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30 EASTERN HORIZON | TEACHINGS

The Four Highest

Emotions

By Venerable Ayya Khema (1923 – 1997)

Ayya Khema was When we think of love, we have ideas This requires a learning process that
a Buddhist teacher that are purely personal and, on the is sometimes hard, above all when
and was very active in whole, quite fanciful. They are based in someone turns out to be very unfriendly
providing opportunities general on our desire to be loved, from or unpleasant. But this condition can
for women to practice which we expect fulfilment. be reached by everyone, because we all
Buddhism, founding have the capacity for love within us.
several centers around In reality love fulfils only the one who
the world. In 1987, she loves. If we understand love as a quality Every moment we spend on the
helped coordinate the of the heart, just as intelligence is a training of our hearts is valuable and
first-ever Sakyadhita quality of the mind, then we won’t deal brings us a step further along the
with love as people customarily do. As a
path of purification. The more often
International rule, we divide our hearts into different we remember that all our heart has
Association of Buddhist compartments, for lovable, neutral and to do is love, the easier it will be to
Women. Over two dozen unlovable people. With that sort of distance ourselves from judgments and
books of her transcribed divided heart, there’s no way we can condemnations. But that doesn’t mean
Dhamma talks in Enlish feel good. We can be “whole” only with a we can no longer distinguish between
and German have heart united in love. good and evil. Naturally we know what is
been published. In the evil, but hatred of evil needn’t forever be
last year of her life, Every moment we spend on the training of stirring in our heart. On the contrary, we
she also published her our hearts is valuable and brings us a step have compassion for those who act in a
autobiography, I Give further along the path of purification. way that does harm.
You My Life.
True love exists when the heart is so Most of our problems are concerned
broadly trained that it can embrace all with interpersonal relations. To address
human beings and all living creatures. these, we can direct our view to the