Dharma Topic: Season of Love

Dear Still Water Friends,

At Plum Village, before there is a formal reading from the Buddha, the community recites together the Sutra Opening Verse:

The Dharma is deep and lovely.
We now have a chance to see it, study it, and practice it.
We vow to realize its true meaning.

When I hear "deep and lovely" i think of a flowing river, all the parts intermingling. In our mindfulness practice there are a multitude of sutras, teachings, numbered lists, and practices. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. However, as I see it, there is just one Dharma river, just one "noble" way of being: to be fully present to life with an open heart and a calm mind.

In cultures such as ours, influenced by the Northern European traditions, December is a time of sharing, hope, and renewal. This Thursday evening, after our meditation period, we will read together the Buddha's Discourse on Love and share together how its message touches us today and perhaps supports us in our seasonal celebrations.

You are invited to be with us, in person or in spirit.

Thich Nhat Hanh's translation of the Sutra is below, along with a brief excerpt form a commentary.

Warm wishes,

Mitchell Ratner
Senior Teacher

Discourse On Love

"He or she who wants to attain peace should practice being upright, humble, and capable of using loving speech. He or she will know how to live simply and happily, with senses calmed, without being covetous and carried away by the emotions of the majority. Let him or her not do anything that will be disapproved of by the wise ones.

"(And this is what he or she contemplates): May everyone be happy and safe, and may their hearts be filled with joy.

"May all living beings live in Security and in Peace beings who are frail or strong, tall or short, big or small, visible or not visible, near or far away, already born or yet to be born. May all of them dwell in perfect tranquility.

"Let no one do harm to anyone. Let no one put the life of anyone in danger. Let no one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone any harm.

"Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life, we should cultivate Boundless Love to offer to all living beings in the entire cosmos. We should let our boundless love pervade the whole universe, above, below and across. Our love will know no obstacles, our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity. Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart. This is the noblest way of living.

Free from wrong views, greed and sensual desires, living in beauty and realizing Perfect Understanding, those who practice Boundless Love will certainly transcend Birth and Death."

Excerpt from a Dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh on December 18, 1998:

“Our love will know no obstacle.” In order to be able to expand our love like that, we need to practice deep looking. Because without practicing deep looking, you cannot love easily. The Buddha said that only love can answer hatred. Because if you answer hatred with hatred, the hatred will increase and will destroy not only yourself and the other person but also the whole universe. So only love can answer hatred. “Our love will know no obstacle. Our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity.”

“Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart. This is the noblest way of living.” We have to cultivate mindfulness of love the whole day long. When you walk, it is for love. When you sit, it is for love. When you are lying down, it is for love. When you work, it is for love. When you do everything it is for expressing love, it is motivated by love. When you walk, you sit, you are lying down, you work, all are for expressing your love. When you ask the baby to eat and it doesn’t want to, you say: “Please, eat one spoonful for mummy, one spoonful for daddy, one spoonful for your sister.” You love yourself, your Sangha body, your spiritual path, your teacher, and that is why every act you do is for expressing love.

The mindfulness of love is the presence of love everywhere, every moment of your days. When you are mindful of your love, you can enter slowly into love concentration. Love concentration is everywhere, and your address, your zip code is love: maitri, karuna, mudita, and upeksa. Maitri means giving joy, karuna is removing suffering, Mudita is feeling joy and upeksa is loving without discrimination, like the right hand loves the left hand. If you cultivate that concentration all day long: when you walk, when you sit, when you eat, when you work, then you are living in the deep concentration of love. It’s called maitri concentration, and you can dwell in maitri concentration all day long. “This is the noblest way of living.” And thanks to this you will be “free from wrong views, greed, and sensual desire. And you live in beauty and you realize perfect understanding. That perfect understanding is that you are a Buddha. When you cultivate deep concentration of love you are free from wrong views and you will listen to even the most difficult people very carefully, and try to understand them deeply, their difficulties, their environment, their childhood, and when you do like that, you will arrive at the great understanding that is the perfect understanding of an enlightened one. “Those who practice boundless love will certainly transcend birth and death.”