Hello everyone,
In today's video I would like to share with you about aversion.
The topic of discussion is how to deal with aversion
one of the Three Poisons in Buddhism
Those who are studying Buddhism should know that
Buddhists practice
the cultivation of patience
This is also called khanti in the six paramitas,
or the forbearance paramita
Khanti is very important cencept
to Buddhists
it has a profound significance
As we all know
The Chinese character of forbearance is written as a "blade" on top the "heart"
So when we are facing a circumstance
where troubles and worries suddenly
become unbearable
like a sharp object stabbed into the heart.
We must remain calm
and this requires practice
Greed, aversion and ignorance (delusion) are called the Three Poisons in Buddhism
In the Tibetan Buddhism, aversion is depicted in a picture of the twelve origins of the Three Poisons.
The Three Poisons are shown as three animals in the centre
Aversion is represented by a poisonous snake.
It is the most important of the three poisons.
Why is it the primary poison?
It says so in Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa -- The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom
Aversion is the deepest of all sins
and of the three poisons none is the severest
The implication here is that among the three poisons
Greed, aversion and ignorance (delusion)
The most important of the three is aversion.
Its sin is deepest amongst all
sin means a mistake
or fault
So who shall be blamed for?
It's the mind of aversion
When we are studying Buddhism
we are constantly
doing good deeds
But when we are facing a circumstance
where troubles and worries become an unbearable burden
One thought of aversion will burn up all the meritorious deeds
We often hear that
"One thought of hatred
will open a million doors of obstacle"
As long as one thought of aversion appears
it will open up the can of worms and all the obstacles will be followed by
Aversion or hatred
can be on a personal level or on the national ground
the confrontation between parties is caused by aversion
Therefore, when we study Buddhism
we have to understand that the root cause of worries is aversion
Aversion is a thought that arises from the inability of of a having a peaceful mind.
When one raises strong resistance against something in a certain circumstance
then unhappiness, annoyance, anger, resentment and hatred will also arise.
This is a negative mentality.
It results in all kinds of
evil deeds in the body, speech and mind.
Some people provide offerings,
support, or do good deeds,
but the aversion
can turn all the merits of these offerings into water and flow away.
Originally, it is not easy to steal away the good karma that we have accumulated
but the Thief Aversion
can steal all the good karma, good deeds,
merits and Dharma wealth we have accumulated in this world
leaving us not even a penny
So a fire of aversion can burn up all the meritorious deeds
I don't know if you have ever heard of
the story of Emperor Wu of the Liang
with the Patriarch Bodhidharma.
Emperor Wu of Liang protected the
Dharma and the Three Jewels very much.
He knew that Bodhidharma had come from India
to teach in China, so he was very happy.
He talked to Patriarch Bodhidharma:
"In my whole life, I have made great contributions to Buddhism.
I have built temples, make offerings to monks
and printed sutras everywhere.
I have done everything I could possibly do for the good of Buddhism
without any reservation
Do I have many merits?"
Nevertheless
the patriarch Bodhidharma answered "no merit at all" and the Emperor was very angry
He felt that he had done so many things.
"How could you say to me that there was no merit?"
As a result, Emperor Wu of Liang had the fire of aversion burning in his heart
The lesson given by Patriarch Bodhidharma is that
we should not give rise to inner likes and dislikes
due to the forms or external conditions
We shall realize the true meaning of offering
in the threefold wheel of essential emptiness:
there is not a oneself doing it (the good deed),
nor the other person receiving it,
nor the object to be given
This is called the threefold wheel of essential emptiness in Buddhism.
The Emperor developed a great anger.
because of the aversion
All the good deeds he has done became useless.
Just like what the Patriarch Bodhidharma has replied.
This story can give us some inspiration
about our real life
Such circumstance often can
happen in our daily life.
So we have to gradually understand that
the nature of aversion is bad
What is its source?
We have to see through it,
understand it,
and finally combat against it.
In Buddhism,
there are many ways to treat aversion.
One of them
is to cultivate our compassionate mind
an compassionate or empathetic heart
When you compare and weight the situation of
the other person to your own
there won't be
be that many rights or wrongs
because the distinction drawn between you and the other is no longer present
then it won't give rise to aversion
We should always remind ourselves of
what the Buddha has taught us about
compassion and empathy
If we have such a heart of great compassion
then our mind has the purest empathy
it's a compassionate mind with penetrating insights
Another method we
can use is
when aversion arises
we pay attention to it
and understand its cause
Then we can use the chanting meditation or the breathing meditation
to subdue the aversion
I know a lot of people who learn Buddhism,
Still
the hardest thing for them to overcome is the mind of aversion
Some people recite the sutras in the temple,
make worships and are filled with happiness.
As soon as they come out of the temple and return home,
when they see that their troublesome children
they become angry and begin to use bad language
When something bad is happening at work, they start to complain
The fire of aversion arises in their hearts
and continue to grow
So their practice
is not really to the point.
In daily life
we have to start
practicing the treatment of
anger, aversion and hatred
We need to understand that the nature of this emotion is not good,
Not only it's unbeneficial to others
it is also harmful to oneself.
When someone is angry
why do you blush furiously
your heart beats faster and
your muscles tighten up?
You could become hysterical
the words you say and the
things you do are completely different
This is
like a crazy madman
How can we be aware of the thought at
the moment it arises
and then deal with it?
Now we have several ways
as we 've just suggested
Try to practice compassion
Also you can practice breathing meditation
i.e. breathe, breathe deeply, in the present moment,
or you can recite the name of a Buddha or Bodhisattva that you feel attached to.
For example
when you are about to become angry
or when you want to start cursing someone
you can recite Amitabha or Avalokitesvara
thinking that the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha and Bodhisattva will resist
the growth of hatred, evil thoughts and angry mind
so that the negative emotion can gradually go away
If we can continuously practice in this way
it's like fake it until you make it
We often do a lot of things in some ways
until we realize and achieve the good results
This is what the saying means
This learning can help us
facing negative emotions
Not only it can
improve our interpersonal relationships,
but also avoid many conflicts in the future.
I hope this video
can bring you some benefits
Thank you for watching
See you next time
Thank you!