This podcast is offered by San Francisco's Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good summer evening to all of you. San Francisco summer evening. And welcome to the San Francisco Zen Center. My name is Jordan Thorne. I'm I'm a priest here at the Zen Center. I have a title. I'm the Tanto, which means head of practice. I appreciate all of you being here because this is why I'm giving the talk tonight, because you're here. It's a mixed blessing for me, but thank you all. Mostly positive.

[01:01]

All the way positive. Many of you might know, but I don't know that all of you do, that there is a practice period going on here at the Zen Center. Practice is one of the ways we are Buddhist. Calendar is organized over the year. We have periods of slightly more intensified practice with classes and retreats. And we're two-thirds of the way, or so, maybe even more, through a six-week practice period, a shorter practice period. The topic of which, the subject of which, is the Brahma Viharas. The Brahma Viharas, a.k.a. otherwise known as the Four Noble Abodes. And so tonight I want to talk about these four Brahmavaharas. And sometimes Brahma means, well, Brahma is the name of a Hindu god.

[02:17]

I think Brahma is like a divine state. place where Brahma lives, and Vihara is an abode, a residence. But they're sometimes translated as the four immeasurables, sometimes translated as the four noble abodes. Sometimes the Brahma Viharas are brought into English as the four formless abodes. And whatever name they are summarized by, the individual four are first, metta, loving-kindness, two, secondly, karuna, or compassion, third, mudita, which is a word that means sympathetic joy, and fourth, upeka, which means equanimity. And eventually tonight I want to actually talk mostly about equanimity, but it would be a mistake to think that they're not

[03:23]

all four of them woven together and codependently arising. So, again, because it's, you know, one of the things that happens in Buddhism is lists are repeated so that we can remember them, so we can learn them. So let me say, the four Brahmavaharas are number one, loving-kindness, metta. And this is a kind of loving-kindness directed towards all beings, without discrimination, without selfish attachment. By the practice of metta, a student of the way has the potential to overcome anger and ill-will and greed. And one of the aspects of as these, for instance, loving kindness, Brahma Bahara is worked, not just said out loud, but actually worked in yourself, you go through a process where you wish for yourself and then for others, and then even further out, you wish that people might be free of enmity, free of afflictions.

[04:53]

anxiety, that they be well and happy. There is a Buddhist text, it's a Pali canon text that we chant at the Zen Center called the Metta Sutta, and it has a beautiful section, a beautiful piece of it that says that a student of the way should cultivate loving kindness for all beings just as a mother watches out and cares for her only child. That's something about metta. Karuna means to be aware of the suffering of other people, to witness it and to wish well towards those persons who are suffering.

[05:54]

And mudita is, if karuna is about the observation of other people's suffering and the suffering of this entire world, mudita is an observation, an awareness, and a sympathetic joy felt when people do well. when things go well, when people realize what they're trying to realize. It's an altruistic joy in the happiness of others. And finally, the fourth of the noble abodes, upeka, equanimity. This is... a mind that's rooted in impartiality. It's settled in, just as you might imagine, equanimity. And please understand that this equanimity is not a kind of indifferent.

[07:08]

It's not a kind of feeling tepid. Yeah, maybe so, maybe not. It's actually an act of exploration of impartiality. And taken together, these four things I just listed are called the noble abodes, heavenly abodes. Why are they heavenly? Well, because they represent really beautiful, positive human emotions. when we feel love and joy and compassion and sympathy for other people's circumstances, this experience can leave us feeling, if I can dare say it, blessed. This is really a... It's not a base emotion.

[08:13]

This is a noble place that we find ourselves. And... The Brahma Vaharas are considered to be abodes because they represent a foundation for us, a place to stand on, a very solid place to stand on. Heavenly abodes. In the Abhidharma teachings of Buddhism, which I don't know so much about, but I sometimes read things, There is a definition of material, physical things. And that definition is physical things are that which can be abused. A material thing can be harmed. You can crack it or break it or scratch it.

[09:14]

But loving kindness and compassion are not states of mind. For some, if they're not well-founded, they might seem fragile, but nonetheless, loving kindness, you can toss anything you want at it and throw any rocks that you want at it. You can turn any, you know, drop it from a hundred-story building. Loving kindness is not damaged. It is In this way, it's an unlimited place. These, you know, it sounds kind of nice, maybe even sweet, you know, compassion and sympathetic joy. equanimity.

[10:17]

Know that these Brahma-vihara states of mind are not just sort of nicer and more pleasant versions of our everyday mind. These are emotions. These are places that arise from a completely different basis than our limited dualistic ego-centered, familiar place. The Brahmaviharas are grounded in an experience of awakening. They're a kind of channeling of the way someone who has woken up would feel about things. They connect to our original, undefiled, unlimited, true nature. And this is another reason why they are unlimited.

[11:27]

Because these Brahma-vaharas come from emptiness, not from particularity. They come from emptiness. They find expressions in various ways. They come from emptiness. Within the mandala of the four unlimited brahmavaharas, within this particular ecosystem, the fourth brahmavahara has a special place. Equanimity has a special place. I haven't tonight at the time, and I won't, to unpack what might be a kind of a classical examination of, like for instance, compassion or living kindness.

[12:36]

But let me tell you in brief that for each of these first three, the traditional process is to first start with oneself. to wish, for instance, that yourself, that oneself be free of enmity, full of goodwill, without afflictions. And then this is brought, this maybe dot, is expanded to include someone who we might respect, have a positive feeling for. Maybe then just towards someone whom we feel neutral about. And then, very importantly, extended towards someone who we may have a problem with.

[13:38]

But always, at least always is a tricky word, but often at the end, as time allows, the guided meditation that leads one through those different processes returns to resting in open space, resting in a heart of mindfulness, maybe even kind of like a place that's similar to our zazan. In this way and in other ways, the practice of equanimity is built into each of the Brahmavaras. Equanimity is part of loving-kindness, a part of compassion, a part of sympathetic joy. So,

[14:47]

Well, equanimity is actually a fourth Brahmavihara. In some ways, one could also understand it as not a fourth, different, specific thing, but just a part of how we understand all of these noble abodes, unlimited abodes. speaking of equanimity, of upekka, the near enemy of upekka, of equanimity, is indifference, but the far enemy is attachment, aversion.

[16:02]

Attachment and aversion are maybe another way of saying seeing things partially. The opposite of equanimity is to just see a tiny part of the whole. Having a feeling maybe for something over here, but not for something over there. Real equanimity is something that takes a wholehearted effort. It's not just a withdrawal into kind of like benign neglect. It takes a stepping forward into an active seeing. This is like Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who sees the cries of the world, and not just the world in front of others.

[17:11]

but of the whole world. At the Zen Center, at Siddhi Center, and actually Zen Centers all around, every which way, the Heart Sutra is chanted daily, is recited daily. And right at the beginning of the Heart Sutra, it says, when deeply practicing the prajna paramita, the perfection of wisdom, clearly saw the that all five aggregates are empty and thus was relieved of suffering and distress. It says that in different forms of translation. Saw that all five skandhas are empty and was relieved of all suffering and distress. It's always a relief to see things the way they really are. In my own effort to study and learn about the Brahma Faharas, one of the things that I, one of the territories that maybe challenged me, is the fact that when I came to the San Francisco Zen Center and attended Zazen instruction, and then attended Zazen instruction,

[18:47]

and then read Zazen manuals, and then read about Zazen, and then heard about Zazen, I didn't hear about the Brahmavars. Maybe things are changing, but I didn't hear when I was a kind of sponge. I want to say more about that and say why I think There is actually some integrity and truth to that, not hearing it. But I want to also speak to how the Brahma Vaharas are a practice that have a particular form and shape in Theravada Buddhism, in the Buddhism of the Pali Canon, in the form and shape of Buddhism that maybe people experience in Vipassana retreats, for instance. I hope that we would all think of Buddhism as one truth, one practice, one way.

[19:53]

But also, let's not ignore that there are different schools, different traditions, and different expressions of the Dharma. So I want to say in my certainly limited and incomplete way, a sense I have of the Brahma Vaharis in Theravadan Buddhism, and then I want to say something equally flawed about the Brahma Vaharis in Zen. And to start with Theravadan Buddhism, if there is such a thing as Theravadan Buddhism, Well, I'm a Zen student, so I hope that what I say is not too far off.

[21:00]

But when I read classical materials in the Pali Canon, they talk about something called nirvana, about extinguishing afflictions, of attaining a great awakening. And in order to attain that great awakening and to enter nirvana, there is a process of study and reflection where afflictive emotions are let go of. Now, whatever afflictive emotions might be, let's just say that afflictive emotions might be, for instance, not wishing somebody well or feeling jealous about the success of somebody. And there is a process of consciously letting go of such mental states.

[22:03]

But there's also the fact that we unconsciously carry through ancient twisted karma and through, for reasons I don't even know, that we carry with us unconscious expressions of these instincts. And so... The Brahma Vahara practices are things which my understanding is that they are offered as an instruction where people are guided through a process of repeatedly coming back to, wishing yourself well and then extending it out towards people you respect and maybe then to people who you have a hard time with. And it's not about sort of getting down with that one person who you think is the worst person in your life. But you work through over and over individuals, different people. You actually try to unroot your unconscious afflictions relating to compassion and sympathetic joy and loving kindness.

[23:08]

And in order to do that, you need to, of course, be concentrated and have equanimity. And you'll find at some point that that equanimity is the source of where you can unravel those complicated emotions. Anyway, that's a kind of understanding I have about how, and I confess I'm certain it's just a piece of something. In the Theravadan tradition and the Vipassana tradition, I've never gone on a Vipassana-loving-kindness retreat, so this is somewhat speculative but informed by what I read. So it must be true because I read it. In Zen, the goal of our practice is not nirvana. Maybe not. The goal of our practice is to give rise to bodhicitta, to give rise to a mind that wants to encourage others to wake up.

[24:16]

In fact, in Mahayana worldview, There's even the arrogance that we consider that the idea that you want to attain nirvana as being kind of limited. We make, for instance, at the end of this talk, we're going to recite the Bodhisattva's vow, which is a universal vow. statement of intention to benefit all beings beyond actually probably what might be our capacity to benefit them. Nonetheless, we make that vow. We're not actually saying out loud, though maybe in our hearts we are, we're not saying out loud that we're seeking freedom and awakening for ourselves. We're saying we're wishing it for others. And of course, this noble state of mind that we profess does include benefits towards us.

[25:26]

But that's not the point of why we do it. So it might be, I'm going to say, in Zen practice, that the four immeasurables, the four Brahma Vaharas, are not means to an end, but they are ends in themselves, each of them. And so in the way we talk about the Brahmaviharas or the way we don't talk about the Brahmaviharas at a Zen center, well, we don't, at least I'm saying, I didn't receive an instruction about working these steps over and over and over. like kind of working the steps of the Brahma Vaharas. I have not attended, with very few exceptions, meditations where there have been guided instructions to go through this process.

[26:35]

Instead, the Zen teaching that I have heard has centered itself... on the idea that the way to really benefit others is to understand that the nature of self and others is empty. Empty in a kind of radically interconnected way. So the bottom line in Zen, excuse me, there are probably a lot of bottom lines, but one bottom line is that there is no self or other. that there are no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no suffering, no extinction of suffering. And this kind of place is where compassion and sympathetic joy and prajna, paramita,

[27:49]

manifest the same abode, the same place. This is how we bring it forth. So, in Zen practice, equanimity, the fourth Brahmavara, is actually often pretty explicit. We talk, I mean, what is Zazen? I don't want to say it's equanimity, but You know, walks like a duck and talks like a duck. But you almost never hear in what maybe somewhere in some texts is called classical Zen, you almost never hear that this is the same as the Brahmavaras. There is a kind of a cautionary loop that's added into Zen practice. And it has to do with a kind of questioning language, a skeptical heart, a kind of form is emptiness.

[28:57]

Emptiness is form. Form is form. Emptiness is emptiness. And in some ways this is an effort to not be caught in conceptual snares, but of course it's just a new snare we can catch ourselves with. Because even teachings like the Brahma Vaharas can be traps. As soon as we lose our beginner's mind, make them into something, quote, real. Something that, quote, we do. So anyway, I wanted to say, I could probably say more, but I want to say that about how I understand the Brahma Vahara teachings have been actually part of, how loving kindness and compassion is part of Zen practice.

[30:14]

And now I want to come back and do something which I've never done before myself, which is to lead a guided meditation on equanimity. And I've never done it, And so I'm taking, I want to acknowledge here, that I'm taking some guidance from Norman Fisher, my teacher, because it's something that he does in his retreats. And so I feel like I read the language of how he described this, went through this process, and so what I'm about to say, it was a very heavy debt to Norman and the way he would present, as a matter of fact, the way he did present guided meditation on equanimity. So let me tell you all first to just settle yourself. Not imagine I'm going to say anything, but if you've been sitting for a while and you need to make yourself comfortable by changing your thoughts, you do so. And maybe even do things like put your nose over your belly button and your ears over your shoulders and sit upright.

[31:24]

Or not. And then as I talk us through this process, actually listen and see if you can follow it and even internally think these thoughts. So to begin, return to the feeling of your body and your breathing. Just feel the awareness of the room and yourself and the people around you. If there is a dullness or any boredom, well, notice the space of that. And use your body and your breath as a way to be present with your awareness of your mental state. And then...

[32:29]

Practice with the word inseparable. Just drop that word inseparable into your consciousness, into your awareness, and breathe with that word. Breathe with the word inseparable, the feeling. Now, contemplate this thought, which is, whatever arises, every thought, every word, every deed, every appearance, arises from causes and conditions. There are only causes and conditions.

[33:43]

Whatever arises, every thought, every word, every deed, every appearance arises from causes and conditions. There are only causes and conditions. As you continue to sit, contemplate this thought. All beings are just like me. They want to be happy. They don't want to suffer. All beings are just like me.

[34:50]

They want to be happy. They don't want to suffer. Next, I'm going to speak and say and ask you to follow along with some kind of discursive thoughts. And to begin, think of someone that you really love, that you care for in an uncomplicated fashion. Let yourself feel the warmth of that regard, the warmth of that love.

[35:52]

does this positive, wonderful feeling come from? Well, it comes from your interactions with that person, which have been positive and beneficial for you. This love and positive feeling comes from the feelings inside of you based on reactions and experiences And where did that come from? It came from causes and conditions. If causes and conditions had not brought you and this other good person together at the same time and place, if these causes and conditions didn't apply, then you wouldn't feel this way. You wouldn't know this person. It might have been, in fact, other causes and conditions such that the person you now feel so affectionate towards might have been another person.

[37:16]

Just reflect on the root of these positive feelings. It's not the person itself, himself, herself. the endless play of causes and conditions and of the fundamental truth of emptiness, which we feel as love. The love and the causes and conditions that make up the world. The actual... basis of your positive feelings is not the person, but the causes and conditions that have been manifested through that person. Now, take a neutral person, someone who you maybe know, but don't particularly have thoughts about, maybe a clerk at the store.

[38:29]

someone you work with. And ask yourself, why isn't there an extra or special affection with this person such as you felt just before with your good friend? Well, it's because of causes and conditions. Maybe years from now, the circumstance will change. This person may become your good friend. Or maybe something dramatic would happen, and you would find that this person you barely know is someone you're stuck with for the rest of your life. If this would happen, you would become very close to that person.

[39:43]

You'd have a human bond, a deep human bond with this person. And if this would have happened, you would not forget this person. Because causes and conditions create a bond of love and connection between us. Knowing this is equanimity. And now think of a hostile person, someone who you don't get along with. Let yourself really feel the emotions of this enmity. Don't deny it. Don't hold back on it. Feel it.

[40:50]

Take a breath, plunge in, and even though we may not like this person or this feeling, examine it. What is the cause of this icky, painful feeling? Is it the essence of who that person really is? Or is it on account of the causes and conditions of your experiences with that person? Well, you're... Negative feelings arose out of deeds and words and actions, but where did they come from? How did they appear? What were the causes of these deeds and words and actions? They are the result of causes and conditions.

[41:58]

They are the natural fruit of causes and conditions. Things happened in that person's life to make them the way they are on account of causes and conditions. Things have happened in your life to make you who you are on account of causes and conditions. And understand that the real trouble you have is not with that person, but with the causes and conditions that have manifested in their life and in your life. That's really where the problem lays.

[43:06]

If there had been, for instance, other conditions, this same person might be your very good friend. It's very likely that this enemy of yours has good friends. For someone else, this person you have a hard time with might be that first person that others thought of when they imagined their friend. It's the difference. This has arisen through causes and conditions. So, transfer the enmity and unhappiness you feel about this other person towards a feeling of unhappiness about the causes and conditions that have arisen. Use the energy of your pain to lay the foundation of positive causes and conditions so that you might understand the causes of suffering.

[44:34]

And remind yourself of your heart's intention that all beings, be happy without exception, not just your friends. May all beings be free of suffering and free of the causes of suffering. May all beings without exception and equally enjoy a loving kindness, compassion, experience sympathetic joy. May all beings dedicate their life towards awakening others as the way to awaken themselves. Make that vow to yourself

[45:40]

if you can, which is the very same vow of bodhicitta that Zen gives rise to, and which is nothing more than true equanimity. And now, come back to your breathing and your posture and drop all these complicated thoughts and simply rest in the moment with your upright physical awareness of your mind and the room itself. Thank you very much.

[46:46]

I think in this guided instruction I provided, I don't believe I really gave sufficient space to some of the intervals, but it's past 8.30, and some people in the room feel a sense of well-being and joy when this talk is over sooner. Thank you. For more information, please visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[47:39]

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