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Benevolence is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] good roots prevail in all the situations of life. 慈是法明門、一切生處善根攝勝故 This week we move into discussion of the four brama viharas, or the four divine abodes. You may not recognize them in this text if you’re used to them as loving-kindness (Skt. metta), compassion (Skt. karuna), sympathetic joy (Skt. mudita), and equanimity (Skt. upekkha). It’s interesting that the brahma viharas come right after mindfulness of heavens in this text. Brahma vihara literally means “divine abode,” and cultivating these qualities was said to lead to the arising of the mind of brahmas or loving gods, or to allow one to live with the gods. One cultivates brahma viharas in order to overcome ill-will and sensual desire, and to facilitate training in deep concentration (samadhi). The brahma viharas are very, very old. They predate Buddhism, and three of the four show up in the Hindu Upanishads. They also appear in the Jain tradition. Brahma viharas are also called apramāṇa, the four immeasurables that develop the spacious or unlimited mind of the gods. However, Buddha took these teachings and reinterpreted them. He said he was not practicing these things in order to be reborn in a heavenly realm with the gods; he was practicing while walking the Eightfold Path in order to manifest awakening and live with gods right here and now. Other than in the list of the 108 gates, the brahma viharas don’t really show up in Dogen’s writings. They do show up in Japanese Buddhism as shi muryo shin 四無量心, literally the four immeasurable minds. “Immeasurable” or “limitless” is muryo, the same kanji as those found in the third of the four bodhisattva vows: homon muryo seigan gaku 法門無量誓願學 (Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them). (1) The Mahaparinirvana Sutra is a good source for teachings about the brahma viharas. In it, Buddha is teaching about the pure actions of a bodhisattva mahasattva. The person with whom he’s speaking makes the point that you can’t really separate these four minds and that there is really only one. Buddha says that indeed they are completely interconnected, but in order to teach beings he has to talk about four aspects of reality; this is skillful means. This week we start with benevolence or loving-kindness. The kanji in the gate statement is 慈 ji. In English, benevolence literally means "well-wishing." Okumura Roshi translates ji as the mind that offers joy to others. This is a kanji associated with love or affection, and it shows up in the Japanese words for charity and philanthropy. Jizen 慈善 is charity; ji is love and zen is goodness. Jizenshin 慈善心 is benevolence: love + goodness + heart/mind. In the sutra, Buddha says loving-kindness reverses anger and greed, but that this will take some time. For a long time past, over innumerable kalpas, one has amassed delusions and not practised what is good. For this reason, one is unable to subdue the mind in a day. Then he goes on to use some interesting metaphors: When a pea is dried up, one might try to thrust an awl through it, but one cannot. Delusions are like that. Also, the dog of a house does not fear people, and the deer of the forest fears man and runs away. Anger is difficult to do away with, like the dog that guards a house; but the heart of loving-kindness easily flees, like the deer in the forest. It is therefore hard to subdue this mind. When we draw a picture on stone, it always remains thus. But drawn on water, it disappears immediately and its strength does not remain there. Anger is hard to do away with, like a drawing that has been done in stone. A good deed easily disappears, like a picture drawn in water. That is why it is not easy to subdue this mind. A great ball of fire sustains light for a long while; the brightness of a flash of lightning cannot endure long. It is the same here. Anger is a fire-ball; loving-kindness is like lightning. That is why this mind is hard to subdue. Even when we aspire to benevolence, we have trouble sustaining it. We get it intellectually, we know what we want to do, but holy mackerel—we keep falling off the wagon. You may be aware of loving-kindness meditations from the Theravada tradition, like meditation on loving-kindness that starts with yourself and moves to family/friends, acquaintances, strangers, and finally people you don’t like. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Buddha says we haven’t reached great or limitless loving-kindness until we experience it equally for everyone. It’s easy to experience it for yourself and your loved ones, harder for strangers and impossible for people you hate! In the sutra, Buddha says we are really practicing loving-kindness when we don’t see wrongs and anger doesn’t arise. We stop seeing what others do as personal affronts to ourselves or attacks on our egos, and if we don’t take stuff personally, we don’t get angry. Sometimes it’s as basic and commonplace as “She didn’t mean to step on my foot.” Sometimes it’s “Yes, he spoke unskillfully to me in a way that was painful, but clearly he was caught up in his own stuff and wasn’t really responding to the situation in this moment, so it wasn’t really about me.” Then we have the opportunity to not rise up on our hind legs, fill ourselves with righteous indignation, and say something hurtful right back because our egos have been bruised. This doesn’t mean we condone unskillful, harmful behavior. It means we don’t respond out of our personally motivated anger. We do what we can to resolve the problem, sometimes forcefully if necessary, but not because we’re protecting our egos or getting revenge. We do this in a loving and benevolent way, wishing everyone well. In the sutra, the Buddha says: If one does not feel anger even towards a single being and prays to give bliss to such a being, this is loving-kindness. I’m guessing this may be related to another line that says, If any person asks about the root of any aspect of good, say that it is lovingkindness. All the wholesomeness in the world is based on benevolence. Whatever good is happening is because of wishing others well and wanting them to be able to liberate themselves from suffering. Wishing others well is not hoping their cravings for diamond rings and cherry pie are fulfilled. It’s wishing they have wisdom, compassion and insight so they can cut through delusion and wholesome circumstances can arise. This is where our own individual practice intersects with benevolence. In the sutra, the Buddha says, A person who performs good is [one of] true thinking. In other words. benevolence arises from insight into the true nature of reality. If we really see how things work, if we really see dependent arising, impermanence, the nature of self and how suffering arises, benevolence happens naturally. This is the kind of benevolence that is both skillful and not done for any kind of personal reward. We wish others well because it doesn’t make sense not to. Buddha goes on to say, Loving-kindness is the Buddha-Nature of all beings. Such a Buddha-Nature has long been overshadowed by defilements. That is why all beings are unable to see. The Buddha-Nature is loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is the Tathagata. Though Dogen doesn’t write specifically about the brahma viharas as a group, he does have something to say about each of them. In the Gakudo Yojinshu (Points to Watch in Studying the Way), he says, The buddhas take pity on all living beings and help them through compassion. Everything they do is neither for themselves nor for others. This is the usual way of the buddha-dharma. That’s interesting, isn’t it? There’s no label to be applied to this kind of benevolence. It’s not benevolence for personal gain, but it’s also not intended as something done for others; those are both ideas. It’s just a normal day in the life of the bodhisattva. I’m sure you have seen that even small worms or animals raise their young. Parents experience physical and mental hardships, and yet they persevere. After their young have grown up, fathers and mothers receive no reward. And yet, they have compassion toward their young. Even small creatures have this attitude. This is very similar to the Buddha’s compassion towards all living beings. Benevolence is our natural approach to our lives if we can just get out of our own way, and that’s why we have to practice. Until it arises naturally, benevolence is just our idea. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still do good actions, but our practice at that point is incomplete. When there’s no “me” trying to be “benevolent,” then I can enter into this week’s gate and benevolence completely manifests in everything I do. In the Shushogi, Dogen says: The stupid believe that they will lose something if they give help to others, but this is completely untrue for benevolence helps everyone, including oneself, being a law of the universe. We’re not actively looking for some reward, but we can’t help but be benefitted. Why? Because benevolence is one of the four immeasurables, which means there’s no limit. Nothing is outside of the Buddha Way including us, so creating wholesome conditions for others also increases our own wellbeing. A rising tide floats all boats, or, as the gate statement says, good roots prevail in all the situations of life. There’s no limit to who receives our goodwill, so no one is left out, including us. We don’t lose anything by being benevolent; we can only benefit. What is there to lose by wishing others well? It’s in not wishing others well that we lose because we’re going against a law of the universe. We’re out of alignment with reality and we’re causing dissonance and suffering. And yet, that can be so hard. What does it mean when someone is doing something really bad and yet we still wish him well? Aren’t we letting him off the hook and saying it’s OK? No. We’re envisioning for him a circumstance in which he wakes up, mends his ways, and stops hurting himself and others. That takes a really, really expansive and clear viewpoint. Suffering happens because people are ignorant. They’re doing stuff in an attempt to get rid of their own pain and discomfort, and nine times out of ten they’re making things worse. Here’s the point of view of a lady who’s been involved in dog rescue: The most important point of all is benevolence. Most people do the best they can. Yes, people do things that disappoint us. Yes, others will do things that we consider to be mistakes. Yes, some people do horrible things to dogs, not to mention to other people. But the more we can feel benevolence for other people, as much as we do for our dogs, the better off we will all be. Over the decades that I have been in the dog world, I have seen so much anger about the behavior of others, and so much guilt from wonderful people about decisions they have made with the best of intentions. If only we could gather up all that negative energy we could power the world on it. But in my humble opinion, it’s not what the world needs right now, and it’s not what each individual within it needs. Malevolence, the opposite of benevolence, won’t help. It’s a waste of time and energy. It’s easy to be kind to dogs and have goodwill for dogs. It’s not easy to have goodwill toward people who abuse dogs or children or vulnerable women or anyone. Can we do it? Buddha and Dogen say yes, we can, and we have to. We have to because we are bodhisattvas and we don’t have a choice. This is our immeasurable, limitless life. Questions for reflection and discussion
Notes
(1) Ryo 量, quantity, measure or amount, is the same kanji found in oryoki 應量器, a bowl or vessel that holds the right amount. Comments are closed.
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About the text The Ippyakuhachi Homyomon, or 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination, appears as the 11th fascicle of the 12 fascicle version of Dogen Zenji’s Shobogenzo. Dogen didn't compile the list himself; it's mostly a long quote from another text called the Sutra of Collected Past Deeds of the Buddha. Dogen wrote a final paragraph recommending that we investigate these gates thoroughly. Hoko has been talking about the gates one by one since 2016. She provides material here that can be used by weekly dharma discussion groups as well as for individual study. The 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination
[1] Right belief [2] Pure mind [3] Delight [4] Love and cheerfulness The three forms of behavior [5] Right conduct of the actions of the body [6] Pure conduct of the actions of the mouth [7] Pure conduct of the actions of the mind The six kinds of mindfulness [8] Mindfulness of Buddha [9] Mindfulness of Dharma [10] Mindfulness of Sangha [11] Mindfulness of generosity [12] Mindfulness of precepts [13] Mindfulness of the heavens The four Brahmaviharas [14] Benevolence [15] Compassion [16] Joy [17] Abandonment The four dharma seals [18] Reflection on inconstancy [19] Reflection on suffering [20] Reflection on there being no self [21] Reflection on stillness [22] Repentance [23] Humility [24] Veracity [25] Truth [26] Dharma conduct [27] The Three Devotions [28] Recognition of kindness [29] Repayment of kindness [30] No self-deception [31] To work for living beings [32] To work for the Dharma [33] Awareness of time [34] Inhibition of self-conceit [35] The nonarising of ill-will [36] Being without hindrances [37] Belief and understanding [38] Reflection on impurity [39] Not to quarrel [40] Not being foolish [41] Enjoyment of the meaning of the Dharma [42] Love of Dharma illumination [43] Pursuit of abundant knowledge [44] Right means [45] Knowledge of names and forms [46] The view to expiate causes [47] The mind without enmity and intimacy [48] Hidden expedient means [49] Equality of all elements [50] The sense organs [51] Realization of nonappearance The elements of bodhi: The four abodes of mindfulness [52] The body as an abode of mindfulness [53] Feeling as an abode of mindfulness [54] Mind as an abode of mindfulness [55] The Dharma as an abode of mindfulness [56] The four right exertions [57] The four bases of mystical power The five faculties [58] The faculty of belief [59] The faculty of effort [60] The faculty of mindfulness [61] The faculty of balance [62] The faculty of wisdom The five powers [63] The power of belief [64] The power of effort [65] The power of mindfulness [66] The power of balance [67] The power of wisdom [68] Mindfulness, as a part of the state of truth [69] Examination of Dharma, as a part of the state of truth [70] Effort, as a part of the state of truth [71] Enjoyment, as a part of the state of truth [72] Entrustment as a part of the state of truth [73] The balanced state, as a part of the state of truth [74] Abandonment, as a part of the state of truth The Eightfold Path [75] Right view [76] Right discrimination [77] Right speech [78] Right action [79] Right livelihood [80] Right practice [81] Right mindfulness [82] Right balanced state [83] The bodhi-mind [84] Reliance [85] Right belief [86] Development The six paramitas [87] The dāna pāramitā [88] The precepts pāramitā [89] The forbearance pāramitā. [90] The diligence pāramitā [91] The dhyāna pāramitā [92] The wisdom pāramitā [93] Expedient means [94] The four elements of sociability [95] To teach and guide living beings [96] Acceptance of the right Dharma [97] Accretion of happiness [98] The practice of the balanced state of dhyāna [99] Stillness [100] The wisdom view [101] Entry into the state of unrestricted speech [102] Entry into all conduct [103] Accomplishment of the state of dhāraṇī [104] Attainment of the state of unrestricted speech [105] Endurance of obedient following [106] Attainment of realization of the Dharma of nonappearance [107] The state beyond regressing and straying [108] The wisdom that leads us from one state to another state and, somehow, one more: [109] The state in which water is sprinkled on the head Archives
January 2025
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