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The Great Sutra Treasury - Southern Transmission 25
Continuing the lesson on the Khuddaka Nikāya (Minor Collection), today’s Dharma talk returns to the topic of contemplating love and attachment—one of the deepest cravings and roots of suffering in the heart. The Buddha teaches that each of us, whether lay or monastic, needs to recognize and to transform the seeds of emotion that have stretched out since childhood, by practicing mindfulness and deep looking.
In the process of contemplation, we recognize four basic human needs:
- The need to be cared for
- The need to be understood
- The need to express our feelings
- The need to belong
From the sacred bond of mother and child (when self-love is not yet mature), we must learn to nourish the child into an independent being, while avoiding the prisons of delusion. Similarly, in the relationship between man and woman, only harmony in all aspects (body and mind, understanding, and ideals) can truly bring happiness; if we rely only on physical attraction without inner dialogue, love will push the two further apart.
Finally, every step and every breath of the practitioner is permeated with loving-kindness: loving oneself to have a solid foundation, then expanding that love to all beings, thereby breaking through the closed self and building a harmonious, peaceful community.