Mettā Practice Depicted in Buddhist Doctrines and Conflicts in Buddhist Countries
Introduction:
You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.
- Brihadaranyaka IV.4.5
The opening lines to this research is in no way different from what Lord Buddha meant when he said that- your mind is everything, if you can control your mind, you are in complete control of yourself. When human beings are in complete control of themselves, it is quite evident that they will try to frame the way of future. However, what will such a man do when he is contended with his mind?
Here rises the biggest fallacy. The fallacy that we will be talking here is called the fallacy of affirming the consequence (Gaul, 2017). In simple terms, it can be defined as- if A happens, then B also. Keeping in view different Buddhist practices, the concerned researcher would like to introduce a syllogism based on the fallacy of affirming the consequence (Gaul, 2017) which would set the prelude to this study:
If you truly love yourself, you will love others; if you truly love yourself, you will never harm others (Dhammarakkhita, 1970)
The essence of such a statement emanates from the lofty idealism of mettā. It is believed that the one who has gained some control of his mind, must proceed to preach love and kindness to the others, for him, living with kindness is the art of the heart, art of the soul.
Having introduced the concept of mettā , the researcher would like to go ahead and establish the concept with its historical antecedents.
U Dhammapiya (2007) in this regard mentions that the importance of mettā lies in the fact that is the most-craved quality that a sangha-monk seeks. It is firmly believed that mettā is the most crucial factor and a ‘powerful remedy’ (Bhadda Manika, 2008:22).
This comment by the Theravada nun, brings the concept of mettā yet more close to Theravada. The researcher in this study notices that the chanting of paritta sutta from Pali discourse in Buddhism is a clear indication that Theravada Buddhism has also drawn heavily from the concept of mettā .
Mettā is a pervasive concept. It was found that even during the 2007 Saffron Revolution in Myanmar, the Buddhist monks chanted the ‘mettā thoke’ and in 2008, Bhadda Manika went further ahead and commented that mettā sutta captures the true essence of practising love and kindness in the society. The importance of mettā sutta lies in the fact that it has the potential to increase mindfulness among Buddhist monks. Greene (2004) mentions that persistent practice of mettā helps monks to understand difficult expressions of Pali by increasing mindfulness.
However, like the Buddha said that if people expect unfettered happiness from their lives, they are sure to end up with disappointment in life. But some people fall into the mirage of eternal contentedness.
Here we are faced another fallacy- the fallacy of coexistence.
Human beings are a strange race who live in the present only to think about and plan about the future. This lands them on a perpetual suffering and leaves them with a conflict between themselves and the society and a bigger conflict in their inner-self.
Conflict is a fundamentally negative force (Bischoff, 1996) and is a regarded as a hindrance to the inner tranquillity of human beings. In Mahaparinibbana Sutta, The Buddha enlightened us about Appamādena Bhikkhave Saṃpādetha which built heavily on the concept of ‘Appamadha’ or conscientiousness or concern. According to Alexander Berzin, ‘appamedha’ can be regarded as a ‘subsidiary awareness’ that allows us to act against all negative things, being not disgusted with others, while remaining detached with all worldly happenings. When this equilibrium of mind is perturbed, we enter into ‘conflict’.
According to Buddhist principles, such ‘conflict’ is caused by unwholesome ‘lobha’ (greed), ‘dosa’ (fault or mistake). ‘moha’ (craving or longing). The Jatakas in most cases exhibit the problem of conflict and shows the vices of human life living without mettā . In Suvannasama Jataka, the researcher finds both mettā and conflict. When Piliyakkha told the parents of Sāma about his death, what we saw from the behaviour of his parents was nothing other than mettā , while Piliyakkha’s attitude can be regarded as exhibiting lack of ‘conscientiousness’ or falling in the dark aura of conflict.
Like we mentioned above, the main components of conflict are- greed, lust and longing and is a passive type of self-harming. Hence, a rejection of conflict is viewed as a bold and spiritual progress of the soul towards embracing Sutta Nipata.
Down The Ages
Buddhist philosophy takes two basic forms: Theravada, also known as Hinayana (outside Sri Lanka and Burma) and Mahayana (Sengupta, 1995). Yet another form of Buddhism – Zen Buddhism originated in China and expanded to Vietnam. Korea and Japan. Another form of Buddhism practised in Burmese Himalayan regions and Tibet is Tantric Buddhism.
Of all those countries where Theravada Buddhism took a prominent position, Myanmar comes as a leading name. As per Aung (1967) Myanmar sustained three dynastic empires between 1044 and 1886. Passing through a tumultuous time, in which the people of the nation witnessed the invasion of Kublai Khan, the metamorphosis of Myanmar from Paganism of Buddhism was a step towards reconstruction of the society toward Buddhism (Aung, 1967).
The concerned researcher in this study, in this regard, notices that Anawrahta was the proponent of this metamorphosis. It was during his reign from 1044 to 1112 that Theravada Buddhism came to be a dominant religion of Myanmar, the largest concentration of Buddhism noticed in a single country. As a reason of this strong foothold, the concerned researcher finds the baptism of Anawrahta to Buddhism by Shin Arahan as a pioneering move.
It was during this time that Anawrahta fully embraced Theravada Buddhism and that gave birth to a communion between monarchy and religion (Houtman, 1999). Thus, Theravada Buddhism was taken to every province in Myanmar (Aung, 1967). Despite being through several upheavals and ethnic uproars, Theravada never went into a retrograde mode and is an established practice, even during current times.
As Theravada became established, all the ten paramis (perfection) of Theravada Buddhism became established in the society. These ten paramis are:
1. Dāna (generosity)
2. Sīla (Morality)
3. Nekhamma (Renunciation)
4. Pañña (Insight)
5. Viriya (energy)
6. Khanti (patience)
7. Sacca (truthfulness)
8. Adhiṭṭhāna (resolution)
9. Mettā (loving-kindness)
10. Upekkhā (equanimity)
This is how the practice of mettā was introduced in the society.
From this point, we will briefly discuss the history of mettā and its importance in the Buddhist teachings.
Acariya Buddhaghosa, who received it from untraceable lineage going back to the Buddha Himself, found the first mention of the mettā in a commentary. It is believed that 500 monks received sermon from the Buddha and they were instructed to go elsewhere in the foothills of the Himalayas and lead a life of retreat and withdrawal. During those times, the Buddha was staying at Savatthi in a monastery built by Anathapindika.
After the sermon, the monks went out in their search for a suitable spot to pursue their meditation. In their due process of searching the monks found a beautiful hillock somewhere in the Himalayan foothills. This hillock, which according to the commentary looked like a glittering blue crystal was an instant choice for the monks to pursue their meditations. The villagers of this hillock were elated to receive the monks and allowed them some place to build their huts and gave them majestic trees under which they can meditate day and night long.
This created a problem.
These trees which were inhabited by tree-deities had built celestial mansions using tree bases as its foundation. They bore the inconvenience and allowed the monks to meditate there, assuming that they would stay for a few days. But the monk were there to stay long. The deities wandered anxiously waiting to repossess their tree. After a few days the deities got impatient and started to frighten the monks which largely disturbed them. Such deities made frightful noises and created some sickening stench and terrifying conditions. This destroyed the mindfulness of the monks who went back to The Enlightened and shared their problems. The Enlightened one told them that there were no more suitable place available to them and that they should go back to the same spot. To combat the deities, the monks must learn to overcome fear and must start learning to love.
It is at this particular time that The Buddha recited for the first time, the Karaniya Mettā Sutta- the Hymn of Universal Love- which the monks learned by rote in the presence of The Buddha. While going back to the same spot, the monks recited the mettā and listening to it, the deities became filled warmth and piety and allowed the monks to continue their practice. These deities resumed their normal form and protected the monks for the rest of their days in the village.
As such, the potential of the mettā can be understood and the need for practising it in greater details is required. As we will see in the later sections of this brief research why the need for mettā needs to be emphasized and how it will help the Buddhists to take a bold leap towards the transparent and compassionate life.
Flipping The Pages of History:
In this section, the researcher would like to throw light on the concept of mettā and do a brief review of mettā and its different forms.
Bhikshu Sangharakshita has defined mettā in several ways. In the same vein, the concerned researcher would like to define mettā in the following ways:
a. Mettā can be defined as a Good Will. The Pali word mettā is related to Sanskrit word ‘mitra’ which means friend. Thus, mettā can be defined as a friendliness or loving-kindness. Bhikshu Sangharakshita says that mettā is a down-to-earth practice and directed equally to all living beings. He says that mettā in such cases causes an individual to feel deeply happy for other living beings. The friendliness of mettā , in such cases does not mean any kind of personal relationship, but rather an intense emotion. One quality which differentiates mettā from other Budhist practice is the fact that friendship in mettā is always devoid of personal interests and become infused with kalyana mitrata- spiritual friendship. In this regard, Bhikshu Sangharakshita mentions that mettā being an intense emotion and lasts long and knows no limit. The most stunning fact about mettā is the fact that so long it stays, it continually deepens and intensifies. The researcher, on the basis of the above-mentioned facts would like to view mettā as a seed which grows inwardly when we nurture it under healthy conditions.
b. Mettā is a source of ecstatic energy. The researcher in this study finds a same mention in Itivuttaka where The Blessed Lord Buddha says that- ‘mettā burns itself and shines and blazes forth’. Hence, it can be said that mettā is an incandescent emotion and burns itself and enlightens us in its own passion (Bhikshu Sanghrakhshita).
In this regard, Bhikshu Sangharakshita mentions that this property makes mettā an ‘aloof’ concept and compares it with sunshine, which burns itself to provide light to others. But the concerned researcher would like to view mettā as a source of life as mentioned in the Buddhist texts which can also be regarded as a source of positivity (Edelglass, 2013).
Mettā , in the same premise can be redefined as a dynamic energy and this energy gives birth to an intense emotion. Here, we are faced with a question. Both love and discontent being intense forms of emotion, which one should we embrace? In this regard, (Kurdieh, 2015) mentions that discontent or dukkha is a negative source and ‘allows one to transcend the state of perpetual discontent that pervades life.’
Kurdieh (2015) in this regard has done a detailed study from point of view of psychology. This study mentions that suffering in life originates from impulsivity, anger and discontent. This not only creates dissonance in an individual and becomes a perpetual source of conflict in the individual itself. Such individual are prone to suffer from dukkha much more than anyone who practices mettā .
Maháthera (2013) in this regard comes up with a unique quality of mettā . He opines that mettā has the potential that prompts a bodhisattva to renounce personal belongings for the sake of others. Mahathera, opines that when practised properly, mettā fills an individual with ‘boundless goodwill’…irrespective of ‘caste, creed, colour or sex’. Such an individual becomes an embodiment of ‘universal love and he fears none nor feared by any’.
c. Mettā can be seen as a rational emotion. Bhikshu Sangharakshita mentions that the pervasiveness of mettā lies in the fact that when we think of others, the first and reasonable response should be mettā .
According to philosopher John MacMurray, mettā should be seen as a direct incarnation of prajñā or wisdom. Reason, according to him exists in us and is ‘adequate to objective reality’. When such reason enters into the intellect, all we are left with is an intellectual understanding of the reality.
Reason or logic, which is the base of Buddhist studies has been a foundation stone for mettā . MacMurray says that reason may be applied to all kinds of intense emotion. He gives an example to elucidate the situation. He says that we often jump in to fear by looking at even a small spider. In his opinion, this is an irrational reaction because a small spider is not at all harmful. But when properly tuned reason enters into the emotion, our responses may not be so irrational. He concludes that :
..unlike emotions like mistrust, resentment, and fear, mettā is the appropriate and adequate response to other human beings when we meet or think of them. That is, mettā is a rational emotion.
d. Another important concept is how mettā as practised in Buddhism, is different from carnal love. The researcher in this regard would like to mention that from personal affection (pema) comes grief and discontent, but the same will never come from mettā. But the ‘self’ or the individual who practices mettā is not divorced from the concept of mettā. This means that someone who practices mettā should love all equally, including himself/herself. The stories of the Jataka bears many such evidence. However, the researcher feels that the Mahā-Dhammapāla Jātaka bears a good reference to this. It is seen in this jataka that the Bodhistava here has the same feeling of love-kindness for all. He loved His cruel father, the executioner, His mother and surprisingly, His own, humble self (Maháthera, 2013)
Having said that we will briefly look into the main aspects of the mettā as a full and complete discussion of mettā will be a mammoth and is beyond the scope of this research. The concerned researcher finds three aspects of mettā. These as are:
1. A through and systematic application of loving-kindness in everyday life.
2. A unique approach to a special type of ‘samadhi’ or meditational state that expresses mettā in its most intense form.
3. A total surrender to the philosophy of universal love.
The concerned researcher asserts the application of mettā in every life on earth for a set of reasons. He finds that mettā has the quality to ripen the fruit of accumulated merit called punna in Buddhist literature. He finds that mettā is like a growing tree. Such a tree gives a sweet smell and fruits as long as the tree is nurtured. Such a tree, according to Venerable Buddharakhsita becomes an ‘inexhaustible source of power and insight’. The potential of punna can be fully exploited by the practice of mettā. In this regard, mettā can be viewed as a ‘maturing force’. Interestingly, the Mangala Sutta lays down a way to practice mettā in our lives. It says that first we should try to establish an interpersonal relationship with our external environment which includes all the living beings. Then we should try to choose the right path so that the accumulated merits fructify, and if not it can be said that there exists conflict in the inner-self.
This brings us to the next important topic in this discussion, i.e. conflict.
We have mentioned earlier that conflict in Buddhist teachings arises from lobha, dosa and moha.. in this section, we will briefly review the two basic forms of conflict:
a. Inner Conflict
The main aim of Buddhist studies in this regard is to interpret the nature of conflict, its cause and to shoe ways in which to transform it. Such studies are pervasive in nature and are present in all forms of Buddhist teachings and disciplines. Inside conflict causes greed, ignorance, hatred, violence, superstitions including the 12 other vices mentioned in Buddhist literature. Inspection of such causes and its correct remedy has been the focus of Buddhist studies for the past few centuries. It one of the driving causes of this study and it aims to find all those causes that lead to inner conflict.
One of the sources, which deal with finding causes of conflict, is the Dependent Origination. The Dependent Origination, which actually speaks about the causal factors of life and environment explores the reasons for conflict that resides in the human beings.
Inner conflicts are largely psychical and subjective states. They are also transitional in nature and volatile as well. The Dependent Origination is used in this case because through an analysis of the causations it is possible for practising Buddhists to trace the causes of a conflict.
Venerable Okkansa Siddhi gives an exhaustive description of the nature of conflict. He says that there are a few symptoms, which indicate conflict. These can be craving, desire, firm attachment to worldly pleasures, stubborn defensiveness to openness and an eternal trap of lust.
The concerned scholar in this regards finds a good dialogue between Sakka and The Buddha in Sakkapanna sutta (Siddhi et al., n.d.). Sakka asks The Buddha about the reason of conflict and throws light on an important dimension. Let us see what question did he ask-
…what is the reason that prompt the gods, men asuras, gandhabhas, and other classes of beings to be hateful, harmful and envious of one another causing them to continue to live in conflict despite the fact that they wish to live all time without those evil thoughts?(Siddhi et al., n.d.)
This indicates the pervasiveness of conflict which is indicated by the expression –‘..Gods, men, asuras, gandhabhas….’. This means that conflict even influence asuras and gandharbhas. To this The Blessed One answers that conflict arises from ignorance and delusion about the reality.
b. External Conflict:
External conflict, though is multi-dimensional, has the quality of being traced back. It can take various forms- political conflict, economic conflict, wars between countries, tension over borders and many more.
Okkansa Siddhi mentions that external conflict can be traced by a proper application of the Dependent Origination. There exists a ‘limitless interconnections’ (Siddhi et al., n.d.) and there must exist a symbolism that represents the conflict. The analysis of these interconnections and symbols will show the conflict, as well as the path to its resolution.
Relevance of the Study
The relevance of the study lies in a number of reasons. We will embark upon them one by one.
Firstly, the current study aims to analyse mettā and its application in our daily lives. Of all the current studies that deal with mettā, most of the studies have dealt with mettā from the philosophical point of view. The concerned researcher did an exhaustive survey of the literatue on mettā practice and its special application under states of conflict. We have already defined conflict in the last section. From that discussion, the researcher finds that conflict like mettā is also pervasive and inevitable episode of life. Hence, practising mettā under such conditions becomes a challenge. This is the area that the current study aims to work upon. The researcher plans to conduct a detailed and in-depth interviews and try to find out all those hindrances that lie in developing a pervasive practice of mettā among the monks, which has been attempted by a few. This study will implement an exhaustive qualitative analysis of such text.
While doing literature survey, the concerned researcher finds that the main studies focus on everyday meditation techniques, especially those related to mettā (Kurdieh, 2015), from point of view of world religion(Gwynne, 2017), from regional conflict and politics as that done by (Benn, 2005). All other major studies focus on the philosophy of Buddhism and its relation to mettā itself (Buddhaghosacariya, 1993), (Edelglass, 2013), (Keown, 2013; Ledgerwood, 2008; Seeger, 2010; Wijayaratna, 1990)
A few studies, which the researcher found most related to the premise of the study, are the discussion made in Bramhavihara Dhamma by Venerable Sayadaw) and a thesis (Siddhi et al., n.d.), which talk strictly about conflict. But, none of the studies in this search was found to deal with the issue of mettā and conflict together. This makes the concerned study unique and it recommendations will help the practising Buddhists in framing a robust framework for practising mettā under conflict.
Secondly, it can be said that all the mettā and related studies depended upon metaphysical analysis completely. Such an analytical technique is dependent upon the personal volitions and are not devoid of any personal belief. The concerned researcher, instead proposes to conduct an exhaustive qualitative analysis of the information collected from discourse and open-ended interviews. The details of such data collection and analysis will be made in the later sections of this synopsis.
The data from discourse and interviews will be recorded and translated as plain text. Such huge corpus of data will be analysed and this will enable the researcher to come up with definite recommendations. Such recommendations will be supported by extensive and exhaustive statistical tests. None of the earlier studies have been found to employ such robust techniques. This makes the concerned study stand out of the rest.
The Problem
Mettā practice and obedience to it under states of conflict has been a major problem in Buddhist studies
In this regard, the researcher would like to further demystify the concept of conflict and substantiate the problem statement on basis of that. In this section, we will discuss conflict from a social point-of-view as it is more suited to substantiate the research problem.
Coser (1956) defines that in a modern society, a conflict is like a serious deviation from the standards of the ideal. The main concept of such conflict arises from the thirst to gain more power and status in the society. Social and political conflicts in Sri Lanka can be cited as an example in this case.
One serious problem that such conflict poses is the fact that it causes hindrance in the way of rational decision-making and henceforth in selecting the correct alternative (March & Simon, 1958).
It can likewise be deduced that conflict creates situation in which the conflicting parties are inadequately posed against each other and all the conflicting parties have incompetent goals (Smith, 1966). As such, conflict is an interactive state, which makes it more prone to volatility and tempestuous in the inner self.
Under these conditions, it is extremely difficult to practice mettā in daily lives, especially for the Buddhists. Such conflict is always accompanied by ‘dosa’, ‘lobha’ and ‘moha’, as mentioned in the earlier sections. Hence, conflict creates a hindrance in the way of mettā and a comprehensive framework is required to be made.
CONCLUSION
To address the challenge of practicing mettā (loving-kindness) amidst conflict, a nuanced understanding of the nature of conflict and its psychological impacts is essential. As noted by Coser (1956), conflicts often arise from deviations from societal ideals, driven by desires for power and status. This is evident in social and political conflicts, such as those in Sri Lanka, which complicate the practice of mettā. The presence of conflict can inhibit rational decision-making (March & Simon, 1958) and create situations where conflicting parties pursue incompatible goals (Smith, 1966). These dynamics, characterized by heightened emotions like dosa (anger), lobha (greed), and moha (delusion), obstruct the path to practicing mettā.
Given these challenges, it's imperative to develop a comprehensive framework that addresses the internal and external factors contributing to conflict. This framework should include strategies for cultivating emotional resilience, enhancing understanding, and fostering dialogue among conflicting parties. By doing so, it can create a conducive environment for practicing mettā, even in the midst of social and political turmoil. Further research should explore practical methods for integrating mettā into conflict resolution processes, thereby promoting peace and understanding within and between communities.
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