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#The Brahmavihåras IThe four ìDivine Abidingsî or ìBrahmavihårasî are among the meditation subjects ofSamatha. When they are developed they can condition calm even to the degree of jhåna.The Brahmavihåras have living beings as objects and they are very suitable for applicationin our daily life. We often think of other people with attachment, with conceit or withaversion. The Brahmavihåras can be the condition for thinking of others with kusala cittasand thus there can be calm in daily life.I shall quote from the tape which is a lecture on the Brahmavihåras given by Acharn Sujinto police officers. They took a great interest in the practice of the Brahmavihåras whileperforming their duty as police officer. I shall also quote from her book on the Perfections,and I shall add what Lodewijk and I discussed about the Brahmavihåras.In her lecture Acharn Sujin pointed out the danger of akusala that increases each day, andshe explained that the Brahmavihåras can condition calm in daily life. We have learntabout akusala síla, unwholesome deeds through body and speech, but how are ourthoughts? We should not be neglectful with regard to our actions, speech and thoughts.Acharn Sujin stressed truthfulness or sincerity and resolution.We should be truthful as to our cittas: is the citta kusala citta or akusala citta? Do we takefor kusala citta what is in reality akusala citta? We need determination for all kinds ofkusala. When paññå sees the benefit of kusala and the disadvantage of akusala this willcondition the arising of kusala citta.Acharn Sujin stressed the connection between síla and mettå. Síla includes not onlyabstention from akusala kamma, it also includes paying respect to those who deserve itand helping others, rendering service.I quote from Acharn Sujinís ìWholesome Deedsî: îThe citta can be respectful byabstaining from hurting or harming others through body, speech or mind.î When there is mettå we do not disturb the happiness of others or cause them to be introuble. We do not think of ourselves expecting friendship from others. Mettå orfriendship arises with the citta, and if we expect something for ourselves there is no truemettå. Thus, we need truthfulness, sincerity at all times.The near ennemy of mettå is attachment. We may take for mettå what is selfish love. Ifsomeone sees another person as object of attachment he has no respect for that person, hedoes not help him to have kusala citta. He harms himself and the other person. He alsolacks respect of the Buddha who taught the way leading to the elimination of akusala andthe development of right understanding.The connection between síla and mettå as explained by Acharn Sujin I find an inspiringway of considering abstention from akusala in action, speech and thoughts. When there ismettå there are no conditions for akusala through body, speech and mind. We shall nothurt or harm others through actions or speech, we shall abstain from akusala kamma. Weconsider other people as true friends and that means that we shall help them to be freefrom what is harmful and dangerous. We shall help them to have kusala citta.*****Brahmavihåras II
 
We read in the ìAtthasåliní î about the four brahmavihåras ((Book I, Part V, Ch XIII,Divine States, 193) :ì...love (mettå) has the characteristic of being a procedure of modes of beneficence; thefunction or property of bringing good; the manifestation or effect of taking hatred away;the proximate cause of seeing the lovableness of beings. Its consummation (success) is thequieting of ill-will; its failure is the production of lust.î Lust is the translation of lobha, but we should remember that all shades of lobha are afailure or near ennemy of mettå
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.Acharn Sujin: ìWe should remember that kusala and akusala can be very close inappearance. Therefore, we should often realize the characteristics of realities so that weshall know whether we develop kusala or whether akusala arises.î Htoo writes: ìMettå is a pure thing and we do not need to expect friendshipfrom those who we have helped by any means and in any way. As soon asthat kind of attachment arises, metta has already gone. Mettå and attachment do not staytogether.î Acharn Sujin said in her ìPerfectionsî:ìAmong the ten perfections, the perfection of mettå, loving kindness, follows upon theperfection of determination. For someone who is firmly established in the development ofkusala with the aim to eradicate defilements and who has accumulated the perfection ofdetermination, it is natural to practise loving-kindness. We can verify for ourselveswhether we are firmly established in the development of kusala and whether we usuallydevelop loving kindness. When someone is not inclined to anger and when he oftenpractises mettå, it shows that he sees the benefit of non-anger and of the development ofthe perfections leading to the eradication of the defilements. Someone may believe that lifebelongs to him, but in reality there are only different dhammas that arise and fall awayvery rapidly. He should develop more understanding of his life, of his kusala cittas andakusala cittas.î The Brahmaviharas of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity arecetasikas, non-self. They cannot be manipulated at will, they arise because of theirappropriate conditions. Mettå cannot stay, it falls away and then there are bound to beakusala cittas since we have accumulated such an amount of akusala. Paññå,understanding that knows the disadvantage of akusala and the benefit of kusala is acondition for the arising of the Brahmavihåras.In her lecture Acharn Sujin stresses that the cetasika equanimity, tatramajjhattata, whicharises with each kusala citta, is very necessary for all the Brahmavihåras. It prevents usfrom going to extremes, namely, attachment and aversion. She says that if there is nomettå, there is an opportunity for akusala. Therefore, we should develop mettå, just now.She said that if there is not mettå very often, we should not be worried about it. It can bedeveloped little by little so that it can be accumulated. If we say that we cannot do this,defilements will not be eliminated.Footnote:1. Visuddhimagga IX, 98-101 mentions the near enemies and the far enemies of the divineabidings. The far enemies of the brahmavihåras are their opposites and the near enemiesare qualities which seem to be the brahma vihåras but which are in reality akusala. Theyseem to be close to the brahmavihåras and one could erroneously take them for the
 
brahmavihåras.We read in the definition of mettå: ìIts consummation (success) is the quieting of ill-will;its failure is the production of lust.î Ill-will is the opposite of mettå and attachment is itsnear ennemy.********Brahmavihåras IIIWe read in Acharn Sujinís Perfections:ìIf we have developed the other perfections but our inclination to assist others withkindness is deficient, we should find out the reason for this. Is it because we are alreadypleased with our own kusala or is it because of defilements, such as conceit, clinging to theimportance of self? We may think that it is not necessary to help someone else. Or, whenwe have given assistance to someone else we may wonder what the other person will bethinking about us. We should find out whether such thoughts are kusala or akusala. Weshould instead give assistance to someone without paying attention to what he thinks aboutus, no matter whether he rejoices in our deed or whether he blames us, because in realityhe cannot harm us. What he thinks about us concerns only himself, not us. We shouldrealize that no matter how much kusala we have performed already, it is not yet enough.î When we cling to the importance of self there is conceit, the citta is rigid, not gentle, andthere cannot be metta at the same time. When conceit arises it accompanies the citta rootedin attachment. When we attach importance to what others think about us, there is conceit.When we expect kind words from them but they do not speak kindly, we are disappointedand we have aversion. Then we can see that conceit conditions annoyance and aversion.Through satipatthana we learn that life truly exists in one moment. When there areconditions for metta it arises, but it cannot last. There are bound to be many akusala cittasin between the moments of kusala cittas. Lodewijk remarked that when he considers thathe has countless akusala cittas he becomes oppressed. I explained to him that it is pañña,understanding, that realizes kusala as kusala and akusala as akusala. At the moment ofunderstanding there cannot be aversion or oppression at the same time. We cannot expecta radical change in character when we begin to develop satipatthana, but we should behappy and grateful to the Buddha for teaching us the way to see realities as they are. Welearn that it is dukkha to be in the cycle of birth and death, and that clinging is the cause ofdukkha. However, we should not forget that there is a Way leading to the end of dukkha,and we can begin to develop it with courage and gladness.Lodewijk stressed the importance of good and noble friendship, association with the rightpersons. We spoke about A. Sujin and our friends in Thailand, who give us good examplesof the application of satipatthana in daily life. It is inspiring to associate with friends whostrive after the same goal, the development of right understanding leading to theeradication of defilements. When we are in their company, we have the assurance that weare with true friends whom we can trust and that we cannot come to any harm.****
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