living with kindness w PDF
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I=CD=H=IDEJ= EL E C MEJD E @ AII JDA > Published by Windhorse Publications 11 Park Road Birmingham >! &=> K email: ? JAJI PREFACE F=CA =>KJ JDA =KJDH Sangharakshita was born Dennis Lingwood in South London, in 1925. Largely self-educated, he developed an interest in the cultures and philosophies of the East early on, and realized that he was a Buddhist at the age of sixteen. The Second World War took him, as a conscript, to India, where he stayed on to become the Buddhist monk Sangharakshita. After study- ing for some years under leading teachers from the major Buddhist traditions, he went on to teach and write extensively. He also played a key part in the revival of Buddhism in India, particularly through his work among followers of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. After twenty years in India, he returned to England to establish the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in 1967, and the Western Buddhist Order (called Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha in India) in 1968. A translator between East and West, between the traditional world and the modern, between principles and practices, Sangha- rakshita’s depth of experience and clear thinking have been appreci- ated throughout the world. He has always particularly emphasized the decisive significance of commitment in the spiritual life, the paramount value of spiritual friendship and community, the link between religion and art, and the need for a ‘new society’ supportive of spiritual aspira- tions and ideals. Sangharakshita has now handed on most of his responsibilities to his senior disciples in the Order. From his base in Birmingham, he is now focusing on personal contact with people, and on his writing. 2HAB=?A FHAB=?A When the Dalai Lama was recently asked about the nature of his beliefs as a Buddhist he replied, ‘My religion is kindness,’ and there can be few Buddhists who would argue with that as a sound-bite definition of Buddhism. So how can this rather hum- drum human response form the basis for a religious faith? The quality he referred to as kindness is indeed central to all forms of Buddhism, but most Buddhists prefer to use the more precise and penetrating traditional term for it: maitrî (Sanskrit) or mettã (Pãli). What really distinguishes mettã from what we usually think of as basic human kindness is that mettã is a qual- ity developed through practice, specifically the practice of the mettã bhãvanã meditation – the cultivation of universal loving kindness. As such, mettã is potentially boundless in its scope. There is no limit to how far you can take it. At the same time, mettã is always rooted in that basic quality of ordinary human kindness. Just to reach out of one’s self- absorption, however momentarily, and connect with the life around one, is to muster the basic ingredients one needs to per- form this meditation. The cultivation of the inner life can be- come somewhat self-referential, if not alienating, without this practice, and as Sangharakshita emphasizes in the pages that E L E C M E JD E @ A I I follow, it is effective only if it translates back into ordinary human kindness. Sangharakshita himself is certainly well qualified to talk about mettã, both in its theory and its practice. Throughout his life he has read widely, studied assiduously, and reflected deeply. At the same time, despite his personal inclination to a life of quiet reflection and study, he has always worked for the welfare of others, both in India, especially with Dr Ambedkar’s mass con- version movement of ex-Untouchables in the 1950s, and in the West, with his founding of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. It is always hard to pin a Buddhist down to anything like a credo. Sangharakshita would for example probably differ from the Dalai Lama on one or two issues. However, he long ago made a clear statement of his faith, in which he can be seen to follow very much the same spiritual impulse that the Dalai Lama would one day acknowledge as the key principle of his own life, encapsulated in the idea of mettã. In a booklet published in 1986 Sangharakshita writes: I believe that humanity is basically one. I believe that it is possible for any human being to communicate with any other human being, to feel for any other human being, to be friends with any other human being. This is what I truly and deeply believe. This belief is part of my own ex- perience. It is part of my own life. It is part of me. I cannot live without this belief, and I would rather die than give it up. For me, to live means 1 to practise this belief. We have assembled this book mostly from the transcript of a seminar on the Karaœîya Metta Sutta – the classic Buddhist text on the subject of mettã – led by Sangharakshita in July 1978 at Padmaloka retreat centre. As usual with books compiled from Sangharakshita’s lectures and seminars, we have deliberately retained Sangharakshita’s relaxed delivery in order to make a clear contrast with the literary finish of his written work. The 2HA B =? A reader should bear in mind that while Sangharakshita still checks and corrects the books that are published in this way, the result is nothing like a book he would have written on the sub- ject himself. The emphases are inevitably determined by the seminar participants and their particular concerns. Equally inevitably, the discussion is more discursive than one would normally expect from a book written in the usual way. However, it is probably true to say that Sangharakshita’s bold- est and most radical teaching is contained in his lectures and seminars. This is certainly where he has made his greatest im- pact on the lives of ordinary people, both in India and in the West. And there is always the added bonus of the anecdotes he draws from his colourful life or his very wide reading. There are many English translations of the Karaœîya Metta Sutta available today, including a poetic rendering by Sangha- rakshita himself. However, when the seminar was conducted, there were a limited number to choose from. F.L. Woodward had produced both a prose version and one in blank verse, and there was also a translation by Robert Chalmers in print. The one used in this seminar was by Saddhatissa. In common with Woodward’s approach, Saddhatissa’s language follows the usual custom of his time with regard to translations of Buddhist texts, in being archaic and dignified in its vocabulary and rhythms, without detracting from the simplicity and clarity of this beautiful sutta. The editors are grateful to Vidyadevi, Khemavira, Dharma- shura, and Leah Morin for invaluable assistance in moving this book towards publication. Jinananda and Pabodhana June 2004 ! =H= O= AJJ= IKJJ= He who is skilled in his good, who wishes to attain that state of calm (Nibbãna), should act thus: he should be able, upright, perfectly upright, of noble speech, gentle, and humble. Contented, easily supported, with few duties, of light livelihood, with senses calmed, discreet, not impudent, not greedily attached to families. He should not pursue the slightest thing for which other wise men might censure him. May all beings be happy and secure, may their hearts be wholesome! Whatever living beings there be: feeble or strong, tall, stout or medium, short, small or large, without exception; seen or unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born or those who are to be born, may all beings be happy! Let none deceive another, nor despise any person whatsoever in any place. Let him not wish any harm to another out of anger or ill will. # E L E C M E JD E @ A I I Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, let him cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let his thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world: above, below and across without any obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity. Whether he stands, walks, sits or lies down, as long as he is awake, he should develop this mindfulness. This they say is the noblest living here. Not falling into wrong views, being virtuous and endowed with insight, by discarding attachment to sense desires, never again is he reborn. $ ?JE JDA A=EC B AJJ Introduction JDA A= EC B AJJ=
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