Nyanaponika Thera was a Jewish Theravada practitioner Born in Hanau Germany in 1901. He moved to Sri Lanka and was ordained as a monk in 1936, was interned by the British during WWII as a potential German spy, co-founded the Buddhist Publication Society in 1958 and died in the Udawattekelle Forest Hermitage outside of Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1984.
Besides being a founder and then president of the BPS, Nyanaponika also authored a considerable number of significant works of Buddhist scholarship and was an important teacher to the American Theravda monk, translator, scholar and international aid activist, Bhikku Bodhi, among others.
The passage below is excerpted from Nyanaponikas commentary on The Four Sublime States. The Brahma-vihara or "Divine Abodes", as they are known in the Pali language, were the Buddhas guide to skillfully negotiating all social situations. They are; Metta or Loving-kindness, Karuna or Compassion, Mudita or Sympathetic Joy and Upekkha or Equanimity.
Here in the contemporary West, our social and cultural diversity can be the source of many strengths. Conversely, this pluralism with its divergent ideals and goals can be a great cause of conflict between both strangers and intimate relations. The Brahma-vihara are the medicine for all social stresses, no matter the size or proximity and its never to late to begin observing them. We begin with building the abodes within ourselves, dwelling in them, so that they become part of our true nature and we will be able to carry them into our relations with others in a genuine manner. Until we reach this stage, applying them as a meditation is the skillful way to facilitate positive growth.
Last night I found myself at a critical impasse in my relationship with my partner of the past two and a half years. I can honestly say that as immediate and painful as the situation seemed, I found myself flooded with deep compassion and Metta. I am certain that change is inevitable, I am certain that grasping and suffering are optional and I know the Brahma Vihara are the platform from which to direct my actions. This response was born directly out of my mediation practice and in particular, the work I have done with Metta...
Love (Metta)
Love, without desire to possess, knowing well that in the ultimate sense there is no possession and no possessor: this is the highest love.
Love, without speaking and thinking of "I," knowing well that this so-called "I" is a mere delusion.
Love, without selecting and excluding, knowing well that to do so means to create love's own contrasts: dislike, aversion and hatred.
Love, embracing all beings: small and great, far and near, be it on earth, in the water or in the air.
Love, embracing impartially all sentient beings, and not only those who are useful, pleasing or amusing to us.
Love, embracing all beings, be they noble-minded or low-minded, good or evil. The noble and the good are embraced because love is flowing to them spontaneously. The low-minded and evil-minded are included because they are those who are most in need of love. In many of them the seed of goodness may have died merely because warmth was lacking for its growth, because it perished from cold in a loveless world.
Love, embracing all beings, knowing well that we all are fellow wayfarers through this round of existence -- that we all are overcome by the same law of suffering.
Love, but not the sensuous fire that burns, scorches and tortures, that inflicts more wounds than it cures -- flaring up now, at the next moment being extinguished, leaving behind more coldness and loneliness than was felt before.
Rather, love that lies like a soft but firm hand on the ailing beings, ever unchanged in its sympathy, without wavering, unconcerned with any response it meets. Love that is comforting coolness to those who burn with the fire of suffering and passion; that is life-giving warmth to those abandoned in the cold desert of loneliness, to those who are shivering in the frost of a loveless world; to those whose hearts have become as if empty and dry by the repeated calls for help, by deepest despair.
Love, that is a sublime nobility of heart and intellect which knows, understands and is ready to help.
Love, that is strength and gives strength: this is the highest love.
Love, which by the Enlightened One was named "the liberation of the heart," "the most sublime beauty": this is the highest love.
And what is the highest manifestation of love?
To show to the world the path leading to the end of suffering, the path pointed out, trodden, and realized to perfection by Him, the Exalted One, the Buddha.
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