What did the Buddha teach about loving your enemies?
Central to this teaching is a meditation technique known as metta or lovingkindness. In Buddhist philosophy, lovingkindness is the first of the four sublime states of mind known as brahmavihara: lovingkindness, compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity. They serve as an antidote to ill will, harmfulness, discontent, and partiality.
This is particularly important for Buddhist monks in situations where they have to deal with difficult people — topic central to the Buddhist Simile of the Saw. In The Buddha’s Words by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi has a version of this simile that starts with advice on dealing with harsh speech but then takes a drastic, shocking turn:
“Monks, there are these five courses of speech that others may use when they address you: their speech may be timely or untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, connected with good or with harm, spoken with a mind of loving-kindness or in a mood of hate. … Herein, monks, you should train thus: ‘Our minds will remain unaffected, and we shall utter no bitter words; we shall abide compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of loving-kindness, never in a mood of hate. We shall abide pervading that person with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, and starting with that person, we shall abide pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, and without ill will.’ That is how you should train, monks….
Then the simile takes a drastic turn, showing us what the Buddha taught about loving your enemies:
“Monks, even if bandits were to sever you savagely limb by limb with a two-handled saw, he who gave rise to a mind of hate toward them would not be carrying out my teaching. Herein, monks, you should train thus: ‘Our minds will remain unaffected, and we shall utter no bitter words; we shall abide compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of loving-kindness, never in a mood of hate. We shall abide pervading them with a mind imbued with loving-kindness; and starting with them, we shall abide pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, and without ill will.’ That is how you should train, monks.
The Buddha concludes by putting the two examples together:
“Monks, if you keep this advice on the simile of the saw constantly in mind, do you see any course of speech, trivial or gross, that you could not endure?”—“No, venerable sir.”—“Therefore, monks, you should keep this advice on the simile of the saw constantly in mind. That will lead to your welfare and happiness for a long time.”
About the book’s author: Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk. He obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College and a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School. After completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received full ordination in 1973. From 1984 to 2002 he was the editor for the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, where he lived for ten years. He has authored several books on Buddhist practice, including In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon.
Complement with our article on five Buddhist precepts, best books on lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg, how to practice lovingkindness meditation, and then revisit Erich Fromm who said, “Love is not easy. All great religions postulate love as one of the greatest accomplishments. If it were that easy, or as easy as most people think, certainly, the great religious leaders would have been rather naive.”
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