4 / 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

9 Quaint gate.jpg

一百八法明門
IPPYAKUHACHI-HOMYOMON

[4] Love and cheerfulness are a gate of Dharma illumination; for they make the mind pure.

How does love and cheerfulness purify the mind? They may cause a temporary distraction but a 'pure mind' appears to suggest a lasting condition. How practical or realistic do you consider this gate to be ??

合掌,生開
gassho, Shokai
stlah
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai
"Open to life in a benevolent way"

[Junsho]

I believe that this is truly one of the most essential and beautiful gates. As I understand, this gate is closely related to the Brahmaviharas, the four sublime states. Those who follow the steps of Buddha should actively practice this.

Gassho and deep bows.
SatLah

[dorgan]

A Pure Mind doesn't mean morally perfect or free of all thoughts - it means a mind that's clear, unobstructed, and able to see reality as it is. Love and cheerfulness create this clarity because they're expressions of a mind that's not caught up in self-centred concern or resistance to what is. Our path of freedom, being awake, is lit by the warmth and joy of our spiritual practice. Cultivating compassionate goodwill and a light, joyful disposition is a spiritual practice that purifies the mind by dissolving negative states that obscure our true nature.

Jindo Shokai, in his book "The Search for Self: Confessions of a Dying Man," 2nd Edition, March 2018, refers readers to Rev. Will Bowen's website to learn a method for reducing and then eliminating the negative habits of complaining, gossiping, and criticizing. We can substitute Rev. Bowen's suggested "purple bracelet" with a bodhi seed wrist mala to align with our traditions, though this is not necessary. When you notice yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing, move your bracelet to the other wrist. When you don't have to move your bracelet for 21 days or more, you will notice that you have become more compassionate and joyful; changing habits is possible with mindful practice.

A heavy life is burdened by self-centred thinking and grasping, resentment, and irritation, and is engrossed in and lost to the endless mental commentary that obscures direct experience. A light life is compassionate and cheerful, mindful and characterized by the ability to see reality as it is, with all our mistakes, thoughts and emotions passing like clouds in the sky. We aren't our clouds; we are the sky; we are the lightness of being as experienced in zazen and mindful practice. Being free opens life to true creativity that is not burdened by clouded judgments and preconceptions. In such light, each moment is a surprise that we live and let pass. I welcome this lightness of being and understand it as a gate of illumination, a natural expression of Pure Mind.

gassho,
david

[Tenryu]

I don’t read this as pointing to a lasting condition. For me, love and cheerfulness work in very ordinary moments. When the mind softens and turns outward, fixation around ‚me’ and my concerns loosens. Once again, nothing gets fixed as defilement - and in that sense the mind is ‚pure’, meaning unfixated.

The effect doesn’t last as a state, but it’s practical because things don’t harden as much. In that sense, this feels like a gate I pass through again and again, not something I stay in.

Gasshō,
Patrick
st lah

[Tai Do]

I also love this gate. The love and cheerfulness to me are the brahmaviharas, as Junsho put it. They are sublime states of mind, not because they are everlasting, but because in the timelessness of experiencing them, we are free from greed, anger and ignorance, having a pure mind.
Gassho,
Tai Do
Satlah

[Choujou]

For me, love and cheerfulness are pure mind, our natural state. It is the small mind, with its distinctions, separations, worries… the distracting thoughts… it all pulls us away from our natural state of being. When we are in Buddha mind, we embody love and cheerfulness itself from within, which is everlasting, versus without which is fleeting and impermanent.

I get a sense of this while sitting… when I really start letting go…..

Gassho,
Choujou

sat/lah today

[Seikan]

I greatly appreciate how some folks have likened this Gate to the Brahmaviharas. I had not explicitly thought thought of that connection before, but I can definitely see it now (especially in relation to Metta and Mudita). Thank you Junsho and Tai Do for the comparison.

For me, I like to consider how when I am in a more "loving" and/or "cheerful" state of mind, I tend to also feel quite open and receptive. This stands in stark opposition to when I feel sad, depressed, or generally "life-averse". When I am stuck in one of the latter states of mind, I tend to feel more "closed off" to the world around me. Therefore, cultivating a loving and cheerful mind helps to simultaneously cultivate that more open, clear, and "pure" mind that dogen speaks of in this Gate.

For comparison, the Soto Zen Project translates this Gate as "enjoyment", which while it carries a slightly different connotation, I tend to interpret in a similar fashion to "cheerfulness". That said, perhaps "enjoyment" resonates with some of you differently though?

Gassho,
Seikan
stlah

[Jinjitsu]

I feel like when I’m cheerful and loving, I’m not grasping and searching for anything else and am just open and content with what is. I think that tends to align with pure mind or original mind. If I attach to that state of cheerfulness though, then that creates suffering when it inevitably ends. So I’m not quite sure what it would mean that they make the mind pure in and of themselves. Maybe the gate is about finding that balance between cultivating conditions tending to create love and cheerfulness without attaching to those things.

Gassho,
Josh
satlah

[Tairin]

Thank you Shokai

Feelings of love and cheerfulness help us turn our minds away from self-centred thoughts and open up to the world outside of ourselves. While the effect might be temporary, I think that with practice this effect can become more lasting and permanent. A mind that is pure is one that is not bogged down in internalized thought and emotions.


Tairin
sat today and lah

[Tensei]

When I'm cheerful, I tend to focus on the present rather than the past or future. It makes me feel the spaciousness of each moment more acutely.

Gassho,
Tegan
satlah

[Chikyou]

When I think of this gate, I feel compassion welling up inside me. When I feel love and compassion, i want to bring joy to others and meet the world with cheerfulness. Love, compassion, joy, cheerfulness, these things drive away greed, anger and ignorance. They close distance and end separation.

We cannot always exist in this state, but we can practice it. I like what others have said here about passing through this gate but not staying within it. That is a beautiful depiction of the ephemeral state of this mindset in this world. We try to cultivate it whenever we can, but inevitably, we come back to our small selves and begin again.

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō

[Furyu]

I think love and cheerfulness are states of mind that help us act within the precepts. From that perspective I can see that they 'make the mind pure'. I note that Tanhashi translates "keeps the mind pure", which I like as well. I take purity of mind to be the unhindered mind. I've noted in previous years that many of the gates appear to me to be circular in nature, the two sides of the gate reinforce each other.

Gasshō
sat-lah
Fūryū

[Dainei]

This gate brings to mind a lot of sayings I've been told and heard over the years. "smile and the world smiles with you", "turn that frown upside down", "fake it til you make it". My experience is that when i'm not feeling loving and not cheerful, that's habit energy while loving and being cheerful can put me into a mental position to be positive in life while the boat is rocking. Or in other words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1dueBI7Bgg

Gassho,
Dainei
Sat