Dear Ipswich Sangha,
In May we celebrated the Enlightenment of the Buddha. Buddha Day is the biggest festival in the Buddhist calendar. Gotama, the Buddha to be, had the confidence to sit through the attack of Mara and gain Enlightenment. In the final attack he called the Earth Goddess to witness his readiness for Enlightenment. He made a gesture with his hand to touch the earth which is known as the Earth-touching Mudra. Akshobhya the Blue Wisdom Buddha also has this mudra. It is an act of supreme confidence and unshakability.
How can that mudra and the Buddha’s confidence support us in our practice? A Buddha is supremely self-assured because of his spiritual attainments and practice. In the Anguttara Nikaya (AN 4.8) the Buddha talks of 4 Confidences.
Firstly the Buddha is confident in his enlightenment. He has no doubt.
Do we have complete confidence in our potential to become enlightened? In the 3 Fold Puja we say ‘What the Buddha achieved we too can achieve’. If we have a longing faith in our potential to gain enlightenment then we will establish self-esteem and break the attitudes of hopelessness and discouragement. When we touch the earth, chant the Refuges or the Tiratnavandana we are strengthening our faith in the Buddhas enlightenment and our potential to progress on the path. If we recognise the spiritual progress we are making our confidence will grow. Maybe we notice the metta bhavana is having a positive effect on our life and our connections with others. Maybe we are becoming more aware of ourselves, others and the environment as Spring moves into summer.
Connecting to our potential of Buddhahood and noticing our progress will give confidence.
The second confidence of the Buddha is that he has destroyed all defilements. The Buddha overcame all hindrances, to enlightenment. He was known as ‘The Trackless One’ because he had purified all karma. There were no traces left because he had transcended conditioned existence. He knew that, and was confident it was irreversible.
We can have trusting faith and confidence that the Buddha was free of all defilements, and that practicing the precepts can free us too. We can gain confidence when we change a habit. Maybe we have behaved or spoken differently, more skillfully. Maybe we were able to apologise to someone where before we were not ready to let go of a grudge. Maybe we have noticed we are more flexible and our ethical sensibility is more subtle.
Practicing the precepts gives confidence.
Thirdly the Buddha is totally confident in his teachings of what hinders the spiritual life. Here I am reminded of Sangharakshita’s elucidation of the Buddha’s teaching of the Wheel and the Spiral in terms of Mind Reactive & Mind Creative. The Wheel of life depicts an endless round of suffering caused by craving and aversion to our experience (vedana). If we react to stimulus with likes/dislikes, I want it/I don’t want it, craving or aversion, whether it is external circumstances or our inner world, we will continue to go round in circles. However if we can dwell in ‘The Gap’ between feeling-tone and reaction, there is space for the creative mind to make a choice. We gain confidence when our reactivity lessens and we make new choices, because we see how the endless round would just dig us deeper into suffering.
Dwelling in ‘The Gap gives confidence.
Finally the Fourth Confidence of the Buddha is his confidence in the the path to liberation.
He is totally confident he is liberated from the Wheel of Life and has ascended the Spiral Path. He knows he will never return to the rounds of samsara.
We can have lucid faith in the excellent qualities of the 3 Jewels. We can be confident in the path laid out by the Buddha whether it is the Spiral Path, the Noble Eightfold Path or the Factors of Enlightenment. At different times in our Dharma lives we may focus on different aspects of the 3 Jewels to help us find freedom.
Inspired and motivated to practice the Path to Enlightenment gives Confidence.
Awareness of the Four Confidences came to me at a good time. Recovery from the accident I had in December has been slow and challenging. I lost confidence in my body being able to heal fully. Body and mind are so connected so general confidence in myself started to fracture. ‘What we dwell on we become’. If I focus on what I can’t do and can’t change however hard I try I am filled with woe. If I focus on what I can change and how change is happening I can embody confidence and faith.
The Buddha says these four Confidences are his foundations of security and fearlessness. Khemino, the word that is translated as security translates as; safe, secure, calm, full of peace. It is found in the metta sutta so I will finish with that line from the sutta.
Wishing:
In gladness and in safety, may all beings be at ease.
or
May all beings be happy and secure, may their hearts be wholesome!
or
May all beings be happy and secure. May all beings be happy in their heart of hearts!
Shubha
