Mandy Kahn: I can LOVE you regardless

I can love you regardless of your views

Universal unconditional agape love is metta.

Friends, Peace Class will soon resume after its summer hiatus, as will the Deep Dive Poetry series. Peace Class is held Wednesdays at 6:00 pm (PT) via Zoom. No signup is required. Poetry is monthly and held live in Hollywood inside the Philosophical Research Society's Library of World Religions (prs.org).

When we meet someone, do we wait to see what they will say to determine whether or not we can love them? Do we find that we are constantly evaluating people's ways of seeing, ways of believing, to determine whether we can love them?

We bring about great healing when we are able to say, "Whatever you believe, I hold unconditional love for you. I am aware of my own beliefs; I do not need to fear your ideas. I honor your path. I can honor you and hold love for you regardless of your ideas."

• 

  The Buddha knows, peace, love, views?

  Mettā is Buddhism's term for unconditional, universal love as explained in the Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8) and Metta Sutta or "Discourse on Lovingkindness" (Khp 8-9):
• May all living beings be well and happy! May they be happy in heart/mind. Whatever living beings there are—feeble or strong, long or short, stout or medium, small or large, seen or unseen [deities, divinities, demigods, avians, humanoid-serpents, spirits, ghosts, hellions], those dwelling far or near, those born or waiting to be reborn—may all beings without exception be happy.

• 

  Intro to Buddhism (Peter Harvey)

  Let no one deceive another nor despise anyone in any place. In anger or ill-will, let no one wish suffering upon another.
• Just as a mother would protect her only child even at her own risk, let one cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings.
• Let one's thoughts of boundless lovingkindness pervade the whole world: above, below, across without obstruction, without hatred, without enmity.
• This they say is a divine abiding here and now.
• One will surely not come again to any womb [to any rebirth in this Sensual Sphere (kama-loka), lowest of Three Spheres].
• — Metta Sutta (Khp 8-9), translated by Peter Harvey (An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, p.  279) and edited by Wisdom Quarterly

31 categories of rebirth planes

Ideas and worldviews evolve over the course of one lifetime or many lifetimes (rebirths). While our ideas may change, we do not shift in and out of lovability. We are inherently, innately, intimately lovable. And wherever we are in our transition and evolution of beliefs, I am able to love you.

In fact, I cannot help but love you, knowing your inherent lovability—your innate worth. All are worthy of my unconditional love, as all are aspects of divinity in expression and exploration.

As we explore, as we try on worldviews (outlooks, paradigms, points of view), we are able to hold love for one another. Changes in our worldview will not mean less love from us. Our love is constant; our worthiness of love is constant.

Monthly Deep Dive Poetry at PRS Library

By embracing the other wherever we currently are in our journey—the human journey of beliefs and worldviews—we embrace the journey itself. The journey leads to peace. And evolution leads to choosing peace.

All beings are evolving from wherever they are towards choosing peace. When peace is finally chosen, a living being has fully evolved. All that precedes that is an exploration of the human experience.

We can love each other no matter what.

Because all exploration eventually leads to choosing peace, all exploration is ultimately part of the "peacening" process. Peace is the destination of all human exploration, without exception.

I embrace you on your human journey, which is a journey towards peace. When we choose to love others regardless of their views or where they are on their human journey, we heal -- we heal ourselves, we heal collective wounds of rejection and judgment, and we heal the person before us with our unconditional love.

Unconditional love (metta, agape) is the energy of pure healing. We share that pure healing when we share that love-without-limits.

• 

  Is it love when we see everyone as special?

  Ancient Greeks spoke of six kinds of "love":

1. divine unconditional love (agape),
2. familial love (storge),
3. friendly or platonic love (philia),
4. erotic or romantic love (eros),
5. self-love (philautia), and
6. guest love (xenia).

Modern authors have distinguished even more varieties of love. Many other cultures also distinguish the many kinds of "love" as mettā, kama, bhakti, ishq, ren, yuanfen, mamihlapinatapai, cafuné, chesed, amore, charity, compassion in action (karuna), saudade (and other variants and symbioses of these states).

• There are even more forms love that English speakers could be lacking because there exist culturally unique words, definitions, and expressions.

I'm in it for Me, Myself, and I.

It is the lower mind that wants to withhold love. It is the lower mind that wants to carefully evaluate each person before us to determine whether that person is "worthy" of love. Only the lower mind can be convinced that a person is unworthy of love.

The heart knows the inherent worthiness of all living beings. The heart does not labor to love. The heart loves by its nature. The heart leads us towards love-without-end.

Give me that heart, Buddha! - With joy, friend

The lower mind leads us towards a start-stop kind of love—a conditional love that might better be described as affection, bias, or favor rather than universal mettā.

It is a lot of work for the lower mind to constantly assess the lovability of each person and each idea.

We can love, and we can choose

The Buddha's mind was in his heart

The heart knows that every worldview is simply part of a human experience being explored and all explorations are towards finally choosing peace.

When we ask our hearts to lead, our hearts lead with wise discernment, not judgments. Our hearts can discern which idea best resonates with us. The heart determines then chooses—embraces—that which resonates.

An idea is chosen, whereas others are simply allowed and not chosen.

If the lower mind rejects some person's idea, it also rejects that person. The heart can choose or not choose a person's idea yet can still hold love for the person.

We can lead with our heart toward all.

When we are heart-led, we do not fear any ideas. We simply choose them or leave them unchosen. We do not need to reject idea-holders to “remain safe” from their ideas. A person in balance can simply choose the idea s/he resonates with and hold love and space for all the idea-holders whose ideas were not chosen.

We can honor everyone at every place on their journey. No rejection is required. Love can be total, universal, unconditional (metta, agape).

Choosing can be used to navigate. Choosing led by love is all that is needed. As we encounter others, we may employ the following phrases to navigate with love:

• I do not choose this idea. Simultaneously, I hold love for this person.
• I choose this idea. Simultaneously, I hold love for this person.
• I observe this idea, neither choosing it nor not choosing it. Simultaneously, I hold love for this person.

The Buddha's heart of love (佛爱之心)

We can navigate this world by choosing and loving all. Nothing additional is required to navigate. Rejection is not required.

The lower mind can be taught that it is one's responsibility to reject a person who carries an idea we do not choose. But the heart knows that every person is inherently worthy of love, just as every part of us is inherently worthy of love.

The heart also knows that when we reject others, we simultaneously reject a part of ourselves because we are all connected aspects of the same human organism.

Thus, when we reject others, we reject a part of ourselves, and we experience the wound of that rejection.

Rejected and left behind once again!!

Rejection wounds unilaterally: It wounds the rejected, it wounds the rejector (oneself), and it wounds the collective, which retains that rejection energy.

Rejection builds fear among the not-yet-rejected which blocks creativity, blocks new ideas, and blocks freedom of expression. It encourages people to be less fully themselves.

I love and accept you, so let's start to heal.

Love heals unilaterally: It heals the accepted (the other), it heals the acceptor (oneself), and it heals all (the collective). Whereas the energy of rejection builds fear, the energy of love-without-end builds safety. And it seeds peace. It seeds a peace-without-end.

When one steps from judgment and to discernment—when one chooses to navigate by way of choosing and simultaneously by loving—with each choice, a being is healing the collective.

Peace Class Wednesdays (prs.org)

That being is healing past wounds that were created from judgment and rejection. One is laying the foundation for a world that has evolved past fear—one in which peace is the standard, one in which there is the honoring of all beings. And in that honoring, there is the great realization of full selfhood.

Is your poetry as peaceful as your class?

There is ever-flowing creativity, and there is the profound joy of choosing and loving, again and again, from a place of perfect freedom and total possibility, to act towards others with peace.

• Zoom link to join Peace Class
• Learn more about Peace Class and sign up for future classes: eventbrite.com/e/peace-class-with-mandy-kahn...
• Convert Los Angeles meeting time of 6:00 pm (PT) to any other time zone: dateful.com/time-zone-converter
• Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn
• 50 Words: Mandy Kahn’s Math, Heaven, Time
• Sign up for mailing list: mandykahn.com

See everyone very soon,

Mandy Kahn (Instagram, Facebook)

• Mandy Kahn, text Nov. 29, 2023; edited by Dhr. Seven Aug. 15, 2026, Wisdom Quarterly

Peace Class: Self-Love is World Service

LIVE for the first time a month ago. Mandy Kahn (mandykahn.com) Earth Day, April 22

 

Peace Class, Wednesdays, 6:00 pm on Zoom

Friends, Peace Class meets Wednesday nights. Join in via Zoom at 6:00 pm (Pacific). 

• Feel free to share link with friends
• ALL are welcome
• Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/82150472713
• ID: 821 5047 2713

This is the text of the talk delivered at last week's class:

 

Self-love is world service

By Mandy Kahn at PRS, Earth Day 2026, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Holy Doors: Poems of Mandy Kahn

When we are kind to ourselves, when we have compassion for ourselves, when we love ourselves without reserve, we create the conditions in which to most easily evolve.

All of this evolution is towards a more peaceful and loving version of the [conventional] self.

 

Self-love creates a state in which one can hear the voice of our higher self and also feel that voice in the heart.

 

That higher voice points to the path ahead. The path ahead is always evolving [becoming] towards a more loving version of self. Self-love creates a kind of quiet in the mind/heart.

Lower mind

 

Not sex but symbolism of union

The lower mind is the place of judgment. That which is not love, that which is harsh, is loud in the lower mind. Self-love is the antidote to this loud voice. It balances and heals the harshness, restoring a kind of homeostasis, a calm, equitable ground [dzogchen]. Self-love creates neutrality in the self. It creates openness, and openness is peace. Into the true openness of peace, the presence of universal love, universal kindness, universal knowing arrives.

Tibetan Dharmacakra - Ground (Dzogchen)

All those who walk with universal love walk in service to all beings.

So self-love creates the conditions for one to more easily become peace, and into that peace of the self, the great wisdom of universal loving-kindness arrives. And the individual into which it arrives now carries it as a remarkable offering for all.

Higher mind

It is as if self-love builds the room. The empty room is peace. And universal love always arrives to fill it. Put simply:

• Unconditional self-love creates neutrality.
• And into [out of] this neutrality, peace is born.
• And this neutrality is peace.
• And into this peace, love-without-end [absorption or samādhi through metta] is born.

This peace flows from the individual consciousness into the collective consciousness, where it heals that which has not been loved which has remained there as residue.

• ["One-pointedness of mind/heart (cittass'ekaggatā), Ven. Visakha, is called concentration (samādhi, stillness, coherence)" (MN 44).]

Flower power made in the USA

When peace has flowed into the collective consciousness and has healed that which is not-love that is there, new possibilities emerge for humankind.

• Old wounds are healed.
• Old grievances are healed.
• And more people, no longer held in bondage by old grievances, are able to hear their higher selves' voice, which is a loving voice.
• And more people, hearing their highest voice, choose to act in love.
• And things begin to change.
• Old patterns suddenly end.
• There is more harmony between people.
• There is more peace.
• And that peace, felt by any one person, enters the collective consciousness and heals another layer of what is there
• calling to be loved,
• calling to be witnessed,
• calling to be healed,
• calling to be honored for all that it is, exactly as it is.
• Peace does that.
• [EDITORIAL NOTE: When Goenka talks about observing sensations (feelings) in the body, he says to observe each one “AS IT IS.” The Pali phrase he uses is “yathā-bhūta.” Buddhist Sanskrit (tathātā) akin to the Chinese term rú zhēn (如眞) “suchness.”]

It's as if our hearts were burning as one at BM.

So all is honored, all is healed, and another wave of people feel called to lean into that voice at the center of their chests, their own heart's voice, the voice of a higher self, a voice that speaks of their purpose. That voice is loving, the font of love at the center of each being, what we can call the heart's voice. So it is better perceived, easier to hear and learn from.

An act of service to the world

Earth and every living being on it is so much more beautiful and unbelievable close up.

 
Our self-love is an ACT [karma] of service (sevā) to the world. Is builds our peace first, and our peace builds all peace.

Yes, it builds our neutrality (equanimity, unbiased looking on, upekṣā), which allows us to hear our higher voice. The peace it builds in our own heart/mind travels into the collective consciousness, where it heals and creates new opportunities for future peace, our own and the peace of others.

The "peacening" process

Buddhist Goddess Prajnaparamita (personification of Perfection of Wisdom), Java

.

Goddess Sophia (Wisdom)

Our self-love powers this whole peacening [pacifying, cooling, slaking, quenching towards the highest peace of all, which is Nirvana or the "nirvanering"] process.

• Our self-love is local -- planetary service to others.
• Our self-love is holy.
• Our self-love is a holy offering that changes things.
• It changes us and everything else at once.
• It loves us and everything into wholeness.
• It loves you, it loves me, it loves everyone and everything at once (immediately, instantly, timelessly, akāliko). [The Gnostics knew it.]
• Boho chic; Girl in Yellow; text by Mandy Kahn, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly, Earth Day 2026

When Buddhists Attack (Zen of martial arts)

Theravada Buddhist Muay Thai champion versus Shaolin Kung Fu master from Far East

Buddhist Wisdom (Tuttle Publishing)

Uncover the historical truth about Buddhist warrior monks with this informative and enlightening book.

Exploring the origins of Buddhism and the ethos of the Japanese samurai, martial arts practitioner Professor Jeffrey Mann traces the close connection between the Buddhist way of compassion (karuna) and the way of the warrior.

This Zen book serves as a basic introduction to the history, philosophy, and current practice of Zen as it relates to the Japanese martial arts.

Maybe they'll be ghosts (kami)

It examines the elements of Zen that have found a place in budo (bujutsu or bugei)—the "Martial Way"—such as zazen, mushin, zanshin, and fudoshin, then goes on to discuss the ethics and practice of budo as a modern sport.

 

Offering insights into how qualities integral to the true martial artist are interwoven with this ancient religious philosophy, this book on Buddhism helps practitioners reconnect to an authentic spiritual discipline of martial arts.

Southeast Asian Silat, most dangerous martial art?

Film, television, and popular fiction have long exploited the image of the serene Buddhist monk who is master of the deadly craft of hand-to-hand combat.

While these media overly romanticize the relationship between a philosophy of non-violence and the art of fighting, When Buddhists Attack: The Curious Relationship Between Zen and the Martial Arts shows this link to be nevertheless real, even natural.

• BOOK: When Buddhists Attack (Tuttle Publishing)

Prof. Jeffrey Mann, Dept. of Religious Studies

ABOUT: The author Jeffrey K. Mann is a professor and the chair of the Religious Studies Department at [the Protestant Evangelical Lutheran] Susquehanna University (susqu.edu) in Pennsylvania. He earned his doctorate in religious studies from Vanderbilt University and has also served as a visiting professor of religion at Senshu University in Ikuta, Japan. A longtime student of Japanese martial arts, he has trained and competed in karate tournaments throughout North America, Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines. He is an instructor of the Susquehanna Goju-ryu Karate-do Club, a school affiliated with the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation.

• Warrior Wisdom (Tuttle Publishing)
• Hojoki: A Buddhist Reflection on Solitude
• Yurei Attack! The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide
• Buddhist Wisdom: Daily Reflections
• Jeffrey Mann; Pfc. Sandoval, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Guided Loving Kindness Meditation 💖

Guided Loving Kindness Meditation | Buddhism in English

(Buddhism) Mettā (Sanskrit maitrī) means loving-kindness [2, 3], friendliness [3, 4], benevolence [1], amity [4], goodwill [5], and active interest in the welfare of others [4]. It is the first of the "Four Sublime Abidings" (Brahma Viharas) and one of the Ten Perfections (pāramīs) of the Theravāda Buddhist school. More

• Mahamevnawa Bodhignana Monastery
• Hewagama, Kaduwela, Sri Lanka
• +94 112 571471
• info@shraddha.lk shraddha.lk

• © Shraddha TV. Join on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram
• Shraddha.lk, 9/24/22; Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

InsightLA: Youngish Adults Practice Group

InsightLA Meditation Practice Group - Santa Monica/Online; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Interested in mindfulness meditation with a supportive hybrid in-person/online community of peer practitioners. Join us either by Zoom online or in-person at the Benedict Canyon Retreat House, within beautiful nature-rich environs. Share the collective wisdom related to sitting meditation practice.

**All weekly meetings beginning in January 2024 will be held Sundays from 7:00-830 pm PST. Attendees will have optional time for connection from 8:30-9:00 pm after the session finishes.**

Young-ish (in your 20s, 30s or 40s)?

What’s most alive in your practice? What are you struggling with? In a supportive group environment, we will meditate and explore practical application of the Buddhist wisdom tradition in daily life.

We’ll focus on the challenges you might be facing as a youngish adult, including:

• How to live the teachings of mindfulness and compassion in daily life, navigating transitions, relationships, and careers.

If you have a topic that you would like to bring more mindfulness to, bring it up in the group!

Who is this practice group for?

The Young-ish Practice Group is for people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who would like to deepen their mindfulness practice and understanding of Buddhist psychology in community. All are welcome, regardless of previous mindfulness or meditation experience.

Intentions:

• Explore Buddhist psychology and mindfulness science to support practical integration in daily life. (There's no need to identify as a Buddhist because ALL are welcome).

• Foster ongoing development of inclusive community and supportive friendship among younger practitioners.

• Practice in support of the cultivation of wisdom and the alleviation of suffering for all beings, without exception.

Typical Group Activities/Format:

• Welcome and introductions

• 30-40 minute guided mindfulness meditation.

• Variety of Buddhist Dharma talks, exploration of mindfulness science, small group discussion, other experiential exercises.

Scheduled Teachers:

• March 17: Michael Karakashian

• March 24: Eileen Ybarra

• March 31: Lulu Toselli

Where is this event?

Santa Monica and online via Zoom. As weather permits, expect to be mostly outdoors.

For those attending in-person, find directions and accessibility information here.

Please consider carpooling as there is limited parking available (more info). Click Sign Up to the left for ride-share options.

> In keeping with the principles of the Dharma that underlie all InsightLA activities (primarily non-harming), we are requiring that all attendees be fully vaccinated in order to attend this in-person event. Masks are optional as all attendees are fully vaccinated. Attendance is limited to 30 to allow for social distancing.

---

Donation Based

Although this is a donation-based class, registration is required. Suggested donation: $20. If you cannot attend, please cancel your reservation so that others may attend in your place. Space is limited.

• SIGN UP: Youngish Adults (20s, 30s, 40s) Practice Group (insightla.org)
  

Enraged Buddhism: getting angry (Q&A)

Dhr. Seven, Mr. Like, Ananda (Dharma Budd Meditation), Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

Sign language: "F.U., I'm walkin here, I'm walkin here!" - You call yourself a "monk," sir?

Who wants a holy water blessing? I'll beat the bad karma out of ya! Leave, demons, leave them!

I nodded off in Zen, better beat me, too, Guru!

1. Q: Like, do Buddhist monks have emotions, like, do they get angry?
2. WQ:  What do you mean?
3. Q: Like, do they get angry?
4. WQ: What, like, humans?
5. Q: Yeah, like, or like regular non-monks.
6. WQ: People? Are you asking if monks are people?
7. Q: No, I'm asking, do they, like, have emotions?
8. WQ: What do you mean?
9. Q: Like, do they get angry?
10. WQ: But isn't anger an emotion?
11. Q: Yeah, like, exactly, right?
12. WQ: So you mean you're asking if monks are humans, who have emotions, and one of those emotions is anger, so do Buddhist monks, who being human and therefore not beyond emotions, one of which is anger, will they experience that emotion?
13. Q: Exactly.
14. WQ: No.
15. Q: No???!!! But, like, you just said they're human with normal emotions like any other humans.
16. WQ: Yeah, sure, they have human emotions, and anger is a human emotion, but they don't have anger.
17. Q: Like, how, how could they not have anger?
18. WQ: Exactly, right? I mean, they must, if they're human. They're human, right?
19. Q: Yeah, like, aren't they?
20. WQ: They look human but I don't think they could have anger.
21. Q: Like, how not?
22. WQ: Exactly. You're right. I mean, but they're monks. I always see them so well behaved, well, not always.
23. Q: Aha, like, so you have seen them angry?
24. WQ: What the human ones?
25. Q: Yeah, like, aren't they all human?
26. WQ: I thought so, but then someone asked me if they get angry, so now I'm not so sure.
27. Q: Like, wouldn't they, if they're all human?
28. WQ: Yeah, I'm just yanking your chain. I've seen some angry. I've seen some so self-possessed as to be unflappable and they won't show it. Almost all of them are very well behaved. It's very odd to see one who isn't disciplined enough to behave. Except in Thailand, the temporary ordination novices look just like monks. People wouldn't know that's not a monk and so might think it is. But they're usually very well behaved, too, because they're just temporary and will soon revert to household life.
29. Q: So, like, they get angry?

30. 

    Rev. Dr. MLK, Jr. and Thay/Thich Nhat Hanh

    WQ: I guess that depends on what we mean by "get angry" because for you and me, if we get angry, everybody's going to know it. We're going to yell, cry, sulk, act out with exasperation, sarcasm, or less than 100% loving kindness. There's Engaged Buddhism, which is good, following the social justice work of Thich Nhat Hanh and MLK Jr. during the secret U.S. War on Buddhist Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. And there's Enraged Buddhism, where some monks think it's okay to hurt people who hurt you -- rather than turning the other cheek, amping up the sympathy and special counter-emotions called The Four Supreme Abidings, which are positive emotions that counter our common base behavior of anger, callousness, envy/jealously, and favoritism.
31. Q: Like, what could counter those?
32. WQ: Anger is countered with loving-kindness (boundless-friendliness), callousness with compassion, envy with joy in the joy of others (mudita), and bias with equanimity or seeing everyone as the same in receiving these positive emotions and intentions from us, not more because we like them or less because we don't (which is called upekkha or "looking on at all with a sense of balance and ease, a fairness and impartiality).



The miracle is not his bad choice but that he remains calm. He neither clings nor identifies, likes nor dislikes. It's only feeling, pain, body, like Bahiya of the Barkcloth. In jhana, one is safe. If enlightened, one is free of all suffering. Was Aaron Bushnell?

33. Q: Like, can anyone really do that?
34. WQ: Yeah, anyone can. Imagine if we had been practicing that since childhood. Do you think we'd have any good mental karma stored up?
35. Q: Like, yeah.
36. WQ: And we might even say nice things, pleasant things, friendly and inoffensive things, for good verbal karma?
37. Q: Yeah, like, of course.
38. WQ: Then might we even think good things about people and the living beings we meet for the generating of good mental karma?
39. Q: Yeah, sure, like, if we're saying nice things and doing nice things, we're probably thinking nice things.
40. WQ: ALL of us?
41. Q: Well, like , anyone who practices.
42. WQ: So you're saying the ones who practice?
43. Q: Like...well,  yeah!
44. WQ: But isn't it enough to be human?
45. Q: No, humans, like have emotions, like anger, and like if they don't practice, they're going to think, say, and do harmful and offensive things sometimes.
46. WQ: Like get angry?
47. Q: Like, yeah.
48. WQ: But isn't it enough to become a Buddhist monk?
49. Q: I don't know, like, don't you have to practice?
50. WQ: Yeah.

51. 

    Practice for self-control, not to control others.

    Q: So, like, I don't think it would be enough to be human or be a monk...but I think, like, it would be enough to practice.
52. WQ: But wouldn't I still get angry?
53. Q: Like, well, you might, but then it wouldn't get out of hand, or you could reel it in really fast if you slipped and it did.
54. WQ: That sounds human, and doable, even for us non-monks. What was your question?
55. Q: Like, do monks get angry?
56. WQ: Human ones?
57. Q: *Laughing* Yeah, human ones, like, that's the only kind, right?
58. WQ: Right.
59. Q: So, like, yeah, right?
60. WQ: Naw, I don't think so. I mean they may act like it, but on the inside, after all that practice, it probably doesn't come up that much.
61. Q: But they're still human, so like it'll probably come up a little?
62. WQ: Well, yeah, I guess, a little, but with so much practice, they can probably reign it in really quickly or notice it arise and avert an outburst. That's probably why they can behave so well so much of the time.
63. Q: Hey, like, I might want to be a monk.
64. WQ: If you do, will you get angry?
65. Q: Like, I don't know. I hope not. That's why I might want to try it, like, at least a temporary monk that you said.
66. WQ: Yeah, good idea, then you can practice so much that even if you disrobe and return to the household life, you'll probably be a lot nicer.
67. Q: Yeah, like, right?
68. WQ: And if you practice so well that anger hardly comes up, your meditation will grow so great you may have a breakthrough so that it never comes up again.
69. Q: Is that possible?
70. WQ: Oh, yes. Fully enlightened beings, arhats, don't get angry, though they may have the habit, the residual, the custom of being annoyed, or the symptoms of aversion. But on the inside, it doesn't overtake them anymore. It can't. They can, however, act like it does. The Buddha says some things sometimes in some sutras that sure sound like he's upset or annoyed or finds some people wearisome and vexing, like his brother-in-law Devadatta or the monks of Kosambi who used to like to argue and debate rather than practicing and realizing. The Buddha would distinguish them from great examples of monks such as Ven. Kimbila, his fellow monks (Anuruddha and Nandiya), Ananda, and his ten principal disciples. Two Buddhist nuns, Ven. Khema and Ven. Uppalavanna, were always restrained and able to abide in the Four Supreme Abodes, even if they got sick or were attacked.
71. Q: Like, attacked-attacked?

72. 

    There is no "punishment" for karma, just nature.

    WQ: One time this guy was praising how not-angry and wise Ven. Sariputta was, the male monastic declared foremost in wisdom, to this other guy who didn't believe him. So the other guy rolled his eyes and told his friend that the reason he didn't get angry was because his friend never saw Ven. Sariputta meet with a bad (anger-inspiring) situation. So to help his friend, he said he'd show him Ven. Sariputta's anger. The friend was surprised. Ven. Sariputta was a good monk, always practicing, a great disciple, a chief disciple, and a special assistant to the Buddha, teaching other monks and bringing them to the first stage of enlightenment before passing them on to the other chief male monastic, Ven. Maha Moggallana, who would continue to teach them and bring them to full enlightenment. (One has to think the same set up was happening with the female monastics, first taught by Ven. Khema, a great disciple, a chief disciple, the female disciple declared foremost in wisdom by the Buddha, then passed on to Ven. Uppalavanna, who brought nuns to full enlightenment just as Ven. Maha Moggallana did for monks). This is almost certainly why the Buddha had four chief monastic disciples helping him train and enlighten tens of thousands of people he met and countless devas most could not see but some could).
73. Q: Like, what happened to that monk, like, did he get angry?



He doesn't get angry? We'll see.

74. WQ: Oh, the friend stood in the bushes by the path where Ven. Sariputta passed every morning on his way for alms. We he passed, the man stepped out behind him and punched him in the back of the head as hard as he could then was amazed when he heard Ven. Sariputta look up -- without turning around to see who hit him -- and exclaim, "I wonder what that was" as he continued on his way. The man, startled, started to burn up with remorse, in disbelief that this monk really didn't get angry or want to know who or what hit him or why, and didn't want retaliation, revenge, or even to criticize or condemn. He begged the monk's forgiveness, and Ven. Sariputta freely gave it. But the humans who saw him do it were not going to let it go. They moved in to apprehend him to drag him off to the king to request a death sentence for such a [blank] who would hit an innocent monk who wasn't hurting anyone. The man said he felt bad, and had apologized, and his apology had been accepted, and that he didn't want to be reported to the king and punished, certainly not beheaded. It was just an experiment. But the people were furious and were not going to let this matter go, they were not going to drop it, and they were forcibly going to drag him before the king that very day and see to it that the king imposed the higher punishment of death as the mob grabbed him. Ven. Sariputta had to intervene on the man's behalf to save him from the mob, allaying their anger and telling them everything was all right and that the man who hit him was fine with no need for anyone to do anything. The man was astonished. The monk he just punched as hard as he could was doing everything he could to calm the mob that would surely have him destroyed, because no doubt the king would sentence him to death over the mob's testimony.
75. Q: Wow, like, did that really happen?
76. WQ: It is written so I assume so. The question is, Do you think enlightened Ven. Sariputta got angry?
77. Q: Not, like, if he didn't look back. Anybody would have immediately swerved around to look back and see what was happening just to save their lives. Do you think he did?
78. WQ: I don't think so, even though he was human and had human emotions. Now he had superhuman positive responses to override human habits of reacting because the Buddha had taught him and the others The Parable of the Saw, a short sutra on how to respond if someone is hurting you.
79. Q: How, like, run?
80. WQ: That's a good idea. But, you know, if you run and get away from the immediate danger, you won't have outrun the feeling, the emotions, the anger over what happened to you, how unfair it was, how the person got away with it...
81. Q: Yeah, like, there's that. What about that?

82. 

    Let's cut this one from limb to limb.

    WQ: The Parable of the Saw starts with a question. If someone hurt you, would you get upset -- angry, vengeful, want to strike back, want to force them to stop or not be able to do the same thing to someone else? It might cause you a lot of grief thinking like that, "He hurt me, he wronged me!" With thoughts like that, you're going to be upset and feel a lot of aversion for a long time. That's why it's a good remedy to bring The Parable of the Saw to mind again and again. Forgive (practice khanti, forbearance, tolerance) over and over, every time the feeling comes up. It's not nearly enough to forgive once and think that it's all gone. There's lots of residual, and new feelings of nonforgiveness are bound to arise many, many times. Unless we forgive and forgive again, our reaction to that one act will ruin is over and over again.
83. Q: Like, what's the parable?
84. WQ: Imagine someone comes up to you, grabs you, and starts cutting you limb from limb with a two-handled saw. If you were, toward that person doing it, to vent or give rise to thoughts of anger or revenge, you would not be following the Buddha's teaching on metta, "boundless friendliness." Even toward that person doing that at that time, you should cultivate thoughts of loving-kindness/
85. Q: Like, will that save you?!
86. WQ: It depends what we mean by "save."
87. Q: C'mon, man, quit yanking me. Like, will you live doing that?
88. WQ: You might not. I guess you were right. You should run. But if they catch you, stay friendly and kind. Cultivate sympathy, love, agape, concern, and interest in their welfare. Then, in that sense, what harm can they do you? They can't ruin you. Even though they take this body, cause this pain, commit this great injustice, you will not be disturbed if you have been following the Buddha's advice.
89. Q: Like, but that takes practice.
90. WQ: Practice.
91. Q: Like, but how much practice?
92. WQ: I don't know, but we should wait until it happens, right? When someone grabs you, holds you down, pulls out the saw, punches you in the back of the head by surprise, THAT'S when you should start practicing for the day someone might insult you.
93. Q: Huh? Like, are you serious?
94. WQ: No. It won't work then. What's the chance that never having practiced patience, forbearance, tolerance, boundless friendliness, and forgiveness you're going to be able to start when you're being accosted, assaulted, or threatened?
95. Q: Like, not much.

96. 

    What, I get to choose between the two of you?

    WQ: Not much is right. None at all probably. So the time to practice is NOW. There's only now. There's ALWAYS only now. There is no other time. The past doesn't exist. The future doesn't exist. Look at your watch. What time is it? NOW. That's the only time it ever is. And if it ever happens those axe-, I mean saw-murderers come for you, you're ready. Now, it's not likely they will ever come. BUT, what do you think, if we practiced that way, that even for the sake of being sawed into pieces, we wouldn't allow ourselves to get angry or vent or give rise even to thoughts of revenge, what would happen if someone verbally assaulted us, insulted us, said something offensive? Could we bear it?
97. Q: Hah, like, compared to being cut up, what are mere words?
98. WQ: Right. Maybe the Buddha was onto something with this crazy teaching in this parable.
99. Q: I think, like, he meant it.
100. WQ: Yes, of course, but what's more likely to happen, that someone punches us or holds us down and saws us to pieces?
101. Q: Like punches us.
102. WQ: Not like punches us. Actually punches us. Even that's not likely to happen. But you know what is? Insults, verbal and mental. Someone's staring at us, giving us a hard look, the Evil Eye, smirking, puffing his chest...think you could handle that?
103. Q: Of course, like, he didn't even do anything. He didn't even say anything. He's just thinking or using sign language or telepathy. Who cares about that?
104. WQ: Well, you know, that's how it happens most of the time. And sometimes words get used. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words?" Thoughts? It'll be easy not to get mad IF?
105. Q: If, like, it just stays at thoughts?
106. WQ: No, even if it escalates to full on weaponized violence IF we practice.
107. Q: Oh yeah, like, I forgot. If we practice.
108. WQ:  When's that?
109. Q: Like, later on?
110. WQ: When?
111. Q: Like in a little while?

112. 

     When I practice, anger doesn't arise to begin with.

     WQ: Oh, I was thinking now because "later on" and "in a little while" do not exist right now. They might exist or come into existence at some time. We only have control of ourselves right NOW. And if we do it now, we're likely to have control of ourselves at other times. Yeah?
113. Q: Like, yeah. No, not like, for sure. Yeah.
114. WQ: I like that. There's a short booklet about it called Positive Response: How to Meet Evil with Good by Acharya Buddharakkhita.

SELF-IMMOLATION: Though Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc made a decision to protest the imperial US War on Vietnam, and it was a bad choice, yet he remained calm and unperturbed during this act of ritual suicide. Why? The US is the greatest purveyor of war in the world, as MLK told us. HOW? Because he does not identify with the pain, nor cling to this body nor to any feelings, pleasant or unpleasant, nor to any idea of "self," he can endure without complaint. He seems deep in meditative absorption (jhana), guaranteeing a good rebirth outcome if he is not yet liberated, in which case he is already free of all rebirth and suffering.