- Cultivation of Social Emotions
- Dr. Siddhi B. Indr
Men are inclined to accept the fact that they live to strive and
continue to do so, not to let themselves go down or even remain at the merely natural
level of instincts or impulses in leading their lives, individual as well as social, but
to rise above or at least to have these things refined by the help of some principles
which, as is generally believed, make men better and higher than what they are naturally.
Men live together and are bound to each other, not by mere instincts and impulses, but by
the rational application of certain elements of moral and spiritual values, ultimately
speaking, by a conscience which may be called ‘ the human conscience of social
bond.’ According to Buddhism, to establish, maintain, develop and strengthen social
relationships and to live together happily and peacefully, the members of the society are
advised-though the words of the Buddha are here addressed to the monks- to cultivates a
sense of ‘fraternity’ by practising the virtues of loving-kindness, compassion,
sympathetic joy and impartiality towards each other [A. II. 183f] and to learn to
develop the idea of identity with all others. For, as one’s own self is everywhere
most dear to oneself, so it is with others; therefore, one who loves oneself should not
inflict evil upon others. [Vism. pp. 246, 256]. In this connection, we propose to
study the cultivation of social emotion based on the doctrine of the ‘Four virtues
for Excellent Abiding’ (brahmavihaaradhamma), which will lead to an ideal
fraternal life in society.
1. The Virtue of Loving-kindness (mettaa).
The virtue of loving-kindness occupies a prominent place in the Buddha’s teachings
and is one of the factors most beneficial both to spiritual development and he development
of a sound pacific relationship in society. In the Buddha’s words: "whatever
kinds of worldly merit there may be, all of them are not worth one sixteenth part of the
hear-deliverance of loving- kindness…" [ It. p.20]. He urged his disciples to
cultivates this virtue by telling them that they should neither allow their minds to
become perverted with enmity not utter any evil speech but with the thought of
loving-kindness freed from hatred and harmfulness, that they should show kindness and love
towards such and such person, and that by starting from one person they should extend it
and suffuse the whole world with the heart of loving-kindness, far reaching, widespread,
immeasurable, without enmity and malevolence. [ M. I. 129].
And the climax of the Buddha’s attitude towards the promoting of
this virtue may be illustrated in his statement: " As lowdown thieves might carve
limb from limb with a double handled saw, yet even then whoever sets his mind at enmity,
he, for this reason, is not a doer of my teaching… Therefore, consider repeatedly
this exhortation on the Parable of Saw; for a long time it will be for your welfare and
happiness."[Cp. MLS. I. 166f].
Loving-Kindness works for the disappearance of ill-will and it is based
on treating other people with kindness. When one succeeds in practising it, it helps one
to eliminate ill-will, but one should be careful not to let it degenerate into selfish
affectionate desire.[Cp. Vism., p. 263]. In order to cultivate the emotion of
loving-kindness, one is advised to meditate at first on oneself by repeatedly thinking:
‘I am happy and free from suffering…. I live my life free from hostility and
trouble and live happily….’[Ibid., p. 245]. This Buddhist contention
seems to imply paradoxically, however it might sound, that in order to love others, one
ought to love oneself and make oneself beloved too, so that love for oneself is held to
indicate the level to which the love for others should be raised and to constitute the
measure, pattern and value of one’s own love for others. True self-interest should
induce one to love the interest of others, because to do so is advantageous to oneself
too. The man of loving-kindness wishes others to be happy and that is clearly to his own
advantage since, at least it make them so much more pleasant to live with. Thus it is by
cultivating within oneself the thought ‘I am happy…’ as starting point and
example that one begins to be interested in the welfare and interest of others and to feel
their happiness as one’s own: ‘Just as I want happiness and fear suffering
happiness and fear suffering and want to live and not to die….’[Vism. p.
245f.]. In the words of the Dhammapada, which express the same idea: ‘All
living beings tremble at the rod…. and fear death; to all living beings life is dear.
Therefore, one should treat one’s fellows as oneself and neither strike nor
kill.’ [Commentary of the Dhammapada. III, p. 48].
In the process of practising the virtue of loving-kindness one is
further exhorted to do so first towards one’s dearly beloved companion, and then
towards other people that are neutral by regarding them as one’s dearly beloved
companion, and lastly towards one’s enemies by regarding them as neutral. Thus one
will be able to regards one’s enemy without resentment but with loving-kindness in
the same way as one does one’s own admired, dearly beloved companion and as a person
that is neutral. Therefore, one should extend loving-kindness towards all living being
equally without making any difference between oneself and others, or between one’s
own beloved, favourite, pleasant and agreeable people and those who are neutral to
oneself, an even one’s enemy, always thinking: ‘May all living beings be without
enmity, without ill-will, untroubled; may they keep the self well. May all living beings,
all creatures, all peoples, all these who are included in a personality be without enmity,
without ill-will, untroubled; may they keep the self well…[Vism. p. 245]. May
they al be safe with the disappearance of all fear and calamities… May they be
satisfied with physical pleasure and may their hearts rejoice with all mental
pleasure,’ [Khuaddaka Paatha. p. 244]. With one’s whole heart and all
one’s self suffused with loving-kindness, one identifies oneself with all, be they
inferior, middling or superior, be they friends, foes or neutral, etc. without making any
distinction between them and oneself, [Vism., p. 256].
And one arouses one’s interest and aspiration for the achievement
of their welfare and happiness and for their release from harm and suffering, thinking:
‘ whatever breathing beings there may exist,…. no matter whether they are seen
or unseen, existing far or near, in one’s own abode, in village, country, continent,
world system…[ Khuaddaka Paatha. p. 246] may they all be happy and safe and
may their hearts rejoice…[S. 36]. Pray, no person at all might treat any other
person at all with such evil manner as betrayal and the like or might slight any other
person at all in any way on the ground of his birth, race, wealth, power, etc..,… May
no person with suffering or any kind of trouble to another, even with provocation or
resistive thought… As a mother guards her child, her only child the child of her
breast born in herself, guarding it with her own life willing to sacrifice it in order to
prevent her child from troubles, thus would one cultivate, maintain, generate again and
again, and augment one’s loving-kindness to every living being.’[Khuaddaka
Paatha. 248]
To remove the evil habit of anger or hatred (dosa) and to replace
it by the virtue of tolerance or patience (khanti) one develops the social emotion
of loving-kindness, [Vism. p. 244] and in order to do so one-should not allow
one’s own thought of enmity (verisa~n~naa) and ill-will (byaapaada) to
grow against others, even though they might do something wrong to oneself; on the contrary
one should keep one’s mind in balance, think of the virtues possessed by them and
forgive their faults done to oneself. [Vism. p. 246]. While developing the virtue
of loving-kindness one simultaneously comes to realize the disadvantages of evil habits
such as hatred, viz., that a person who is under its influence obviously loses control of
mind, thereby does not understand, as it really is, his own profit and that of others, and
consequently plans things which trouble both oneself and other. [A. I. 216].
He realizes moreover, that one who is of covetous desire (abhijjhaalu),
of lustful mania (tibbasaraago), with malevolent aspiration in the heart (padutthamansasamkappo)
of a corrupted mind (mu.t.thassati), not attentive (asampajaano), incapable
of concentration (asamaahito), of a confused mind (vibbhantacitto), and
uncontrolled senses (paakatinadriya), is like a firebrand from a funeral pyre,
blazing at both edges and smeared with dung in the middle, which serves no purpose as fuel
in a village or as timber in a forest. [It. p. 90]. In addition, the following
paraphrased passage shows the disadvantage of anger or hatred: An angry man is very ugly;
with his anger he causes the loss of both his material and spiritual fields; he cannot
sleep comfortably; his acts and words trouble and hurt others; he spoils his own life and
is despised by his friends and relatives; under the influence of anger he is blind to the
cause and the effect of what is good or of what is bad; when his anger has subsided he
suffers like one scorched by fire, and he does not know shame, respect and like; the deeds
performed by him bring about remorse; he would destroy any person and kill even his own
parents, the source of life and love, due to his blind and strong self-centredness;
distracted y anger the common folk increase trouble and difficulties and even destroy
themselves as well as others in one way or another, because anger destroys all life and
all good things; and therefore one should exterminate it, be wise and train oneself in Dhamma,
free oneself from anger and become peaceful.[A. IV. 96f].
The exercise of loving-kindness, finally, leads one to the path of
‘non-violence’ (ahi"m'sa) which consists therein that one delights
in the happiness of others and others and does no harm to anyone and tries to cultivate
sentiments of loving-kindness: ‘By this way of living I do not harm to anybody at
all…’[It. p. 31]. He trains himself in treating his fellow man in the
righteous manner with tranquillity of thought, speech and deed, [A. I. 65]
cultivates a patient and benevolent attitude towards others, neither reviling those who
revile him nor insulting those who insult him nor abusing those who abuse him. [A. II.
152]. On the other hand, he is meek and kind, compassionate and merciful, benevolent and
useful to all living beings, laying aside stick, sword and all sorts of weapons, [A. IV.
388], and always meditating on human beings, thinking that among human beings all should
learn to be of one mind, and that they should not quarrel with one another as beasts
always do. [Jaataka. IV. 211].
One is exhorted to cultivate the virtue of loving-kindness to such an
extent that one feels neither hatred nor ill-will towards others and behaves oneself like
the earth and the water which are not filled with horror, loathing or disgust when the
people cast or wash things, clean or foul, dung, urine, spittle, pus or blood on and in
them, and like the fire, the wind and the duster which respectively burns, blows and wipes
away things, clean or foul, dung, urine, spittle, pus or blood, and yet are not filled
with them, and like a well-trained bull whose horns have been cut away and consequently
harms nobody with its feet or horns. [A. IV. 374ff]. One should overcome anger with
non-anger, evil with good, the niggard with gifts and speaker of falsehood with truth, [Commentary
of the Dhammapada, III. 313ff], realizing that ‘a man who shows the evil habit of
hatrred to others behaves like one who holds a hot fiery things or dung in his hand, in
order to throw them at others, but the hot fiery thing will burn him and the dung will
cause him to smell fiery thing will burn him and the dung will cause him to smell badly
first,’[Vism. 249], and that ‘one should not address anybody with harsh
speech, because angry words bring trouble, and those whom one addresses may answer one in
the same way, just as one may return blows for blows: therefore one should keep oneself in
peace like a broken gong and in behaving thus one has already reached peacefulness and no
angry speech is found in one.’[Commentary of the Dhammapada, III. 57].
The following passage shows us, by an example, how one can overcome the
habit of abusive treatment based on hatred. A brahmin named Bharadvaja who was vexed and
displeased with the Buddha, came to him, reviled and abused him with rude and harsh
speech. The Buddha instructed him by citing the simile of the greeting: if the brahmin
offered some sort of things to greet his visitors and if the latter refused to accept
those things of the greeting, they still belonged to him. And the Buddha concluded,
"Even so, brahmin, in this case though you revile…scold…. abuse us who do
not revile…scold…abuse, we do not accept them from you. Therefore, brahmin, all
is left to you alone and all belongs to you alone…He who reviles back, scold back,
and abuses back, is worse than he who reviles scolds and abuses…"[Cp. S. I.
161ff].
According to the Buddha, human beings should not be cruel, ferocious,
violent or oppressive but should live together mercifully, compassionately and
benevolently doing good to each other. [Jaataka, p. 504f]. We are further told that
a person who has attained the freedom of mind through the virtue of loving-kindness
practised with all devotion of thought and constant meditation and has increased it and
firmly established himself in it, will surely experience the following eleven advantages (ekaadasaanisa"msaa).
He sleeps happily, wakes up happily, dreams no evil dream, is dear both to human beings
and to non-human beings, the gods guards him, he is not affected by fire, poison and
weapons, his mind is easily and calmly concentrated, the expression of his face is serene,
at the moment of his death he dies without confusion, and if he cannot reach the higher
state of salvation he will reach the excellent existence in heaven. [A. V. 342f, Jaataka,
61. Cp. Vism. 258-60].
2. The Virtue of Compassion (karu"naa).
The term "compassion" designates the social emotion that expresses itself in a
sense of participation with others in their troubles and difficulties, making one’s
heart tremble and quiver at the sight and thought about the sufferings experienced by
others, and even arouse the desire to take upon oneself these things, to put an end to
them and to strive to do something to help and release others from them. [Cp. Vism.,
p. 263] when a compassionate person sees or hears or even thinks of others who live in
troubled circumstances, his heart becomes overwhelmed with compassion. The virtue of
compassion has for its characteristic the activity of removing from other people bad
conditions of life that cause trouble; it has for its essence the inability to neglect
others’ sufferings; it has for its function the establishment of selflessness and for
its basis the sight of helplessness of others in such bad conditions. [Ibid., p.
264. 266]
In a word, a compassionate person is unhappy at seeing others in
troubles, he feels himself in solidarity with them and furthermore attempts to make them
happy. He counts the harm and other bad conditions of other as his own, and in this manner
he identifies himself with others who are in pain, depression, frustration, misery,
calamity, lamentation, horror and so on. Therefore, the social emotion of compassion
signifies the virtue which is cultivated with a view, on the one hand, to uproot the
ill-will to harm others hand, to do good to them, to make people sensitive to the troubles
an difficulties of others to such an extent that they do not wish to increase them
further, but to decrease and remove them. In order to cultivate and develop the virtue of
compassion one goes through a process similar to that of loving-kindness, but the objects
towards which compassion is to be expressed are those who are in trouble and difficulties,
seeing whom one feels compassionate and strives to help an make them free from such
situations as much as possible. [Ibid., p. 260f.].
Psychologically speaking, compassion is closely allied with cruelty and
may be easily mistaken. The two are the reverse and obverse of the same medal. Both the
compassionate and the cruel are sensitive to the troubles and difficulties experienced by
others and keen in watching them. But the sharp difference is that the former experiences
pain, while the latter derives pleasure, from what they see, hear or even recollect. This
is the compassionate person shares his heart and emotion with those who are in suffering;
on the contrary the cruel one keeps them away and even tries to make them suffer more.
3. The Virtue of Sympathetic Joy (muditaa).
The virtue that makes one glad, joyful when seeing or hearing of or even recollecting the
success and happiness of others, is called ‘muditaa’. [ibid., p.
263]. It has for its characteristic the state of (mutual) rejoicing, for its
essence the absence of envying, for its function the suppression of disgust, and for its
basis the cheerful acknowledgement of good fortune and prosperity achieved by others. [Ibid.,
p. 264, 266]. From the above description we see that the virtue of sympathetic joy
requires a deliberate effort to identify oneself with those who live successfully and
happily and that it enables a person to feel a genuine joy at the happiness of others as
much as at his own. It also enables him to share with others their joy of possession,
their material or spiritual success, their promotions to positions of civil or national or
other importance, or their receipt of titles and glories. It counteracts conceits of all
kinds, and its growth and development check craving’s grip in the heart of man. A
person, particularly one who is under the influence of jealousy, is advised to cultivate
this social emotion f sympathetic joy. He arouses within himself thoughts that foster this
emotion and cultivates the habit of sincerely congratulating those who are released from
troubles and difficulties, and attain the fulfillment of their wishes. He rejoices with
them in their welare, prosperity and well-being. On seeing or hearings or even
recollecting others to be happy, cheerful or joyous, the man of sympathetic joy thinks
within himself: ‘verily, how good, how excellent is it that this fellow lives
happily.’ ‘He treats all people, and even all living beings, with whole-hearted
gladness in the same manner as he does himself and his own beloved person. And, moreover
he pays that their good fortune, prosperity and well-being may last long. [Ibid.,
p. 262].
The virtue of sympathetic joy helps a man to learn how to appreciate,
with sincere heart, the prosperous conditions of others, to be heartily pleasant in his
dealings with them, and to share their happiness even by making it resound in his own
heart. It also furthers the sense of altruism and subdues the latent feeling of grudge or
ill-will against people in superior positions. By virtue of his ability to identify
himself with others the sympathetic man always welcomes with joy the happiness of his
fellow men and never welcomes their miseries, and gets rid of what we might call mental
isolation caused by selfishness. In the depth of their hearts, some people harbour a
definite aversion to dwelling on the happiness of others, since egoism and jealousy are
strong and deep-seated, though really admitted, counterforces in their lot with that of
others and grudge others their good fortune which eludes them. Therefore, to remove this
evil attitude and habit the cultivation of the social spirit of sympathetic joy is
introduced.
4. The Virtue of Impartiality (upekkhaa).
This principle, in its literal sense, implies the virtue enabling one to keep one’s
own mind in a balanced state. [Cp. Vism., p. 263-264]. To quote
Buddhaghosaacaariya’s description : "The virtue of impartiality (or
even-mindedness) has the characteristic of evolving the mode of being balanced as
regards beings; its essence is seeing the equality of beings; its manifestation is the
suppression of aversion and bias; its proximate cause is seeing the heritage of the
prevailing kamma as ‘beings are the property of kamma. By its decree they will attain
pleasure, or be free from pain, or not fall from the prosperity already acquired.’
…its failure is the production of a profane and unintelligent indifference." [Vism.,
p. 264]. It also covers, in our opinion, at least two aspects; one to be taken from the
meditation on the beings’ kamma found in the Visudhimagga, [Vism., p.
264], and the other from its contemporary application to mutual fair treatment in daily
practical life. In spiritual practice, ‘upekkhaa’ is understood in the
sense of tranquility of mind in its neutral state, neither pleasant nor unpleasant,-the
state of ‘one-pointedness’ (ekaggataa) of equanimity which arises during
the practice of Jhaana i.e. meditation. This means the stable, middle state of
thought that causes the mind to remain serenely identical with itself in its calm state
and prevents it from being carried away by any other object.
Turning to the kammic point of view relating to the practice of
impartiality, we find that it implies the arousing of an equal attitude towards all living
beings and makes one see them as equals in as far as there is a possibility, according to
the law of kamma, for all of them to act and react freely and live in accordance with
their own actions. In this aspect, the virtue of impartiality points to two
considerations. In the first place, one is advised to realize that all beings are equal in
all their aspects and conditions, who as ‘beings’ are all essentially the same
under the natural law of impermanence, suffering and non-soul. And in the second place,
one considers the effect of action which all beings have on themselves and the reason why
they act as they act and endure what they endure. Thus one reflects that everyone’s
action determines his or her own fate and destiny, that whatever befalls him or her they
have brought it upon themselves, and that only they themselves can alter their fate and
destiny. The consideration on the workings of this law of action leads to an understanding
that whatever is, is so because it must be, that everyone must manage his own affairs, and
that everyone must discharge his own duties.
As regards the mode of mutual conduct in society, the modern Buddhist
also uses the term ‘ upekkhaa’ to explain the virtue of impartiality in
the sense of just, fair or righteous treatment and in this manner it is closely related to
its other above-mentioned aspects and to the first three virtues already discussed. As a
matter of fact, the climax of the first three virtues of mettaa, karu"naa and muditaa
suggests that one should identify oneself with others. In this respect, one learns to
treats as righteous as one treats oneself and is not given to the habit of partial, unjust
treatment towards others. Thus a person of impartial spirit makes no difference between
those who are beloved, pleasant or favorite and those who are otherwise, but he behaves
towards others in accordance with the principle of Dhamma. In his dealings with
others he avoids the four ways of unfair treatment, based on either favourism or personal
preference, hatred, illusion or fear. [Jaataka. II, 1ff.]
Social life is a matter of interdependence, implying a
process of living according to the principle of what we would call ‘reciprocal
altruism.’ This points further to the more deeply spiritual interpretation of human
brotherhood that any conception of a genuine social unity implies and requires certain
virtues that produce social emotions culminating in ‘like-mindedness or
one-heartedness’ in the people and a certain recognition that their good and interest
is a common one. It is on this conception that the social ideal of fraternity is based and
built up.
***
[Taken from Siddhi Butr-Indr,. The Social Philosophy
of Buddhism. (Bangkok: Mahamakut Buddhist University, 1st ed. 1973), pp.
122-34].