Opening the Heart
In this series of six talks Vaddhaka suggests ways to cultivate the Brahma Viharas, or the Four Immeasurables, of kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), appreciative joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha), in everyday life. He emphasises the role of gratitude in opening the heart.
For each talk there is a transcript and a recording
01 An Introduction to the Brahma Viharas or Four Immeasurables
Taking his lead from an early Mahayana Sutra called “The Inquiry of Ugra”, Vaddhaka explains that a full flowering of insight combines understanding the true nature of things with a going out of oneself through the four Brahma Viharas or Four Immeasurables of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. Understanding is accompanied by an opening of the heart.
02 Mindfulness and Gratitude
In this talk Vaddhaka explores the role of gratitude and its relationship to mindfulness in the context of the four immeasurables of kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. He makes suggestions for whom or for what we might feel gratitude.
03 Metta (Kindness) in Everyday Life
After discussing the meaning of metta, Vaddhaka suggests ways in which we can practice metta in everyday life.
04 Karuna (Compassion) in Everyday Life
Using stories told by Sangharakshita, Buddhist teacher, and psychologist Daniel Goleman and scientist Richard Davidson, Vaddhaka explains that the essential component of compassion is the concern for others to be relieved from suffering and affliction.
05 Mudita (Appreciative or Sympathetic Joy) in Everyday Life
Vaddhaka explains that although we are prone to envy, fully noticing someone else’s happiness or good deeds increases our own sense of enjoyment. Mudita means taking delight in others’ happiness and in their good qualities. Mudita motivates us to want to help others.
06 Upekkha (Equanimity) in Everyday Life
In this talk Vaddhaka takes us on a tour of how different people understand or have a feel for upekkha or equanimity. They include Buddhist teacher Sangharakshita, writer Manjusura on a perspective from above, poet Dana Gioia, a doctor, and American journalist Daisy Hernandez who focuses on a woman in a hurricane and the American writer and political activist James Baldwin.