Part 05 :

Bhavana for the Mind Full of Hatred

Battaramulla
Siri Sudassanarama
sadaham senasuna
Ven. Dr. Mirisse Dhammika thero

One with a mind full of hatred lives in perpetual anger. Such a person does not respect others. Even the wholesome activities of the others are viewed as incorrect and thinks only oneself is correct. A person with a lot of hatred sleeps of ten in a crouched position.

The four methods of bhavana explained in the Teachings for individuals with hatred are bhavana of mettha (amity), karuna (loving kindness), muditha (appreciative joy) and uppekkha (equanimity).

l When one is kind to oneself, one does not like oneself to be subjected to painful suffering. It is known as mettha. Then one wishes “may I be well”. The Mettha bhavana is an extension of this thought to all beings without discrimination.

l When others are subject to suffering and pain, one’s mind becomes full of compassion and extends the wish “may they be well, happy and free from suffering”. This is the bhavana of Loving kindness of Karuna.

lWhen others make progress, one feels happy with out having any trace of jealousy. This is known as bhavana of muditha or appreciative joy. Then one extends the wish “may they be successful, may no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them, may they have courage, determination, understanding to overcome the problems”.

lPerception of things without any attachment is known as equanimity. When any one attempts mindfully to extend wholesome thoughts to other beings, it is known as bhavana of Uppekkha or Equanimity. Then one extends the wish “may they be successful, may no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them, may they have courage, determination, understanding to overcome the problems” to all beings without any limitation and discrimination.

Mettha bhavana can be explained as follows.

First, one has to paint a mental picture of one’s happy state of mind and extend happy thoughts to oneself for some time. One may think “May I be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous. May no harm come to me. May no difficulties come to me. May no problems come to me. May I always meet with success. May I also have patience, courage, understanding, and determination to meet and overcome the inevitable difficulties, problems and failures in life”.

When one has achieved both physical and mental Samadhi on this thought, it is gradually extended to parents, teachers, relatives, friends, non-friends, other people not known and finally to all beings.

When focusing the mind for the extension of mettha, one may try to assume the picture of a happy state of the corresponding individual. While extending mettha to others, one may have to redirect one’s thoughts to remain on the right path. It is possible that unwholesome thoughts may surface. When extending mettha thoughts to those who are very dear and close to the meditator, it is possible that lustful thoughts may appear. But one has to be aware of such instances and should be able to disregard it by recognizing that it is an inappropriate thought. When one attempts to extend wholesome thoughts to one’s non-friends, thoughts of anger and hatred may surface. Similar to lustful thoughts one has to recognize it as inappropriate and disregard them by focusing the mind on wholesome thoughts.

It is a social habit to consider individuals who are intolerable and make trouble, as one’s enemies. However, one who mediates has to forgive anyone who is considered to be an enemy. The mental, physical and verbal forgiveness to those who are intolerable and make trouble leads to a humble and calm mind. Therefore, the meditator should not forget to train this quality from the inception of bhavana. Those

who fail to train this quality may not achieve success in reducing the hatred in their minds.

Metthanisansa Sutra explains the following 10 benefits of mettha bhavana.

Bhavana for the Mind Full of Delusions

When the mind is full of delusions, one gets entangled in them due to ignorance. It does not enable one to understand or realize the true nature of things. There will be a high level of dissatisfaction about everything, Everything seems to be confused. Such as individual is in a perpetual state of restlessness, and regret. When one is dominated by delusions, the most appropriate type is the breathing bhavana or anapana sati bhavana.