Lion’s Roar’s Rod Meade Sperry talks to Leigh Brasington a few new posthumous launch from the pioneering Buddhist nun Ayya Khema, The Path to Peace: A Buddhist Information to Cultivating Loving-kindness.
Ayya Khema. Photograph courtesy of Leigh Brasington.
New in Buddhist books is The Path to Peace: A Buddhist Information to Cultivating Loving-kindness (Shambhala Publications), a brand new posthumous launch from the trailblazing Buddhist nun and instructor, Ayya Khema (1923-1997). The e-book was edited by Leigh Brasington, who has first-hand data of the “pressure of nature” that was Ayya Khema, having practiced and skilled along with her.
Leigh just lately sat down with me for a Lion’s Roar Podcast interview concerning the e-book, Ayya Khema, her adventurous life, and her teachings on metta, or loving-kindness. That full interview will likely be launched right here within the days forward, and can embrace a guided “metta visualization” observe, led by Brasington, within the Ayya Khema fashion. You received’t wish to miss that; it’s a stunning observe, and in reality, Leigh has a hunch that it was Ayya Khema’s private favourite.
For now, although, listed below are some excerpts from our dialogue about Ayya Khema’s teachings on metta and her adventurous life.
Rod Meade Sperry: Leigh, welcome. Thanks a lot. Nice to have you ever on the podcast.
Leigh Brasington: Thanks. I actually recognize being right here and getting an opportunity to speak about this e-book.
For many who have no idea, who was Ayya Khema, and what made her so distinctive? As a result of distinctive, she actually was.
She was a German Jewish Theravada nun, a Buddhist nun. She was born in Berlin in 1923. So she was 10 when Hitler got here to energy, she was despatched on the final kinder transport, the final transport of Jewish kids out of Germany. When she was 15, she went to Scotland the place she had some family members and in 1941, she took a Japanese freighter from Scotland to Shanghai the place her mother and father had escaped. And this was earlier than Pearl Harbor, however the freighter might have been sunk by both aspect.
She lived in Shanghai throughout the struggle. And it was really fairly good at first, till the Japanese threw all Westerners in a focus camp. Her father died throughout that. And he or she was liberated by the People in ’45, got here to the US, was married, had a pair children.
Her husband was an engineer and obtained a posting to Pakistan; I’ve forgotten whether or not it was a bridge or an aqueduct or one thing like that he was engaged on. And after they completed, they drove from Pakistan to London in a Land Rover. Now that is the early 60’s, earlier than individuals have been doing something like this. She led an adventure-filled life.
And after they have been in London for some time, they drove again to India, the place she first encountered Hindu meditation. They then settled in Queensland, Australia on an natural farm and he or she continued her meditation observe. She didn’t actually actually have a reference to it till one in every of her neighbors stated, would you want to listen to a chat by a Buddhist monk? And he or she went to that and he or she knew she was house.
She was sensible. And so amazingly clear. She might categorical very deep concepts in a approach that was so extremely accessible.
And he or she started working towards Buddhist meditation. The monk was Venerable Khantipalo, and he or she would attend his retreats and obtained actually good on the meditation stuff. And he finally had her helping on his retreats. She got here again from educating one retreat and her husband had left saying, principally, she was extra on this Buddhism stuff than him, and he was out of there. She was somewhat upset about that, however she needed to admit: he was right.
So finally she was residing in Sri Lanka and determined to ordain as a nun there. At the moment, girls might solely get 10-precept ordination, not full ordination, however Ayya Khema was, properly, a pressure of nature. You weren’t gonna cease her by telling her she couldn’t develop into totally ordained. So after she was a 10-precept nun, she came visiting her daughter in San Diego after which went to the Chinese language Chan Zen temple in LA and obtained full ordination. After which she went again to being maybe the primary, totally ordained Theravada nun in a thousand years.
She managed to persuade a variety of different Sri Lankan girls to get full ordination, and principally was one of many those who has revived full ordination for Theravada nuns.
She taught retreats. She really had a retreat middle that she ran for a variety of years on an island in Sri Lanka, till the civil struggle there simply made it too tough. She moved again to Germany; she based a retreat middle and finally a monastery there.
And all this time, she’s educating retreats. She would go to Australia, train retreats there. And he or she would come to California, which is the place I first encountered her.
Ayya Khema and Leigh Brasington. Marin County, Calif, USA, July 1996. Photograph courtesy of Leigh Brasington.
What was it about her?
She was sensible. And so amazingly clear. Anybody you talked to about her, one of many first issues they’re gonna let you know about her was her readability and the way she might actually categorical these very deep concepts in a approach that was so extremely accessible. She died in 1997.
And so November would be the twenty fifth anniversary of her dying, however she’s nonetheless publishing materials as a result of she was that sensible a instructor.
And subsequent 12 months would be the hundredth anniversary of her beginning.
Proper! Precisely. So we now have two anniversaries arising.
What are the processes and concerns that went into making The Path to Peace?
The primary consideration was to protect Ayya Khema’s voice. As I stated, she had exceptional readability, however she had an idiosyncratic approach of talking. German was her first language. She discovered English in Scotland as a teen, after which she lived in Australia after which, I imply, she frolicked in America and lived in Australia.
The e-book arose as a result of one in every of my college students had heard these talks a number of instances and requested me, if I do a transcription of those talks, can you exchange it right into a e-book? Diana Gould, the scholar who requested this of me, knew what was concerned, as a result of she is an award-winning revealed creator.
She offered me with the transcripts and I already had a transcript of one other speak of hers. And so I put it collectively and edited it down, attempting to protect Ayya Khema’s approach of educating, her idiosyncratic approach of speaking, and but make it possible for what she was saying got here throughout. Mainly that is what you’d hear from Ayya Khema.
How a lot time did you get to spend along with her?
I used to be her pupil for 12 years. I met her in 1985. Certainly one of my pals stated that I ought to go on a retreat. And I used to be like, yeah, yeah. After which she stated, properly, there’s gonna be this retreat. The instructor’s giving a chat on the San Francisco Zen Heart. It is best to go take heed to it. And when you like her, join the retreat. Properly, since I used to be unemployed on the time, it was like, okay, and I went and it was Ayya Khema. I don’t bear in mind what that first speak was about, however I do bear in mind the readability. So I signed up for the retreat and went off to the desert for ten days.
What was it like?
I assumed I had meditated earlier than, however I rapidly discovered from Ayya Khema that what I had been doing for meditation wasn’t what she thought of meditation. I didn’t re-encounter her for the subsequent 5 years. After which one in every of my pals handed me a flyer and stated, you wanna go to a retreat? And it was Ayya Khema. So I signed up and went alongside for an additional 10 day retreat. She was my first instructor. The subsequent 12 months’s retreat was a one week retreat adopted by a one month retreat. A 12 months later, I had a month along with her; a 12 months after that she had breast most cancers and had surgical procedure and I used to be unable: she didn’t train a retreat that I might attend. The 12 months after that she got here again to California and taught a 24 day retreat. However due to the breast most cancers surgical procedure, she simply didn’t have the power she had earlier than.
She was superb. She’d have a retreat of possibly 40 college students and provides all people one on one interviews a number of instances throughout the retreat, however she didn’t have the power for it anymore. So after I confirmed, she stated, oh, you’re gonna be serving to with the interviews. And I’m going, I don’t know methods to do interviews. She stated, you’ll be taught.
And he or she put me to work, principally studying methods to be a instructor, serving to her with the interviews for that 24 day retreat. And that was actually exceptional. After which she was again two years later for a one-week retreat. And at that one, she principally had me and one different of her superior college students do the entire interviews as a result of she simply actually didn’t have the power for it.
“The Path to Peace: A Buddhist Information to Cultivating Loving-Kindness”
By Ayya Khema; Edited by Leigh Brasington
Shambhala Publications, 2022
It feels like her closing days have been approaching.
That was in ‘96, and he or she died a bit over a 12 months later. I did get to see her three weeks earlier than she died. She knew she was dying.
This was in Germany and, yeah, she was completely unconcerned about dying. It was like, “yeah, my physique’s given out; time to go.” What she needed to do was speak concerning the dharma and the way I ought to go about educating it. I discovered a lot.
You stated that you simply have been kind of disabused of what your notion of meditation was while you did that first retreat along with her. Are you able to say one thing about what your thought initially had been, and the way it modified from this expertise?
My authentic thought was, you sit down and you consider one thing — simply, , no matter you wanna take into consideration. Simply sit there quietly and suppose. Don’t transfer and suppose. That’s not meditation, however that’s what I had assumed it was. With Ayya Khema, the primary directions have been for mindfulness of respiration: Sit there. Don’t suppose. And , if the considering exhibits up, when you get distracted, label the distraction, a one phrase label. After which come again to the respiration.
A one-word label, stated internally, like “considering” or one thing like that?
Extra like “planning,” “worrying,” wanting a bit extra particular than “considering,” however just a few thought of it to present you an opportunity to actually start to get some perception into the place your thoughts habitually goes.
As she stated: Does it normally go to the previous, or the longer term? And spot how occasionally we get distracted into the current, which is all we actually have, as she put it. The previous is a reminiscence. The long run is a fantasy. Take note of what’s occurring right here and now.
What sort of coaching or expertise does one want for regarding The Path to Peace?
All you want for regarding this e-book is a few thought of wanting to attach higher with the opposite individuals which are in your surroundings, and that you simply’re sharing this planet with. That’s all that’s actually mandatory.
Now, metta is usually outlined as “loving-kindness” (a conventional translation) however Ayya Khema most well-liked the time period “unconditional love.” Are you able to clarify the distinction as she noticed it?
Yeah, I feel she felt that “loving-kindness” didn’t actually get on the coronary heart of what the Buddha was educating.
So: I’m a Presbyterian preacher’s child. And so I grew up with Christianity as my religious observe and there, I discovered the Greeks had a phrase for it. You recognize, Greeks had philos as concord, eros as romantic love, and agape as religious love or unconditional love. And that was the love that Jesus was educating.
And yeah, that’s what the Buddha is educating: you’re to like somebody simply because they’re somebody, not due to what they do for you or might do for you or did for you previously. It’s simply that it is a individual and so they should be handled with respect and when you might help them, you assist them.
And if they’ve success, you rejoice of their success. It’s unconditional. There are not any situations that must be met earlier than you give this love, this metta. And so I feel Ayya Khema’s translation as unconditional love is way, way more applicable. Now, this doesn’t imply that with all people you’re keen on, there aren’t situations there, and chances are you’ll discover it a lot simpler to like individuals when there are situations, as a result of that is somebody you’re actually near and you actually recognize. However the thought is to domesticate for everybody that very same feeling you will have for somebody that’s simple to like, to present that to all people.
Each “unconditional love” and “loving-kindness” are great phrases, evoking loads. However additionally they sound like tall orders for the extra cantankerous amongst us. In a approach, we’re actually simply speaking about being pleasant and first rate, proper?
Sure, precisely. That’s the way it begins: be pleasant and first rate. And as you get higher at being pleasant and first rate, you may also be useful and pleasant and first rate. And when somebody has one thing optimistic occur, you could be completely satisfied that one thing optimistic occurred to that individual. In different phrases, you begin out simply being pleasant and first rate, but it surely’s attainable to take it even additional to the purpose the place yeah, you’re wishing and sending good will in the direction of all people. Together with the tough individuals in your life.
This concept of wishing and “sending” metta for somebody — if any individual’s by no means actually encountered this earlier than, they might be vexed by the which means of “sending” right here. What do we actually imply by sending?
My favourite approach of doing metta is principally to ask any individual, do you prefer to be completely satisfied? Most individuals prefer to be completely satisfied. Are you able to get in contact with the truth that you prefer to be completely satisfied? Most individuals can really get in contact with the truth that they prefer to be completely satisfied. Do you prefer it if your pals are completely satisfied? Yeah, I prefer it if my pals are completely satisfied. Are you able to get in contact with the truth that you prefer it, that your pals are completely satisfied?
Are you able to recognize the happiness of different individuals? If you are able to do that, then it units you up so you’ll be able to assist them to be extra completely satisfied.
What about your coworkers? Your neighbors? Are you able to get in contact with that? You prefer it that they’re completely satisfied? That is extra what the “sending” is. Simply get in contact with that sense of, yeah, I prefer it when the individuals I run into within the grocery retailer are all completely satisfied, when the clerk is completely satisfied, when my coworkers are completely satisfied, when the tough individuals in my life are completely satisfied as a result of they’ve healthful sources of happiness. So it’s extra about realizing that happiness is one thing that all of us recognize. And might you recognize the happiness of different individuals? If you are able to do that, then it units you up so you’ll be able to maybe at instances assist them to be extra completely satisfied, assist them after they’re feeling down or rejoice with them after they’re having success. And this really opens your coronary heart. The entire goal of this metta observe is to understand that we’re vastly interconnected.
We’re not separate creatures. We’re social creatures. And all of us depend on one another for every thing, together with our meals, the electrical energy, every thing that goes on in our lives. We’re counting on many different individuals. It’s a vastly interconnected community. Act in concord with this interconnectedness, and that’s by making the interconnectedness work higher for everybody.
For extra on metta/loving-kindness, take a look at Lion’s Roar’s many articles, and pay attention for our full interview with Leigh Brasington, coming quickly on The Lion’s Roar Podcast, and that includes a guided metta visualization within the fashion of the late, nice Ayya Khema.
And for extra from Leigh Brasington, go to his web site stuffed with assets together with one other new e-book, Dependent Origination and Vacancy, freely downloadable.