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Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

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Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#61

Post by passion__desire »

nico wrote: post #57
passion__desire wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN crowd would love Daniel Ingram and his teachings. https://www.integrateddaniel.info/ https://www.ecstaticintegration.org/p/daniel-ingram-on-emerg...

His book is essentially meditation/realization for overachievers. It is almost the opposite of Zen If you take everything as a task to be done and life as goals to achieve, then that might be a good book Otherwise Reddit’s /r/meditation, /r/streamentry or just the Calm app might be better starting points

He is good for theory and without all the woo woo that comes with such traditions.

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#62

Post by krzat »

jbgt wrote: post #51
Glench wrote: post #20

My meditation teacher described two types of meditation practices designed to train your mind to be more loving and compassionate and therefore happier. I'd like to share a little about them in the off-chance they're beneficial. One type is to envision the pain and suffering of people and respond compassionately in a way that eliminates their pain and suffering. When I was suffering terribly myself I constantly wishe…

Nice to see you name them as a pair. Very often, people seem to focus on Metta only, maybe due to the focus on this Sutta. To my understanding, Compassion / Lovingkindness are linked and often arise together, and it's a bit odd to wish to separate them too strongly: When contemplating other's and out own Dukkha, Compassion may arise, wishing for it to cease. Lovingkindness may then arise, wishing for there to be happ…

I have hard time discerning between 4 immesurables, it seems like they are all love in different forms / levels of difficulty.

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#63

Post by tangent-man »

grahamplace wrote: post #22
krzat wrote: post #6

Interesting to see this here, without any context attached. I've been practicing loving kindness meditation for a few months now and the results have been incredible. I'm atheist, pretty sure reincarnation is bullshit, but the method described in this sutta works. In mundane terms, you can train your brain to be happier and more joyful by those simple visualizations. I'm not quite sure what is the role of spreading k…

Any recommendations for where to start learning?

It is said there are 3 jewels in 'Buddhism' the Buddha, the Dhamma (The Teachings - the so called laws of nature/reality) and the Sangha.

The word Sangha gets bandied about like nobodies business these days.. and nobody seems to care either.. talk about cultural appropriation! In my opinion westerners who are not ordained and are not true aupasikas have no right to use this word, but alas they do, in droves. I think in this context it means Maha-Sangha .. that is 8 pairs or individuals 4 types of special people:

Supatipanno Bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho. Ujupatipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho. Ñāyapatipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho. Sāmīcipatipanno bhagavato sā- vakasaṅgho. Yadidaṁ cattāri purisayugāni aṭṭha purisapuggalā esa bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho. Āhuneyyo. Pāhuneyyo. Dakkhineyyo. Anjalikaranīyo. Anuttaraṁ puññakkhettaṁ lokassā’ti.

Of pure conduct is the Order of Disciples of the Blessed One. Of upright conduct is the Order of Disciples of the Blessed One. Of wise conduct is the Order of Disciples of the Blessed One. Of generous conduct is the Order of Disciples of the Blessed One. Those four pairs of persons, the eight kinds of individuals, that is the Order of Disciples of the Blessed One. They are worthy of offerings. They are worthy of hospitality. They are worthy of gifts. They are worthy of reverential salutations. The incomparable field of merit for the world.

That is where to start in my opinion. find the true Sangha. there are millions of Buddhist Monks, especially in Asia. I have heard though unfortunately there are only a few thousand perhaps, a handful, practising the true way now. That sadly is the times we are living in. The end of days.. But that is where to start in my opinion. Good luck finding them.

_/!\_

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#64

Post by cthulha »

denton-scratch wrote: post #41
MilStdJunkie wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I don't buy the "remembering past lives" business, but "life after death" seems like a physical certainty if you're not necessarily attached to the "self"[1]. I suppose it's sort of how life works, on our planet anyway, for the last two billion years when we invented sex to outpace the viruses. Some sort of sentient planetary slime mold might have different ideas. One thing that's interesting is that Indian phi…

Regarding "the self": Buddhism is seriously conflicted about that idea. The self is said to be illusory, but we constantly apply all of our energies to defending it. Why do they go on so much about it, if it isn't real? It's been described to me as a pathetic, insignificant thing, absolutely in need of a defender. Western (or I should say, english-speaking) Buddhist teachers call it "ego", but I'm pretty sure that's…

It's a useful shared illusion, but not 'real' once you reach a certain level of meditative concentration.

If you look at a bicycle wheel in motion, you don't see the spokes. If you and everyone you knew had only ever seen wheels in motion, you'd talk about a semi transparent field from the centre to the rim. You would all describe the same phenomena.

I was at a meditation retreat, and I caught a glimpse of the spokes. That's how I've explained it to others.

Does the self seem real? Yes. Is it a useful construct? Can we predict it and manipulate it? Yes. Once you've followed the meditation practices, do you see that it's an illusion? That was absolutely my experience.

Which is a round about way of saying, the conflict you perceive in Buddhism is rooted in the ongoing struggle to perceive the nature of the self, and to notice when your practice becomes entangled in its illusions.

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#65

Post by nico »

passion__desire wrote: post #61
nico wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His book is essentially meditation/realization for overachievers. It is almost the opposite of Zen If you take everything as a task to be done and life as goals to achieve, then that might be a good book Otherwise Reddit’s /r/meditation, /r/streamentry or just the Calm app might be better starting points

He is good for theory and without all the woo woo that comes with such traditions.

That’s true, the book is very secular and maybe the most scientific you can get about the topics and practices discussed

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#66

Post by passion__desire »

nico wrote: post #65
passion__desire wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is good for theory and without all the woo woo that comes with such traditions.

That’s true, the book is very secular and maybe the most scientific you can get about the topics and practices discussed

I still find myself going back to Ram Dass and Alan Watts. There is magic in their experiences which shows in their storytelling. They know very well the limits of their experiences. There is a talk in which Ram Dass is telling story about his Guru and at the same time deconstructing it in a funny way.

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#67

Post by nico »

passion__desire wrote: post #66
nico wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s true, the book is very secular and maybe the most scientific you can get about the topics and practices discussed

I still find myself going back to Ram Dass and Alan Watts. There is magic in their experiences which shows in their storytelling. They know very well the limits of their experiences. There is a talk in which Ram Dass is telling story about his Guru and at the same time deconstructing it in a funny way.

They are both amazing storytellers

Love Alan Watts lectures, the way he explains things they just seem to make sense. He’s very good at translating the meaning of eastern philosophies into western concepts

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#68

Post by passion__desire »

nico wrote: post #67
passion__desire wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still find myself going back to Ram Dass and Alan Watts. There is magic in their experiences which shows in their storytelling. They know very well the limits of their experiences. There is a talk in which Ram Dass is telling story about his Guru and at the same time deconstructing it in a funny way.

They are both amazing storytellers Love Alan Watts lectures, the way he explains things they just seem to make sense. He’s very good at translating the meaning of eastern philosophies into western concepts

Another person whom I admire more is James Low (from Waking Up app) and also Adyashanti.

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#69

Post by Glench »

denton-scratch wrote: post #35
Glench wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I may tease you lovingly for a moment, when you smile at your child do you go "I am unable to detect what is happening!" :P

Both of my "children" are adults in their 30s; either of them could kill me with their bare hands if they chose to. I don't think loving kindness manifests when I smile at someone; I think it manifests when I forgive them for some outrage that has left me seething. That is, I don't associate loving-kindness particularly with good feelings.

> Both of my "children" are adults in their 30s; either of them could kill me with their bare hands if they chose to.

My friend, if this is truly the state of your relationship with your children then I'm so sorry. I wish you a swift resolution to any and all ill-will.

> I don't think loving kindness manifests when I smile at someone; I think it manifests when I forgive them for some outrage that has left me seething. That is, I don't associate loving-kindness particularly with good feelings.

It sounds like loving-kindness practices don't work particularly well for you but forgiveness does so that's great. Still, I hope you get to feel a sense of warm-heartedness toward yourself and others. Even the Dalai Lama, one of the preeminent Buddhist figures in the world, says his true religion is kindness.

> Warm-heartedness is my favourite subject. As human beings our mothers gave birth to us and we survived because of her care and affection. Warm-heartedness is not only the key factor for human survival, it’s also the basis for being able to live as peaceful, happy human beings.

https://twitter.com/DalaiLama/status/1680874205854990336

Re: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

#70

Post by garyfirestorm »

krzat wrote: post #6

Interesting to see this here, without any context attached. I've been practicing loving kindness meditation for a few months now and the results have been incredible. I'm atheist, pretty sure reincarnation is bullshit, but the method described in this sutta works. In mundane terms, you can train your brain to be happier and more joyful by those simple visualizations. I'm not quite sure what is the role of spreading k…

> I've been practicing loving kindness meditation

how do you get started with this? any particular resource? what do you exactly do when practicing this meditation?

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