Teaching
on the
Four
Immeasurables,
According
to Open Heart
Teachings
of vajrayana need to be technical so that we can understand what we
are doing and know where we are heading but it is important to not
let the technical language become an obstacle to the actual
experience.
The
natural state can be considered, recognised and meditated through the
next Four Immeasurables.
Firstly,
it is imbued with equanimity, meaning that it is peaceful in a way
that penetrates our entire being, our foundations. When I say "it
is peaceful", it means everyone has this bedrock peacefulness
within them and when I say that everyone already knows what I'm
talking about in some degree, it's not something distant or foreign
to us. Therefore, it makes sense to us.
Secondly,
there is or we are capable of having an immensely rich and pure sense
of healing love at the heart. This is very important to experience
because if we don't, we won't really understand the nature of mind or
compassion which both are the core of the great vehicle towards full
enlightenment. This love, softness and pureness of the heart, is
something that most practitioners don't get and because they don't,
the next immeasurable of compassion becomes like a bird with
one-wing, that obviously cannot fly like a bird should. Love makes
the whole thing matter to us, brings it alive, so if we don't
experience this love, if there is no emotional connection, we simply
can't care, are not able to express compassion from the deepest place
within us. If this kind of love is absent, we won't be travelling in
the great vehicle towards enlightenment and all we do, our whole
training will be missing a loving heart. What is life or the path
withot loving heart? Not much. Love also heals hurts and traumas we
all have. This love who we are, it makes us complete as human beings.
Thirdly,
we are capable of this immense care from our own hearts within our
chest to the hearts of all beings. This is compassion, so much
stressed in buddhist teachings. Compassion is cultivated because in
our subtle body we are actually connected with all sentient beings
around us, physical and nonphysical. When we cultivate compassion
from healthy heart of love, suddenly we can feel how all beings are
together, and experiencing the pain of cyclic existence. Therefore we
can become a cause of liberation for other beings, become
care-givers, instead of remaining in confusion, ignorance and pain
like most beings. It makes a vast difference. Here we can see the
seemless continuum of equanimity, love and compassion. It really is a
seemless continuum, although can be artificially chopped into pieces
and viewed separately.
Lastly,
followed by foundational equanimity, love that fills the heart,
reaching out to all sentient beings with care and interest, is what
joyfulness is. The first three are what constitutes joy. This is the
liberated state that is full of meaning, that is not flat, boring,
indifferent, tasteless and colourless, and not made heavy with mental
gymnastics on phrases such as "not existence nor nonexistence".
Joy means being light, very light, being light, travelling light but
not being indifferent, distracted or selfishly concerned. Those who
are fully enlightened, live in this experience without a moment's
break. Those who are on the path to full enlightenment, can emulate
this through repeated practice and when they do it correctly, there
is always an immense relief and relaxation of the samsaric death
grip, caused by the sense of self.
These
four are traditionally called Four Immeasurables, here expressed as
taught and viewed in Open Heart. Guru Rinpoche's guideline for Open
Heart is to "Bring joy back to buddhism". This is the joy
he is talking about, something simple, something real, something
abound with meaning. The natural state is rich, tasty and delicious,
not flat, colourless and emotionally meaningless. It needs to move
and touch our hearts, otherwise it has little meaning and effect.
Love!
More love!
