“you will die un-confused”

Last week I gave myself into the skilled hands of a new massage practitioner. Such elation, being touched ‘all over’ after more than two years’ isolation through near-fatal illness and social distancing. By the end I felt utterly geborgen [*]. “I’m happy to die right now,” is what I said.

Something similar occurred during last week’s online meditations. In memory of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings I asked zoom participants to “concentrate on the instant, the still point, when the out-breath ends and the in-breath begins.” The more I practiced these simple instructions on my own, the more I felt as if bathed in emptiness. No past, no future and, come to think of it, no present. Mere awareness of being alive — or dead, who knows?

♥

Brings to mind the Buddha’s teachings on Metta. The Pali word stands for “loving-kindness, friendliness, goodwill, benevolence, fellowship, amity, concord, inoffensiveness, and non-violence. It is defined as the strong wish for the welfare and happiness of others. Essentially it points to an altruistic attitude of love and friendliness as distinguished from mere amiability based on self-interest.”[1]

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The Metta Sutra is one of my favourite chants: in fact the only one I can recall from memory. Sutra means “one of the discourses of the Buddha that constitute the basic text of Buddhist scripture”.[2] Here’s an excerpt; do yourself the favour of reading it phrase by phrase —

“This is what should be done / By one who is skilled in goodness, / And who knows the path of peace:  / Let them be able and upright, / Straightforward and gentle in speech, / Humble and not conceited, / Contented and easily satisfied,  / . . .

“Wishing: In gladness and in safety, / May all beings be at ease. / Whatever living beings there may be; / Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, / The great or the mighty, medium, short or small, / The seen and the unseen, / Those living near and far away, / Those born and to-be-born / May all beings be at ease! /. . .

“Even as a mother protects with her life / Her child, her only child, / So with a boundless heart / Should one cherish all living beings; / Radiating kindness over the entire world: / Spreading upwards to the skies, / And downwards to the depths; / Outwards and unbounded, / . . . “ [3]

Spoiler Alert: Tibetan teacher Lama Surya explains that, “The Buddha himself said that if you repeatedly practice this prayerful meditation, with a forgiving, loving heart while relinquishing judgment, anger and prejudice — great benefits will ensue: you will sleep easily, wake easily and have pleasant dreams, people will love you, celestial beings will love you and protect you . . . and you will die unconfused . . . ” [4]

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[art] “Prayer Flags” ©Eleni Tsami retrieved from chenrezigproject.org 11 Feb. 2022  [*] Here the German word geborgen means safe, secure, sheltered, treasured, protected and hidden from danger, tenderly held.

[1] www.chenrezigproject.org  [2] www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sutra; retrieved 11 Feb. 2022  [3] Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha’s Words on Loving-Kindness. Trans. from the Pali. ©2004 The Amaravati Sangha  [4] Lama Surya Das. (1998). Awakening the Buddha Within, p. 184.