18 The Four Sublime States

159 These Four Sublime States can be seen in several different ways - as four related but separate qualities or as different aspects of love. Speaking of the Four Sublime States as separate but mutually supporting qualities. Nyanapnoika says:

Love unbounded guards Compassion against turning into partially, prevents it from making discriminations by selecting and excluding, and thus protects if from falling into partially or aversion against the excluded side.

Love imparts to Equanimity its selfness, its boundless nature, and even its fervour. For fervour too, transformed and controlled, is part of perfect Equanimity, strengthening its power of keen penetration and wise restraint.

Compassion prevents Love and Sympathetic Joy from forgetting that, while both are enjoying or giving temporary and limited happiness, there still exist at that time most dreadful states of suffering in the world. It reminds them that their happiness co-exists with measureless misery, perhaps at the next door step. It is a reminder to Love and Sympathetic Joy that there is more suffering in the world than they are able to mitigate; that, after the effect of such mitigation has vanished, sorrow and pain are sure to arise anew until suffering is uprooted entirely at the attainment of Nibbana.

Compassion does not tolerate that Love and Sympathetic Joy turn into a state of self-satisfied complacency within a jealousy guarded petty happiness. Compassion stirs and urges Love to widen its sphere; it stirs and urges Sympathetic Joy to search for fresh nourishment. Thus it helps both of them to grow into truly Boundless States (appamanna).

Compassion guards Equanimity from falling into cold indifference, and keeps it from indolent or selfish isolation. Until Equanimity has reached perfection, Compassion urges it to enter again and again the battle field of the world, in order to be able to stand the test, by hardening and strengthening itself.

Sympathetic Joys holds Compassion back from becoming entirely overhelmed by the sight of the world's suffering, from being absorbed by it to the exclusion of everything else. Sympathetic Joy relieves the tension of mind, soothes the painful burning of the compassionate heart. It keeps Compassion away from melancholic brooding without purpose, from a futile sentimentality that merely weakens and consumes the strength of mind and heart.

Sympathetic Joy develops compassion into active sympathy.

Sympathetic Joy gives to Equanimity the mild serenity that softens its stern appearance. It is the divine smile on the face of the Enlightened One, a smile that persists in spite of his deep knowledge of the world's suffering, a smile that gives solace and hope, fearlessness and confidence: " Wide open are the doors to Deliverance," thus it speaks.

Equanimity rooted in Insights is to the other three Sublime States their guiding and restraining power, pointing out to them the direction they have to take, and seeing to it that this direction be followed.

Equanimity guards Love and Compassion from being dissipated in vain quests, and from going astray in the labyrinths of uncontrolled emotion. Equanimity, being a vigilant self-control for the sake of the final goal, does not allow that Sympathetic Joy contents itself with humble results, forgetting the real aims we have to strive for.

Equanimity, which means `even-mindedness', gives to Love an even, unchanging firmness and loyalty. It endows it with the great virtue of patience.

Equanimity furnishes Compassion with an even, unwavering courage and fearlessness, enabling it to face the awesome abyss of misery and despair by which boundless Compassion is confronted again and again.

To the active side of Compassion, Equanimity is the calm and firm hand led by wisdom in indispensable to those who want to practise the difficult art of helping others. And here again Equanimity means patience, the patient devotion to the work of Compassion.

On the other hand, the Four Sublime States can be seen as the different ways love can be expressed according to the situation, just as light produces diverse colours as it is reflected through the different facets of the same diamomd. Thus love, in the sense of affection and warmth, is the sensitive Buddhist's response to the open and friendly open, compassion to those in distress, sympathetic joy to those who are happy, and equanimity to hostile or unpleasant people.

160 Everyone feels love towards at least some people - parents, children, spouse or friends. But at the same time, this love for someone can co-exist with jealousy, possessiveness and the desire to dominate or control. Likewise, it is possible to have love towards some, while hating or being indifferent towards others. The higher and more refined love is free from negative defilements and is pervasive, that is, it is felt equally towards all beings- animals as much as humans- the friendly and the hostile, the virtuous and the immoral. All other virtues and good deeds are secondary to having a loving heart.

If one were to give a gift of a hundred coins in the morning, again at noon and again in the evening, or instead, if one were to develop the mind of love in the morning, noon and evening even for as long as it takes to pull a cow's udder, this would be by far the more beneficial of the two.

Therefore, you should train yourself, thinking :

" We will develop the liberation of the mind through love.
We will practise it often.
We will make it our vehicle and foundation.
We will take our stand upon it, store it up and promote it."

This is the type of love that characterized every aspect of the Buddha's life, and as his disciples, we should strive to develop that same type of love.

The meditation on love should
Be done for oneself and others.
All should besuffused with love.
This is the teaching of the Buddha.

161 How is the Meditation on Love practised ? If, during or after completing our daily period of Mindfulness of Breathing, the mind feels particularly light, peaceful or happy, this is the best time to do the practise. Remaining in the usual meditation posture, we first think of ourselves, become aware of the happiness or peace that we are feeling and then wish ourselves well. This can be done by saying to ourselves words like this:

" May I be well and happy.
May I be free from distress and worry.
May my mind be free from ill-will.
May my heart be filled with love.
May I be well and happy.
May I be well and happy."

Having done this, we then proceed to think of a person we love, a neutral person, and then a person we dislike, one after the other, wishing each of them well as we do so, in words similar to those above. Having done this, we then wish all beings well:

" May all beings be well and happy.
May all be free from distress and worry.
May their minds be free from ill-will.
May their hearts be filled with love.
May all be well and happy.
May all be well and happy."

The Meditation on Love should be done in unhurried way, taking altogether perhaps ten or fifteen minutes.

162 Sometimes while practising the Meditation of Love, we think of a disliked person and wish them well while in fact really feeling no love towards them at all. Isn't this, some people ask, merely pretence ? No, it is not.

Although we may, at present, feel no good-will will towards that person, the recognition of our negative feelings and the desire to wise to transform them into positive feelings is important. In time, hatred will change into equanimity and from that into friendliness and concern.

When, through the practice of Meditation on Love, we learn to shrug off insults rather than get angry, to forgive rather than plot revenge, and to be kind rather than rude, officious or uncaring, our interactions with others become considerably more enjoyable and our life becomes generally more happy. The Buddha mentions several positive effects of practising the Meditation on Love and all of them are related to being happy.

Eleven advantages are to be looked for in the freedom of mind through the practice of love, by making love grow, by making much of it, by making love a vehicle and basis, by persisting in it, by becoming familiar with it, and by establishing it well. What eleven ? One sleeps happily and wakes happily, has no bad dreams, and is dear to both human and non-human beings, is guarded by the gods; fire, poison and swords do not affect one, the mind concentrates quickly, the complexion is clean, one dies without dewilderment, and if one develops no further, one will reach at least to the Brahma world.

163 What we have discussed above is what might be called the development of love through passive means, but equally as important is the development of love through active means. This refers to enhancing and strengthening our love by acting in a more loving way. The Cariyapitaka Atthakata expresses this idea well when it says:

One should think: "I cannot provide for the welfare and happiness of others merely by wishing it. Let me make an effort to accomplish it."

To put aside our own interests or desires for the sake of others is to act with love. To be helpful to someone who might have hurt us in the past is to act with love. To give up our free time in order to spend it helping those in need is to act with love. Such behaviour is necessary for purifying the mind. Done with selflessness and pure intentions, such acts are as much a part of the Meditation onLove as is sitting quietly with legs crossed.