Friendly Goodwill is the 9th Mental Perfection:
Friendliness means Goodwill
Friendliness means Kindness
Friendliness means Helpfulness
Friendliness means Assistance
Friendliness means Support
Friendliness means Benevolence
Friendliness means Concern
Friendliness means Care
Friendliness means Compassion
Friendliness means Cooperation
Friendliness means Mutual Aid
Friendliness means Mutual Advantage
Friendliness means Sympathy
Friendliness means Symbiosis
Only friendliness can completely evaporate the poison of hate
and anger!
Its characteristic
is to promote the welfare of others,
its function
is to
do only good, and its manifestation is kindness, sympathy, and gentleness...
The proximate cause of friendliness is seeing the good aspects of things!
The proximate cause of understanding compassion is this very friendliness!
The Blessed Buddha said about friendliness (Mettā):
"Bhikkhus, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not
worth
one sixteenth part of the release of mind by universal friendliness;
in shining, glowing and beaming radiance.
This release of mind by
universal friendliness far excels & surpasses them all..."
What are the 11 Advantages of cultivating such Universal Friendliness?
The four Brahma
Viharas; The four Divine States:
The four Supreme
States; The four Infinite States:
"Friends, eleven advantages are to be expected as effects from the release
of mind into friendliness by the practice of Goodwill, by cultivating amity,
by making much of it frequently, by making friendliness the vehicle, the tool,
the basis, by insisting on it, by being well established in it as a
sublime habit!
What are these eleven advantages ?
One falls asleep well! One wakes up Happy!
One dreams no evil dreams!
One is
liked and loved by all human beings!
One is liked and loved by all non-human beings too!
One is
guarded and protected by the divine devas!
One cannot be harmed by fire, poison, or
weapons!
One easily attains the concentration of
absorption!
One's appearance becomes serene, calm, and composed!
One dies without
confusion, bewilderment, or panic!
One reappears after death on the Brahma level, if one
has penetrated to no higher level in this very life!
When the mind is released into friendliness by the practice of
goodwill,
by manifesting friendliness, by cultivating amity, by frequently making much
of it, by making friendliness the vehicle, the tool, the basis, the
medium, the
foundation, by persisting in it, by insisting on it, by properly
consolidating it,
by thoroughly undertaking it, by making it a familiar supreme habit, by so
being well established in it, these eleven blessings can be expected!"
Anguttara
Nikāya V 342
There, Oh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of friendly
loving-kindness
pervading first one direction, then a 2nd one, then a 3rd one then the
4th one,
as below so above, across and all around, everywhere identifying himself
with
all sentient beings, he is encompassing the whole world with a mind of
friendly
loving-kindness, with a wide mind, vast, refined, unbounded, cleared, exalted,
pure and bright, free from all hate and ill will ...
There, Oh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of understanding compassion
pervading first the front, then the right side, then the back, then the left
side,
as below so above, across & all around, all over, far & wide; identifying himself
with all sentient beings, he is perfusing the whole universe with a mind imbued
with pity, with a spacious mind, a refined mind, infinite, purified, all
luminous,
freed from all anger and any trace of enmity ...
There, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of altruistic, sympathetic
and mutual Joy
pervading the North, then the East, then the South, then the West, as below
so above, across & all around, universally, infinitely; identifying himself with
all sentient beings, he is suffusing all galaxies with a mind elevated by genuine
mutual and altruistic sympathetic joy, with an open mind, immeasurable, wide,
limitless, pure & shining, free from all aversion and bitterness ...
There, Oh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of balanced equanimity
is
pervading first the frontal quadrant, then the right, then the rear & then the
left
quadrant, as below so above, across and all around, everywhere placing
himself with
all sentient beings, he is permeating the whole world with a mind
satiated of
stilled and balanced equanimity, calmed, with a mountain-like mind,
cultivated, endless, clean, dazzling, freed from any irritation and resentment."
"So too, Bhikkhus, others may speak to you timely or untimely,
truly or untruly,
gently
or harshly, beneficially or harmfully,
based on kindness or on bitter
hate!
If they abuse you verbally, you should train yourselves in this way:
"Our minds will remain unaffected, we shall speak no angry words, will
dwell
friendly and understanding, with thoughts of kindness and no inward
anger!
We shall remain friendly and beam goodwill towards that very person, and we
shall dwell extending it to the entire universe, mentally overflowing,
exalted,
measureless and infinite in friendliness, without any trace hostility or
ill-will."
That is how you should train yourselves. Even if bandits were savagely to cut
you up, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, one who harbors hate on that
account, would not be one who carried out my teaching. Bhikkhus, you should
keep this instruction on this
Simile of the Saw constantly in mind...
Majjhima
Nikāya, Sutta 21
Thus he who both day and night
takes delight in harmlessness
sharing love with all that lives,
finds enmity with none...
Samyutta
Nikāya. I 208
When one with a mind of love
feels compassion for
the entire world
above, below and across,
unlimited everywhere.
Jataka 37
The Bodhisatta once was born as the righteous king Ekaraja. His
kingdom was
taken by force. He and his son were buried in a pit to the neck...
King Ekaraja, however neither resisted, nor bore even slight ill will against
the
invaders. Later he remembered this as his ultimate perfection of friendliness.
Ekaraja Jataka 303
On the Practice of Loving-Kindness (Mettā):
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel007.html
On Universal
Friendliness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Good-Will_Again.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Bon_Benevolence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Goodwill_Encore.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Released_by_GoodWill.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/All-Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Infinite_and_Divine_Classic.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
More on the 10 mental perfections (paramis):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Ten_Perfections.htm
