Cycling the Four Boundless Minds

Yutang Lin

If one could harmonize and unify the Four Boundless Minds, naturally one will gradually merge into Bodhi. I had written four articles on this subject in the past: "Abiding in the Boundless Mind," "Unification of Four Boundless Minds," "Boundless Harmony," and "Visualization for the Unification of Four Boundless Minds." Upon invitation I also gave a talk in mandarin on "Harmonizing the Four Boundless Minds," and a Chinese transcript is available.

In the article "Unification of Four Boundless Minds" mentioned above I introduced the repetition and sequence of contemplation that would harmonize and unify all Four Boundless Minds in each one of them, and the main stem of that practice is as follows:

Benevolence of benevolence, compassion of benevolence, joy of benevolence, release of benevolence;
Benevolence of compassion, compassion of compassion, joy of compassion, release of     compassion;
Benevolence of joy, compassion of joy, joy of joy, release of joy;
Benevolence of release, compassion of release, joy of release, release of release.

Often I practiced this repetition, and employed it in combination with daily counting. Daily while I do sit-ups, with repetition of one item among them, I do one sit-up and one inhalation and one exhalation. Thus when I finished one round of this repetition, I had done sixteen sit-ups. Then in similar fashion I do push-ups, and with one round of this repetition I had done sixteen push-ups.

Counting the above sixteen sit-ups and sixteen push-ups as one cycle, I do the four cycles of Benevolence, Compassion, Joy and Release. So, in total I do each kind of exercise sixty-four times. Finally I do a "Buddha" cycle, and hence daily the total number of each kind I do is eighty.

Recently, to avoid becoming stagnant in this formula I revitalized it by cycling it. It is done as follows:

Cycle of Benevolence

Benevolence of benevolence, compassion of benevolence, joy of benevolence, release of benevolence;
Compassion of compassion, joy of compassion, release of compassion, benevolence of    compassion;
Joy of joy, release of joy, benevolence of joy, compassion of joy;
Release of release, benevolence of release, compassion of release, joy of release.

Cycle of Compassion

Compassion of compassion, joy of compassion, release of compassion, benevolence of    compassion;
Joy of joy, release of joy, benevolence of joy, compassion of joy;
Release of release, benevolence of release, compassion of release, joy of release;
Benevolence of benevolence, compassion of benevolence, joy of benevolence, release of benevolence.

This means that each of the four rows of Benevolence, Compassion, Joy and Release in each cycle is to begin with benevolence of benevolence, compassion of compassion, etc., and then the remaining three items follow in the sequential order. Furthermore, each cycle is to begin with the row that begins with the same name as the cycle, and then the remaining rows follow in the sequential order.

Hence the remaining cycles are:

Cycle of Joy

Joy of joy, release of joy, benevolence of joy, compassion of joy;
Release of release, benevolence of release, compassion of release, joy of release;
Benevolence of benevolence, compassion of benevolence, joy of benevolence, release of benevolence;
Compassion of compassion, joy of compassion, release of compassion, benevolence of    compassion.

Cycle of Release

Release of release, benevolence of release, compassion of release, joy of release;
Benevolence of benevolence, compassion of benevolence, joy of benevolence, release of benevolence;
Compassion of compassion, joy of compassion, release of compassion, benevolence of    compassion;
Joy of joy, release of joy, benevolence of joy, compassion of joy.

If, in addition, Cycle of Buddha is added, then just repeat the Cycle of Benevolence, or any one of the remaining three cycles.

To cycle the formula in this way, it takes great concentration at each and every step along the way lest one gets lost or confused. After such a session mind is very clear and senses no attachment to anything. This is probably because Benevolence, Compassion, Joy and Release were constantly cycling, and hence naturally there was nothing left to be grasped. This reminded me of meeting Master Hong Fa in a dream many years ago. He showed me two balls that were swiftly turning around by themselves and simultaneously circling each other swiftly. I supposed that he was displaying the same teaching then. The Japanese Tantra is well-known for its meticulous care of details in rituals; perhaps they should pay attention to this kind of teaching lest they fall stagnant in attachment to Dharma.

Written in Chinese and translated on January 12, 2008
El Cerrito, California

Amendment:

Recently during my daily physical exercises it occurred to me that the Cycle of Buddha mentioned above may employ the following formula:

Cycle of Buddha

Buddha's benevolence, Buddha's compassion, Buddha's joy, Buddha's release;
Buddha's compassion, Buddha's joy, Buddha's release, Buddha's benevolence;
Buddha's joy, Buddha's release, Buddha's benevolence, Buddha's compassion;
Buddha's release, Buddha's benevolence, Buddha's compassion, Buddha's joy;
And here "Buddha" signifies the original harmonious oneness of the Four Boundless Minds. Thus, cycling of the Four Boundless Minds reached its perfect completion!

January 22, 2008
El Cerrito, California

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