with compassion. But we don't necessarily suffer as. If we suffered as, everyone suffers. We wouldn't survive. It's too overwhelming. We have to have some distance from the suffering in order to survive. In order to treat a patient, the doctor has to have some distance.

[17:14]

The doctor can't have the same disease. But the doctor understands the problem. Hopefully. A therapist should understand the problem of the patient without succumbing to the same problem. But because we have empathy, experience, without succumbing to the same problem, we can have compassion. So, calm is with, compassion is to suffer with, to hear what people have to, try to understand where everyone is. only possible when we have equanimity, when we don't get caught by suffering, but we understand

[18:38]

without reacting with anger when people are angry at us. One of the biggest problems that cause suffering is reaction. When we react to a difficult situation, we just create more difficulty. To be able to accept whatever it is that comes to us or at us to be able to take it in and digest it and then transform that into something beneficial. That's the trick. To be able to absorb when people are angry at us or insult us or create terrible problems without reacting to transform our emotional response into unconditional love and understanding and trying

[20:12]

If you look at the political situation, why? You take for instance the present conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. It's just reactions. It's like if you go to the kennel, one dog starts barking, and then the other dog starts barking. First thing, all the dogs are barking at each other. That's just reaction. So instead of somebody standing their ground and taking it all in and experiencing all the difficulties of each other, people just fall into one side. talking to somebody when this particular conflict started, and the person said, never mind emptiness, you have to take sides.

[21:30]

And I thought, that's the problem. That's the whole problem, is you have to take sides. As soon as you take sides, you create the problem of reaction, and then there's no end to it. Then I hit you, and then you hit me, and then I hit you. That's my way to do it. Someone has to stop hitting. Someone has to take a few blows without striking back. This is the hard part. We have to be able to absorb and take a few blows without hitting back. And then the whole thing takes a different turn. because it doesn't stop until somebody stops hitting back. So, compassion is actually to be able to understand your enemy, so-called.

[22:36]

and to be able to see your own complicity. This is in the family, with your friends, with your whoever. Whichever circumstance you find yourself, we have to be able to see the causes that create, or at least the immediate causes that create any kind of peace or love into the world, we have to be able to have compassion for our enemies and see how they suffer, because everyone's suffering. We can't end suffering until we see the causes, and if we're only reacting, it's always on

[23:43]

Then there's the Brahma-vihara of joy, sometimes called sympathetic joy, or joy over others' success, but that's an addition to sympathetic joy. It's great, you know, someone else's success. But it's very good. But simply bringing joy into the world. Dogen talks about GGU as a mind. Self-joy is Samadhi.

[24:50]

When we sit in Zazen and when we practice, we have the Samadhi of deep joy. So for a Zen practitioner who practices Zazen all the time, there is a joy that runs through life. always joy there, no matter what's happening, good things, bad things. And it's not even something you can describe, but it's a kind of optimism, which doesn't mean things will get better. No matter what's happening, it's always there in the present moment.

[25:58]

And so when things turn good or turn bad, the joy is not affected by it. And then this is offered to others. This is actually offering to other people, is this joy, which is the underlying principle of the universe. It allows all life to feel validated. So, this is love in a very true sense, because it comes from the interconnectedness of all things. When we experience the interconnectedness of all beings,

[27:01]

that joy is there and love is there, because love is what holds everything together. It's bigger than our feelings, even though our feelings are it. Then the fourth one is called It's love that's unbiased and is not dependent on good or bad, right or wrong. And it's not dependent on indifference. Indifference is a kind of near-enemy of equanimity. So, without being indifferent, It's sometimes called justice.

[28:03]

You know, justice is blind. The lady with the blanket with the towel wrapped around her eyes, and she's holding the scales. And so she doesn't have anything to do with which way things go. But it's weighing truth. against falsehood. So I think equanimity is really the basis because it keeps our love from getting out of hand. great equalizer, the equality of our consciousness.

[29:27]

We talk about monkey mind. Monkey mind is our seventh consciousness, seventh level of consciousness, manas, which is always creating big problems. and restlessness. And when this manas lets go, it's called ego actually, when we let go of our ego, then this consciousness becomes a consciousness of, instead of ego, it's called equality, equanimity or equality, where we see everything in the same light. You know, even though we may have good feelings about someone, bad feelings about people, we still see everyone as equal.

[30:36]

So this equality or equanimity or a very important aspect of love. It's not being swayed by good or bad or right or wrong. So maybe I can open up a little bit and you can ask some questions if you like. Thank you so much.

[31:40]

Something you said, I was just wondering what would it be like in terms of the interplay of these? play with it a little so that it waters that seed of joy, you know, and in the midst of difficulty. And I was thinking, what might it be like to, when noticing reactivity that's framed around good or bad or right or wrong, just to take on as a practice a spirit of joy in someone else's, who I call someone else's, rightness, when I think, and I'm having a very strong reaction to them being wrong, just like a science experiment, just to see what happens. Yeah, well that's a good idea, to consciously practice.

[32:48]

wanted, or got the position that you should have had, or they didn't qualify for that, why is that? To actually see how you can let that be okay, and actually let go of ... it's not about them, it's about you. It's about how we open ourselves up, basically, to the pain which allows the joy to arise, the pain of allowing that person to have what you should have had, and assenting to that so that the joy can arise. The joy arises actually when we let go. It's like someone who has a lover and the lover betrays them or walks out or whatever, and they feel like the person who is now the lover of the person that you loved is now taking your place.

[34:20]

And of course, that causes you great suffering. But if you can allow that that is okay, you can free yourself. And the joy of your own freedom is greater than That's a big step. Well, and it's also in my experience why grieving and having a container and a support for grieving can bring out the joy, but not kind of force yourself like that sort of, oh, I'm just going to forgive you, but I haven't actually grieved, so actually I'm just going to suffer more. Yeah. Forgiveness is important, but it doesn't mean that everything's okay. It doesn't mean that now that you can be friends with that person or whatever, you still have to grieve or whatever, but you are letting go, by forgiving, you're letting go of your attachment to that situation.

[35:36]

Then you can see it more objectively because otherwise we fall into revenge or, you know, The death penalty is just revenge, right? And we wish the death penalty on that person, but it's just revenge. And so that creates more suffering. So all of our retaliations just create more suffering. So how to free ourselves, right? That's a big aspect of allowing love to arise because we're letting go of our ego attachment. In a similar vein, for me, blaming. Blaming can keep you in hell a long time.

[36:39]

Becoming aware of it makes a big difference. I am in this state because I this person for my pain, then if you let go, you're free. But it's a tricky thing. It's not easy. You have to deeply see what you're doing. None of these things are easy. Blaming is taking the responsibility off yourself and putting it on somebody else. off our attachment to ourself. So, yeah. To have to stop hanging on to that, that it's that person's fault.

[37:42]

Yes, it's that person's fault. Or even so, we're just dragged around by our attachment. So this is the thing about forgiveness, is that forgiveness means that we're no longer dragged around by our attachment. It's like when a couple splits up, this is an example, and the one that leaves, of course, feels freer, but the one that's left behind feels caught, and the one that's left behind has to cut the string, which is like committing suicide. They have to die to that so they can actually come back to life. Yeah. As you know.

[38:42]

Yes? Regarding conflict, might there be a time to strike in a spirit of loving-kindness? To do? Sorry, I didn't get the last part. Strike with love. Strike with love? Yeah, why not? I didn't quite get the whole meaning of your question, though. Well, I'm thinking in terms of maybe World War II. You were using the example of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And I was thinking in terms of a different kind of conflict, World War II. I was wondering, might there not be a time that, being empty, one would still strike, but the strike would still be based on loving-kindness?

[40:01]

It's like where you live. It's not so much like what you do. So, these are four practices, and if we practice these four practices all the time, then when the situation comes up, we more or less know what to do. But it's like if you bring up loving kindness or something in a situation, I don't know if you can make that work. Sometimes people say, sometimes I get angry. And then, can you tell me what I can do to not be angry? Well, Suzuki Roshi used to say, count to ten. That's a device, right?

[41:06]

It sounds to me like you're talking about a device, in a sense, to strike with. So it has to be your practice. Then you know how to use it. It's not like you're using something, it's like your whole being just responds in that way. So that's why practice is the most important thing. people have to be educated. That's our problem. Because the human race, if we last, the human race doesn't destroy itself. It will take time before we get to that point where, I don't know,

[42:15]

It just gets worse instead of better. But I remember after the Second World War, I remember what happened. The war is over. We can all, all the countries can now have peace. But that didn't happen. More and more it got worse and worse. Instead of getting better, it got worse. Got worse and worse. And it was very disappointing. We thought after the Second World War, finally the world would come together, but it just got more divisive. Because good and bad need each other. Good creates bad. Bad creates good. And it just keeps going back and forth. That's the nature of our dualistic world. So in the midst of our dualistic world, it's not like the world will finally attain peace.

[43:23]

That won't happen. Each one of us has to obtain peace within ourself, given the situation called war and peace. Given the situation called war and peace, each one of us has to find that peace within ourselves. That's the challenge of being human. It's not that one day it'll be one way or the other. As soon as everything is peaceful, boom, war comes. As soon as the war comes and it's over, peace. And then there's war. That's the nature of the world. It can't be otherwise. because our world is dualistic. And one force creates its opposite. Every force creates its opposite.

[44:24]

The only way you can have peace without creating opposites is by letting go of everything. Peace is oneness. So we have to find the oneness within ourself. We can't create a world of oneness. We have to find the oneness within the chaotic world. We have to find the peace within the chaos. That's called practice. The world, we... It's not a peaceful place. This is, it's hell. And it's also heaven. But we have to get beyond heaven and hell. Love is beyond heaven and hell. So, Jim, is our love and joy sweetly flavored or is it unflavored like water?

[45:28]

Oh, water is the best of all flavors. Pure water, you know, The fruit, the food of the immortals or the gods or whatever, tastes like nothing at all to ordinary mortals. Yes, water is the best. How do I practice these four qualities without it being a dualistic practice? You have to keep asking yourself that question all the time. You want an answer. You want it fixed.

[46:29]

I'm not going to fix it for you. You have to find it. This is called practice. Practice means finding it. I can suggest something, but I'm not going to suggest that, because I've been doing it You have to keep finding it all the time. Otherwise it's not practice. Practice means finding it all the time. It's not something you have. You have to keep finding it all the time. Every time you do something, you've never done it before. You may think you have something in your pocket, but when The real thing comes along. You put your hand in your pocket and there's a big hole there. You have to find... Life is spontaneous. Even though we have knowledge, still it's spontaneous.

[47:36]

And we think things happen slowly, but they happen suddenly. Everything happens suddenly. So, to be aware and to respond through... You can only respond through your practice. Through what you are... And your practice is who you are. That's what we practice. We practice being who we are. Even though... You can only practice who you are. I'm finding practice to be very new for me, but very important. And it's changing everything I'm doing. But I'm also finding letting go being one of the most important things to do. And in doing that, I'm being confused by control. Yeah. Little by little. Don't try to do too much at once.

[48:51]

Yeah. I suggest that you sit Zazen regularly and come and talk. It's new for him. It's different. It's new. Yeah. Yeah. Little by little. And then come and talk to me.

[49:20]

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