Detachment and Compassion in Buddhism

Elizabeth J. Harris,* Detachment and Compassion in Early Buddhism; Wisdom Quarterly

Wisdom Quarterly: Think detachment and non-clingy compassion go together?

 

Bodhi leaf hearts (Gabrielgs)

To people looking at Buddhism through the medium of English, the practice of compassion and detachment can appear incompatible, especially for those who consider themselves to be socially and politically engaged. 

 

In contemporary usage, compassion brings to mind outward-moving concern for others, while detachment suggests aloofness and withdrawal from the world.

• What is compassion, what is wisdom?

Yet Buddhism recommends BOTH as admirable and necessary qualities to be cultivated. This raises questions such as:

• If compassion means to relieve suffering in a positive way, and detachment to remain aloof from the world, how can the two be practiced together?
• Does detachment in Buddhism imply lack of concern for humanity?
• Is the concept of compassion in Buddhism too passive, connected only with the inward-looking eye of meditation, or can it create real change in society?

Kwan Yin (Avalokita), bodhsattva of compassion, Kayosan, Japan (Massimiliano Troiani)

 

It is certainly possible to draw sentences from Buddhist writers which seem to support a rejection of outward concern for others. For example, [classic Mahayana translator] Edward Conze has written, "The Yogin can only come into contact with the unconditioned when he brushes aside anything which is conditioned" (Buddhist Thought in India, 1960, Ch.5).

Similarly, G.S.P. Misra writes (Development of Buddhist Ethics, p. 44), "In the final analysis, all actions [karma] are to be put to cessation... The Buddha speaks of happiness involved in non-action which he further says is an integral part of the Right Way (samma patipada).

 

Taken in isolation and out of context, these remarks can give the impression that the path to [Sanskrit nirvana, Pali nibbana] implies developing a lack of concern towards everything in samsara. But is this inference sound? I would argue that it is not.

• BOOK: Amazing and Amusing Adventures of SAM and SARA: The Zen of All  Kinds of Stuff!

This is an issue which touches on the whole question of transferring concepts across linguistic barriers, in this case Pali and English. It calls not only for an understanding of how the concepts are used within the framework of the Pali Buddhist texts, but also for an awareness of how the English terms used in translation function and whether they are adequate.

 

Inevitably, a dialogical approach between two linguistic frameworks is necessary.

 

Detachment

Laugh more, stay cool (zazzle.com)

Viveka [withdrawal] and viraga [dispassion, cooling] are the two Pali words which have been translated as "detachment." The two, however, are not synonymous. The primary meaning of viveka is separation, aloofness, seclusion. Often physical withdrawal is implied. The later commentarial tradition, however, identifies three forms of viveka: physical withdrawal (kaya-viveka), mental withdrawal (citta-viveka), and withdrawal from the roots of suffering (upadhi-viveka).

Physical withdrawal, as a chosen way of life, was not uncommon during the time of the Buddha. To withdraw from the household life, renounce possessions, and adopt a solitary mendicancy was a recognized path. 

 

The formation of the Buddhist monastic Order (Sangha) was grounded in the belief that going out from home to homelessness could aid concentrated spiritual effort. 

Yet, to equate the renunciation which the Buddha encouraged with a physical withdrawal, which either punished the body or completely rejected human contact would be a mistake. More

• ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Harris studied Buddhism in Sri Lanka from 1986-1993 obtaining a Ph.D. from the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Univ. of Kelaniya. She is now Secretary for Inter-faith Relations in The Methodist Church in London. Previous BPS publications include Violence and Disruption in Society (Wheel No. 392/393) and Journey into Buddhism (Bodhi Leaves No. 134).

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Overcoming difficulties: Let it R.A.I.N.

Tara Brach [adapted from her book True Refuge (Bantam, 2013)]; Wisdom Quarterly

 

Tara Brach (examiner.com)

Years ago some American Buddhist teachers began to share a new mindfulness tool that offers in-the-trenches support for working with intense and difficult emotions. 

  

Called RAIN (an acronym for the four steps of the process), it can be accessed in almost any place or situation. It directs our attention in a clear, systematic way that cuts through confusion and stress. 

The steps give us somewhere to turn in a painful moment. And as we call on them more regularly, they strengthen our capacity to come home to our deepest truth. Like the clear sky and clean air after a cooling rain, this mindfulness practice brings a new openness and calm to our daily lives. 

I have now taught RAIN to thousands of students, clients, and mental health professionals, adapting and expanding it into [True Refuge]. I’ve also made it a core practice in my own life. Here are the four steps of RAIN presented in the way I’ve found most helpful:

• R Recognize what is happening
• A Allow life to be just as it is
• I Investigate inner experience with kindness
• N Non-Identification.

RAIN directly de-conditions the habitual ways in which we resist moment-to-moment experience. It doesn’t matter whether we resist “what is” by lashing out in anger, by having a cigarette, [by sex, drugs, rock 'n roll or rap], or by getting immersed in obsessive thinking.

Our attempt to control the life within and around us actually cuts us off from our own heart and from this living world. RAIN begins to undo these unconscious patterns as soon as we take the first step.  

  

Recognize what is, accept that it is, investigate what's going on inside, and realize that there's no reason to identify with situations. More

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"It will pass" (meditation)

James Khan (detoxifynow.com); Meditation Committee, Wisdom Quarterly

A student went to a meditation teacher and complained:

  
"My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted! My legs ache! I'm constantly falling asleep! It's just horrible!"

 

"It will pass," the teacher replied matter of factly.
 

A week later, the student came back to the teacher to report:
  
"My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware! I feel so peaceful! I feel so alive! It's just wonderful!'
 

"It will pass," the teacher replied matter of factly.

Commentary

"Oh, of course! Why did I let myself get clingy?"

Goenka once lamented (as anyone who sits the free 10-day course will hear him tell) that many students grasp at their meditative successes and want to know how to re-experience them, how to bring them back, how to have just good sits without the "wasted" time sessions. The lament is that it is just this sort of grasping we sit to let go of. While letting go, much more comes. But we cannot easily let go to get more to come. That is a subtle form of grasping and clinging. Long after the Buddha but long before Goenka, the Western poet Alexander Pope immortalized this message, perhaps never realizing how much it describes attempts at meditating, in this stanza:

"Oh thoughtless mortals! ever blind to fate,
Too soon dejected, and too soon elate!"

("The Rape of the Lock")

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