Wisdom Wide and Deep

by Shaila Catherine

  (b) Develop mettā, karuṇā, and muditā toward respected and/or dear friends up to the third jhāna and upekkhā toward respected and/or dear ones with the fourth jhāna.

  (c) Develop mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and upekkhā toward neutral beings up to their respective jhānas.

  (d) Develop mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and upekkhā toward hated ones (if there is still anyone who fits into this category) up to their respective jhānas.

  As you move rapidly through the meditations, it will become equally easy to establish upekkhā jhānas with all the categories, without preference; your attitude toward beings in each category will equalize. In this way you will have broken down the barriers and accessed a pervasive quality of impartiality toward all types of beings.

  8. Once the boundaries are dissolved between beings, cultivate equanimity by way of the twelve unspecified and specified groupings of all beings. Use the twelve categories to continue to repeatedly establish the first three jhānas with mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and the fourth jhāna with equanimity; incorporating all beings, near and far, in all directions. Extend each variation of all beings incrementally from those that exist nearby to those that live far away. Each time that you select a new area, range, or direction, radiate mettā, karuṇā, and muditā and progress up to the third jhāna before you expand to suffuse that area with upekkhā and enter the fourth jhāna. Continue this cyclical progression until immeasurable equanimity extends throughout the infinite universe and the light of the fourth jhāna is bright, stable, and strong.

  MANIFESTING BOUNDLESS INTENTIONS

  These beautiful and healing qualities are not suitable meditation subjects for everyone. They offer impressive benefits, but also pose predictable dangers—especially for young, attractive practitioners. In a world where many people crave love, a compelling expression of mettā can easily be misinterpreted as seductive, or support deluded fantasies of a special relationship, even when the meditator’s intentions are pure. Mettā has sometimes been associated with instances of sexual manipulation and social rivalry, as vulnerable students or friends seeking love vie for a place close to the charismatic leader. Mettā can easily be confused with its near enemy of affection or attachment. When wisdom wanes, mindfulness lapses, or fatigue weakens the purity of mettā, the meditator may become seduced by desire and slide unaware into a state of attachment. Meditators who cultivate the brahmaviharas as a primary feature of their meditation practice, especially to the level of jhāna, would be wise to be watchful for potential dangers, welcome criticisms from teachers and friends, and balance their training with mindfulness-based wisdom practices.

  TABLE 8.1

  Four Divine Abodes as Meditation Subjects

  BRAHMAVIHĀRA NEAR ENEMY FAR ENEMY JHĀNA POTENTIAL

  Loving-kindness (mettā) Attachment Hatred, ill will First, second, third

  Compassion (karuṇā) Pity, grief Cruelty First, second, third

  Appreciative joy (muditā) Joy tinged with insincerity or personal identification; forms of joy that are excessive, such as elation, exuberance Envy, jealousy, aversion First, second, third

  Equanimity (upekkhā) Indifference, foolish unknowing Taking of sides, partiality, resentment, reactivity Fourth

  Some people will find that these boundless intentions arise naturally; they express pervasive good will and may feel no need to cultivate them through methodical training. Other people will employ these practices as antidotes to soften periodic bouts of agitation. Some meditators will discover an affinity with the qualities and training methods and choose to adopt the brahmavihāras as a primary feature of their practice. Eventually, each meditator will select the meditation subjects most suitable for his or her disposition, interest, and needs.

  While developing loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity you will be inviting images of many people, creatures, and beings into your consciousness. When you have the beneficial conditions of seclusion in retreat, allow concentration to deepen and these qualities to mature as pure meditation subjects. Then in daily life, you can integrate these immeasurable qualities of heart into your work, family, and social engagements with or without the formalities of meditative methods. These limitless attitudes are not bound by technique; they are powerful, natural forces that express the immeasurable liberation of mind.

  May all beings be happy and well!

  CHAPTER 9

  Reflections on Death: Contemplating the Corpse

  Mindfulness of death, if developed and cultivated, brings great fruit

  and benefit; it merges in the Deathless, ends in the Deathless. Therefore, you

  should develop mindfulness of death.

  —AṄGUTTARA NIKĀYA150

  ONE DAY as the Buddha sat warming his aged back in the late afternoon sun, Ananda remarked, “The Blessed One’s complexion is no longer pure and bright, his limbs are all flaccid and wrinkled, his body is stooped, and some alteration is seen in his faculties—in the eye faculty, the ear faculty, the nose faculty, the tongue faculty, the body faculty.” And the Buddha replied, “So it is, Ananda! In youth one is subject to aging; in health one is subject to illness; while alive one is subject to death … Death spares none along the way, but comes crushing everything.”151

  Even though we don’t like the idea, we all age, fall ill, and die. But, if you are currently endowed with favorable conditions such as reasonable health, intelligence, and access to these teachings, you can reflect: “Before this unwelcome, disagreeable, displeasing thing happens, let me first make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized.”152

  People often do not want to hear of death, think of death, or prepare for death. We don’t generally sprinkle small talk at cocktail parties with reflections on death. Yet vulnerability to death is one thing that we all share. The Buddha plainly stated, “Both the young and the old, whether they are foolish or wise, are going to be trapped by death. All beings move towards death.”153 It is certain that we will die, only the time and the way is uncertain.

  How frequently do you see death? At a monastery in Thailand, I waited to meet the abbot in a waiting room where I sat facing a shriveling corpse in a glass case. I was surrounded by skeletons hanging in corners and glass cases displaying shriveled corpses. Shelves were lined with jars of fetuses and body parts that were preserved in formaldehyde. Photographs and news articles of car accidents covered the walls. All were reminders of death, presented for mindful contemplation.

  LIFE IS SO SHORT

  To reflect on death is a way to reflect on how you are living. Are you living fully or frittering away your precious life with mindless entertainment and other trivial activities? The life of any human is brief. The Buddha compared a human life span to the ephemeral existence of a dewdrop on a leaf, a bubble on water that disappears soon after forming, a line drawn on water that vanishes without a trace, and to a cow that with each rising hoof steps closer to slaughter: “Short is the life of human beings, limited and brief; it is full of suffering, full of tribulation. This one should wisely understand. One should do good and live a pure life; for none who is born can escape death.”154 By remembering impermanence and death, you will keep your priorities clear, and waste no time. Opportunities for practice are precious, so appreciate your opportunities to grow, even when things are difficult. Every day, whatever you do, you trade a day of your life for it. Did you spend today well? Were you mindful and awake for whatever and whomever you encountered?

  The Buddha, known for clear, honest, and straightforward speech, pronounced, “Before long, alas! this body will lie upon the earth, unheeded and lifeless, like a useless log.”155 Surely it is not news to you that you will die. But how deeply do you know that the end of rising is falling, that the end of meeting is parting, and that the end of living is dying? Have you learned this truth so well that you no longer grasp at transient things? Is this knowledge so vivid that attention to sickness
cannot produce aversion but only ends a sense of entitlement to health; that the signs of aging don’t ignite despair but free you from youthful pride; and that the sight of death does not cause fear but fixes your attention on the impermanence of your own life?

  Daily Reminders of Death

  You see reminders of death each day, but do you use those opportunities to reflect? When a fly perishes on a windowsill, when you drive by a squirrel killed on the road, when you see a favorite object inherited from a grandparent, consider the pervasiveness of death. The next time you pass a mortuary, take a moment to reflect on the inevitability of death. Open your address book or photo album and reflect that people you know and love all die. But also reflect on the fact that it is not just to others that death comes. Contemplate the phrase “I also will die,” so that this certain knowledge of death deepens enough to stir you to urgency.

  Knowledge of death teaches us that happiness cannot be found through impermanent sensory formations that continuously appear and disappear. There is no possession, no relationship, no sensual delight that will support us in death. The Buddha showed us the way to genuine happiness, to a freedom that is unborn and deathless. Mindful of death you can live lightly, without the burden of grasping.

  When students begin to contemplate death, many imagine their death occurring in a distant future. People think,“Yes, I know I will die, but not soon.” My ninety-four-year-old aunty is active and blessed with good mental and physical health, but she misses her elder sister who died several years earlier at the age of 101. Thinking about her sister she recently remarked, “I just didn’t expect her to die so soon.” Most people are surprised by death; most people don’t live informed by the understanding that death can happen anytime. The Buddha corrected disciples who contemplated death as though it could happen as late as tomorrow.156 He admonished that it is indolent to think that one may live for a day, an hour, or even for the time it takes to complete an inhalation and exhalation. He urged them to practice mindfulness of death more diligently, to reflect that one might die before a single in- or out-breath is completed or within the time it takes to swallow a mouthful of food that has already been chewed.157

  Friends Who Share Suffering

  You know that all beings that are born will die. All beings wish for happiness and wish to avoid suffering. Can you live viewing all beings as friends who share birth, old age, sickness, and death? Recite and contemplate this one sentence: “All beings are my friends who share birth, aging, sickness, and death.” With every person or animal that you see, with each sound you hear, each sensation you feel, each taste you experience, quietly consider all the beings involved and reflect: “You are my friend who shares birth, old age, sickness, and death.” With each contact—be they bugs, neighbors, children, birds, be it the sound of people passing on the road, the smell of cooked meat, the awareness of passengers in airplanes overhead, memories of people, portraits in the newspaper—contemplate that one sentence: “You are my friend who shares birth, old age, sickness, and death.”

  Embracing the inevitability of death is not a depressing or morbid meditative exercise. Meditative practices that reflect upon death will not isolate you or create the disconnection that feeds depression. Instead, reflecting on death can motivate you to have a heightened presence in your own life. Traditional death reflections are structured to inspire vigor and urgency. When you are mindful of death, you won’t squander the precious resources that you are temporarily blessed with: a little time and opportunity. Reflections on death protect you from laziness and complacency. The Buddha urged, “The days and nights are relentlessly passing; how well am I spending my time? This should be reflected upon again and again, by one who has gone forth.”159

  Five Remembrances

  The Buddhist tradition recommends five daily remembrances.158 Recite them each morning and allow the reflection to influence your choices each day.

  1. I am of the nature to age. I have not gone beyond aging.

  2. I am of the nature to sicken. I have not gone beyond sickness.

  3. I am of the nature to die. I have not gone beyond death.

  4. All that is mine, beloved and pleasing, will become otherwise, will become separated from me.

  5. I am the owner of my action (kamma), heir to my action, born of my action, related to my action, abide supported by my action. Whatever action I shall do, for good or for ill, of that I will be the heir.

  In many Buddhist monasteries, practitioners chant the five recollections every morning and evening—a practice easily incorporated into lay life. You may recite the formal chant, reflect on the inevitability of death, or consider if you are completely satisfied with your spiritual accomplishments. The Buddha taught:

  If, on reflection, that monk realizes that evil, unwholesome qualities still remain within him, then he should, with strong resolve, apply all his effort, vigor, and exertion, [together with] mindfulness and clear comprehension, to abandon them … Just as a man whose turban or hair is on fire would resolutely apply all his effort, vigor, and exertion, [together with] mindfulness and clear comprehension, to extinguish the fire; even so should that monk resolutely apply all his effort, vigor, and exertion, [together with] mindfulness and clear comprehension, to abandon those evil, unwholesome qualities.160

  The Buddha compared meditators to four kinds of horses.161 One horse is alert and ready to respond to the work of the day as soon as he sees the shadow of the goad. Similarly, urgency arises in some meditators when they hear that someone in a distant village or town is ill or dying. A second horse becomes alert when the goad touches his hair, just as urgency may arise for some meditators when they see someone in their town suffering with illness or dying. A third horse only becomes alert when his skin is pricked with the goad, like those meditators who becomes heedful only after one of their close relatives is stricken with illness or death. And the last horse is stirred only after the goad pierces his flesh to the bone, as some meditators may remain complacent until they are afflicted with pain or diagnosed with a terminal illness. What does it take to stir you?

  Inspired by mindfulness of death, you are reminded of the deepest meaning for your life. The Buddha offers us a profound path to peace with these teachings: “Mindfulness of death, if developed and cultivated, brings great fruit and benefit; it merges in the Deathless, ends in the Deathless.”162 Nurture the urgency to travel this path to its end.

  PREPARING FOR DEATH

  Students sometimes ask, “How can I prepare for death?” The first step is to look upon death as a fact of living—everyone that you know will die. Then, armed with this conceptual knowledge, you may stop turning away from the multitude of daily opportunities you have to be close to people who are aging, ill, and dying in your community. Notice death, become familiar with the process, and recognize the natural and inevitable role of death. Often death is hidden from sight. Hospitals sometimes transport bodies to the morgue costumed with surgical cap and an oxygen tube to create the illusion that the patient is being whisked into surgery. Some children’s wards use specially designed bi-level gurneys where a corpse is transported in a covered lower compartment making it appear that an orderly is pushing an empty mattress through the halls. Funeral parlors have professional makeup artists who add blush and powder to the faces of corpses so that they look almost alive for their funerals.

  Spiritual Urgency

  Are you living carelessly or using this precious life fully?

  Is there anything that you need to do before you die?

  What is most important in your life?

  Death is happening everywhere, yet surrounded by a cultural obscuration of death, meditators must actively look for death and contemplate it. Mindful that you are dying, you may become inspired to let go along the way and embrace each moment of life with a readiness for death.

  To develop a seminar on the Buddha’s approach to illness and death, I collected the various instructions that he gave to sick and dying monks. Interestin
gly, the instructions he gave to dying monastics are the same teachings he offered to all. The Buddha, on visiting the sick ward of a monastic community in Vesali, taught, “A bhikkhu should await his time mindful and clearly comprehending.”163 He instructed the sick monks to practice mindfulness of the body, of feelings, of mind, and of phenomena, and then he proceeded to give the standard instructions for clarity of consciousness while moving, eating, urinating, walking, standing, falling asleep, speaking, and in all other activities. His instruction emphasized equanimity toward all feelings, and no doubt this audience experienced a great deal of physical pain: “If he feels a [pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral] feeling, he understands: ‘It is impermanent’; he understands, ‘It is not held to’; he understands, ‘It is not delighted in.’ If he feels a [pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral] feeling, he feels it detached.”164

  This teaching applies to all of us. In the sick ward, the Buddha said further: “Just as, bhikkhus, an oil lamp burns in dependence on the oil and the wick, and with the exhaustion of the oil and the wick it is extinguished through lack of fuel, so too, bhikkhus … with the breakup of the body, following the exhaustion of life, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here.”165 The defilements have no fuel to burn, and free of defilements you can abide cooled and at ease. The material elements will take their natural course. The body will eventually perish, yet during the course of this life, and in the process of dying, the mind can rest at peace, undisturbed by fear and dread.