Page 46 - Martial Science August #22-2017

will arise naturally. equanimity as the parents and relatives religions do empha-
This will help moti- rightly mediate state who have now been size universal love
vate us to make ev- of mind in which we reborn and who devoid of discrimi-
ery effort to assist can further devel- surround us in our nation and prejudice,
and to comfort them. op and extend our present lives. There- the content of that
This is the practice loving kindness and fore, we should re- love still tends to be
of loving kindness compassion. quite the debt of love skewed toward ego-
and compassion. we owe our parents centricity. For ex-
However, most of In order to cultivate in this life as well as ample, the sectarian
us only direct our boundless compas- the debt we owe our slogans
loving kindness and sion we need to parents from former
compassion toward deepen our under- lives. According to “Long live the believ-
our loved ones, but standing of the true the Sutra, ers; down with the
do not extend loving meaning of life by unbelievers.” and
kindness and com- applying the wisdom “All men are my fa-
passion to other be- attained through thers; all women are “He who believes will
ings lying outside the contemplation. For my mothers.” have life everlasting
circle of our affec- instance, all-encom- and
tions. For instance, passing compassion Our loving kindness he who does not be-
parents are normal- has its own lucid and compassion lieve
ly very worried and logic when we see should therefore not will be cast into the
anxious when their the facts of our lives be limited to only one lake of fire forever”
children are sick, from the luminous family, one particu-
and they are willing perspective of the lar race, one coun- both exhibit a fierce-
to suffer for their Buddhist teaching of try, or just one spe- ly monopolistic ex-
children. For most of dependent origina- cies (viz. mankind), clusiveness. All out-
us, this loving kind- tion. Consider how but should extend siders have to be
ness and compas- we human beings to all sentient beings destroyed. Behind
sion is directed only gregariously live to- in the Universe. This this inbred, parti-
to our own children gether, and how the is the main reason san ‘love’ one can
and cannot be ex- necessities to sup- why Mahayana Bud- see that there lies
tended to the chil- port our individual dhism emphasizes a culture of cruelty
dren of others. This lives are provided vegetarianism and and hatred! Compas-
is due to the fact that through the efforts abstention from kill- sion in Buddhism is
our love is reserved of other people in all ing. In Buddhism, extended equally to
for a small number areas of society, such loving kindness and both enemies and
of people and does as scholars, farmers, compassion are not loved ones. Although
not go beyond this workers and mer- purely and simply we may not at the
limitation. There is a chants. Our lives and expressions of hu- moment be able to
saying in Confucian- properties are pro- mane generosity. give the Dharma to
ism, tected by our gov- They also justly re- our enemies, or to
ernments and their quite our very real those who do not
“to take care of one’s laws. The feeling of indebtedness to oth- believe and will not
own aged parents sympathy for some- ers. The union of accept it, we may
first, one will of course wisdom and compas- be able to help them
then extend the arise when we prop- sion thus coincides later when favorable
same care to aged erly understand that with the Truth ex- karmic conditions
people in general; we are mutually de- emplified in the Bud- for presenting the
to take care of one’s pendent, and com- dhist teaching of de- gift have matured.
own young children, plementary to each pendent origination
then extend the other. Furthermore, with its grand vision According to the uni-
same care to young in view of the con- of universal interde- versal Law of Cause
people in general.” tinuum of endless pendence and inter- and Effect, we reap
rebirths, in past lives relationship. what we sow, and
Buddha teaches us we have had an in- there is no higher
to cultivate perfect finite number of Even though most authority who wil-

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