victory

LOVING KINDNESS

Loving kindness and the power of right thought and action. We shall use this in the sense of a personal-impersonal application of thought. From long ago we have heard the phrase, "everything can be overcome with love, or love can conquer anything, or love is the strongest force in the universe," and many more phrases such as these. It is evident, personal love is not what is being talked about here or there would be no divorces between couples that have married. Which by the way, were it a true marriage by an effective officiator (and not lip service), separation would not be possible. Many are given a second chance in life by the inability of the officiator to truly join the two people in marriage.

Curiosity about love and marriage, being now out of the way, we can continue. We could think of loving kindness as focused will or thought, with right thinking and right actions. The mind thinks in symbols and not text, and right actions are what the mind picks up immediately. How many time have you heard a cow tell her calf to eat grass- this is done by watching. The same as a baby does when watching the parents. Again, another old saying, "do as I say and not as I do." The mind follows examples. The modern television teaches us, by example, how to do the wrong things or the right things, depending on our inherent character. When we see how to injure and take life on television, we are being taught and trained to do this.

Were it possible for us to surround ourselves with an aura of thoughts of loving kindness, to everything and everyone, there is nothing we could not accomplish, and no person we could not win over.

In "The Verses of the Buddha's Auspicious Victories," it is mentioned :

"Creating a form with 1,000 arms, each equipped with a weapon, Mara, on the elephant Girimekhala- uttered a frightening roar together with his troops. The Lord of Sages defeated him by means of such qualities as generosity."

"Even more frightful than Mara making war all night, was Alavaka, the arrogant unstable ogre. The Lord of Sages defeated him by means of well trained endurance."

"Nalagiri, the excellent elephant, when maddened, was very horrific, like a forest fire, a flaming discus, a lightning bolt. The Lord of Sages, defeated him by sprinkling the water of good will."

"Saccaka, whose provocative views had abandoned the truth, delighting in argument, had become thoroughly blind. The Lord of Sages defeated him with the light of discernment."

"His hands held tight by the serpent of wrongly held views, Baka ,the Brahma, thought himself pure in his radiance and power. The Lord of Sages defeated him by means of his words of knowledge."

There are more verses and this chant is recommended to those interested. Taken from the book DHAMMAYUT- A CHANTING GUIDE, and translated from Pali to English by Phra Ajaan Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Abbot of Wat Metta, a very traditional and strict Dhammayut Monk who follows the old ways.

So, a few examples- and this one has always been one of my own most favorite and inspiring chants. We are not talking in the sense of physical weakness, but in the method of strong character training and focused thoughts, not swayed by illusion or physical desires. A pure heart that has no opening for corruption to enter.

In the end, physical strength is a good thing, and when backed up by a strong mind, can handle most any task. In the old style of Kung Fu, it is the strongest mind that wins and not the strongest body.

When we are in meditation, we may be feeling unpleasant thoughts and images, but we cannot fight back physically, especially if we are under oath not to take life. In the higher victories, we learn to overcome without direct opposition and fighting. We learn to absorb and transmute opposing or unbalanced thoughts directed at us or within us. In this way, we strengthen ourselves and learn other ways to victory. The mind is a very powerful tool and when trained can be victorious in almost any situation.

We could almost say, that much in the above verses could take place within ourselves, and we should also learn ways to achieve victory through right thinking and right action. In the end, hostility can never be considered as the way. If we truly understand the above verses and apply it to our emotions, rather than physical actions, we shall find the happiness that all of us constantly seek.

JEA

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