Buddha-Dhamma: Bringing Buddhism to the West

“Conquer the angry man by love; conquer the ill-natured man by goodness; conquer the miser with generosity; conquer the liar with truth”

“The Dhammapadda”

In the Dhammapadda we read: “Hate is not overcome by hate; by Love (Metta) alone is hate appeased. This is an eternal law. Furthermore, we can read also: “Conquer the angry man by love; conquer the ill-natured man by goodness; conquer the miser with generosity; conquer the liar with truth”. It must be said that when we read first those statements of the Buddha, the first Interpretation that comes into mind, which is also the traditional one, is to associate them to other people on terms of interpersonal relationships, who behave themselves in this way. While this is certainly correct, this interpretation overseas some important dimensions of those teachings of the Buddha. When we look at those statements from the perspective of Abhidhamma and in the light of Metta, it becomes clear that those statements address in a non dual way not only our fellow human beings, but our own mind as well. Anyway, considering the behavior of other people it is quite easy to understand: it is a principle that is similar to the Process of adding Water if we want to cease a Fire and using Fire if we want to vaporize Water or cooling something that is too hot and then warm something that is to cold. In the same way that Fire is not to cease by Fire and something which is too hot cannot be cooled by heating it even more, so in the same way hatred cannot be ceased by adding more hatred. But what does it has to do with our own mind. To understand this question, we must first understand how the mind works and how the defilement of anger and the poison of ill-will are arising in terms of the Abhidhamma. 

As I did in my previous post dealing with the Abhidhamma, I want first of all start with a general description of CITTA and CETASIKAS: CITTA (Consciousness) and CETASIKAS (Mental Factors) are actually two conditioned NAMAS, mental phenomena, which are appearing or arising with each and every moment in our daily life and experience. While both of them, consciousness as well as the mental factors are arising in pairs and share the same object or phenomena of cognition, CITTA (Consciousness) is the leader of those two and thus CETASIKAS is a mental factor that is accompanying CITTA. If to use a metaphor and the terminology used in modern computer science, we can say that CITTA (Consciousness) is working in serial, a bit after bit of cognizable objects and phenomena occurring through one of the six senses, which means that there is always only one object or phenomena that a CITTA (Consciousness) can cognize at any given time, while CETASIKAS (Mental Factors) are accompanying those bits of consciousness in serial, which means on the other hand that each single bit of consciousness is accompanied by more than one mental factor at any given time. There are at least seven universal mental factors that are accompanying each bit of Consciousness. 

Furthermore, we can say that while the function of CITTA is to cognize an object or phenomena, mental factors, that is to say CETASIKAS, share the same object with the CITTA, but they each have their own specific quality and function. In other words: CETASIKAS are relating to the phenomena and have the aim or serve as a certain function to the CITTA and the cognizable objects and phenomena. We can also add and say that there are six types consciousnesses according to each of the six senses, while there are 52 mental factors that are accompanying each one of the six types of consciousnesses at each moment of experience, while of course not all the 52 mental factors arise at one time, but at least a combination or a set of the seven universal CETASIKAS accompanied very often by some additional mental factors from the 52 in all. The seven universal CETASIKAS are contact, feeling-sensations, perception, volition-intention, one pointedness-concentration, psychic life – life faculty and attention, so as we see in terms of the chain of dependent Origination it starts with contact, while further on each moment of Consciousness is accompanied by whether contact and feeling, contact and perception, contact and volition and so on. Anyway, in many of my previous posts I have dealt with all the links of the chain and their meanings in detail, so I am not going to deal in this post with those aspects, but rather more discuss it in terms of the practice itself and why it is important for the purification of defilements

So when we apply this description to all kinds of destructive emotions and in this case Anger, we can say that when there is an unpleasant object that CITTA (consciousness) cognizes, while there is Ignorance and lack of mindfulness and wise attention, in this case CITTA (consciousness) will arise together with an unwholesome CETASIKA of aversion that will be accompanied also by Anger and possibly by other unwholesome mental factors that is to say CETASIKAS. The process that I have described in my previous posts concerning the brains functioning including the amygdala, which acts as a repository for our repertoire of negative emotional habits and as a storehouse for negative emotional memories including our schemas, fits exactly in this very short period of time (mili– seconds). In the next bit of consciousness, CITTA will cognize the mental Cetasika and Anger itself, while in this moment it will arise once again together with the cetasika of aversion and Anger, while this time aversion will address not only the unpleasant object, maybe even not the object at all, but the previous mental state as its object. In other words: we become a kind of a reactor, a generator, which produces in an ongoing manner aversion and anger. 

Anyway, although those bits of CITTA and CETASIKAS occurring in pairs as consciousness and aversion and anger will arise and to fall due to impermanence, the only way to break the cycle of ill-will and anger, so that it will not continue to occur repeatedly and in acyclic way, can be achieved only by mindfulness, wise attention and the cultivation of wisdom, compassion and loving kindness that will lead to the accumulation of more and more wholesome CITTAS and beautiful CETASIKAS. Going the other way, addressing aversion and anger with more anger and aversion (=being angry about the anger), as some other spiritual paths are preaching, will bring nothing more than the accumulation of more and more unwholesome CITTAS and CETASSIKAS: in other words it will only perpetuate unwholesomeness, anger and suffering 

Here, we must also add what is already obvious: when there is anger or aversion there is no loving kindness possible, whether towards ourselves or towards others, even because it is impossible to have two opposite emotions at the one and the same tome or at the one and the same moment. It becomes actually a magic circle that cannot be broken unless we start to apply mindfulness, wise attention and cultivate wisdom, compassion and loving kindness, as mentioned above. Therefore, as the Dhammapadda teaches us: “Hate is not overcome by hate; by Love (Metta) alone is hate appeased. This is an eternal law or “Conquer the angry man by love; conquer the ill-natured man by goodness; conquer the miser with generosity; conquer the liar with truth”. It is a psychological principle that must be applied to both: to ourselves and to other people as well in a non dual way. 

Addressing Metta in this way more as a discipline of existential psychology, rather than a discipline of morality, although such a moral dimension is included in the existential psychology as well, I wrote the following explanation in my previous posts: “The Cultivation of Metta does not mean in this Sense to cultivate or on the contrary to suppress any kind of Feelings, Metta is a Philosophy and an Approach that we embrace when traveling through our Life. It is actually a Strategy that abandons our Dependence on Fear and Anger in order to take care and to protect us” or “The Cultivation of Metta is by no Mean about the Cultivation of certain or specific Emotions; it’s not about liking or disliking People at all, but about the Purification of our own Intentions. In other Words: it’s about Karma. It’s about the understanding that whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not, we are all interconnected and all that we do affect ourselves and others in mutual and reciprocal Movement. Everything we do has inevitably Results”. In other words: “The Cultivation of Metta and the other Brahma Viharas is not the Work of Cultivation of certain and specific Emotions, but about the psychological Work, especially of purifying our Intentions and Defilements. It’s about our Karma”. 

In his Essay” The Buddha on Compassion: An Existential Approach”, Professor Chen Yu-His from the Fo Guang University in Taiwan, sums up this Idea in the following way: “But the Buddha and historical Buddhist sages were not moralists. Rather, they took an existential approach, pointing out that love and compassion is a quality - and an inner power — intrinsic to our true nature, i.e., the “Buddha-nature.” If we know how to connect with our Buddha-nature, we touch the abundant source of that divine quality. Here we are talking about depth psychology on a spiritual level, not religious ethics. The Buddhist perception of “unconditioned love and compassion” is neither a metaphysical abstraction nor altruist idealism”. “The Buddha”, continues Professor Chen Yu-His, “speaks of love and compassion as the unique power within us that overcomes fear and hatred, and that heals a wounded soul. As he observes, “Hatred can never be ceased by hatred; it is ceased by love alone.” He also advises people to “conquer anger by love.” These remarks are interpreted as addressing interpersonal relationships jarred by hatred and animosity. True, we can give numerous examples to show how a dose of good will, tolerance or forgiveness can help bring reconciliation to interpersonal conflicts. But we should not overlook another important aspect of the issue, that is, love and compassion is also an effective antidote to hatred, anger, animosity, etc. within ourselves. It is known that these mental negativities can produce toxic endocrinal secretions to damage physical as well as mental health. Among other things, hatred can accumulate into a psychological complex, which in turn gives rise to depression and other neurotic disorders” (http://www.buddhachannel.tv/portail/spip.php?article4093)