Dharma Teacher Reflection

Dear Common Ground Friends,

When I was practicing at Insight Meditation Society earlier this fall, this verse from the Dhammapada was written on the meal board one morning: "Ah, so happily we live, without hate among those who hate. Among people who hate, we live without hate." These words landed strongly. I saw how afraid I am of hatred, whether in myself or others, and all the suffering it sets in motion. My impulse is to withdraw, or when that’s not possible, to strike back in ways that may be strong or subtle, drawing on the defense of aversion. In either case, this reactivity is a distance from the Buddha’s words: "So happily we live without hate." These words ask of us a more penetrating understanding of the power of an unshakeable heart. In mindfulness, we train, “Free from desires and discontent in regards to the world.” This freedom positions us to see clearly and respond nimbly to the pain and complexities of saṃsāra (cycles of suffering). Can we continually recognize the value of an even heart, born of right view? Can we humanely engage hatred when it emerges in ourselves and in the world?

The Buddha taught that aversion and craving obscure the mind’s natural capacity to comprehend clearly. As I was sitting on retreat, I had a memory of an event where hatred was palpable among a small group of us. In that circumstance, I called on sila (ethical conduct), on my aspirations toward right speech, and felt the fear in my body. I did the best I could. In the recollection of this event, however, with my heart more settled, I discerned more about the forces that were actually present. I hadn’t been mindful of my lack of compassion, nor my attachment to being “the one on higher ground,” nor the vivid sense of “self” and “other.” In retrospect, there were ways I might have responded, words I might have spoken, had I not been in the obscuring grip of fear and identification. I am appreciating in a new light the power of a collected mind and its relationship to clear comprehension. Perhaps we all put stock in the dimensionality and accuracy of our perceptions, even when we are angry or afraid. It’s humbling for me to recognize the limitations of that view. It brings urgency to my practice.

Dharma teacher Devin Berry spoke these words at the end of this retreat, and I hold them close: “There is a beautiful, quiet dignity that comes when a yogi realizes, ‘I do not need the world to behave in order to remain sane. I don’t need conditions to affirm me in order to remain kind. I don’t need agreement in order to stay aligned with what’s good.’”

May we all feel supported in our practice,

Wynn Fricke
Co-founder and Dharma Teacher
Common Ground Meditation Center