Communal Harmony

Often we think we meditate to put the mind in a good mood. But you really have to learn how to put the mind in a good mood first so that the mind is willing to settle down. One of the sources for happiness as a meditator is living in a harmonious community, one where people get along well. After all, we are looking for solitude, but it’s good to have the encouragement of fellow practitioners and to work together so that it does become a source of happiness to be here, and not just one more burden on the mind, one more irritation.

So you always want to focus on what you can do for the community. That’s how you get happiness out of living in a community. You can’t just take, take, take and do what you want to do. You have to think about other people as well.

The Buddha listed six qualities that make for happiness in a community. The first three are goodwill: acts of goodwill, words of goodwill, thoughts of goodwill. He could have just said goodwill and left it at that. But to have value, goodwill has to be embodied in what you do, and you say, and you think. And the fact that he says it three times under these six qualities emphasizes how important it is.

Think about other people. As the Buddha said, you can go through the world and not find anybody that you love more than yourself. Well, everybody else loves themselves just as fiercely. So you want to make sure that as you live together you’re not putting other people down, and you’re not causing problems for them. And you’re showing respect for one another so that this does become a good place to meditate.

The other qualities are when you get something special, you share it with others. As for your views and your precepts, everyone should lift them up to the level of the noble ones—precepts that are pleasing to the noble ones, precepts where you don’t break the precepts for any reason at all. At the same time, you practice them in a way that’s conducive to concentration. In other words, you don’t obsess about the precepts, but you just follow them in a matter of fact way. And you get really clear about your intentions. When you know your intentions are right, then you don’t have to worry so much about the actions because you know that they’re coming from a good intention. That’s where you control things. As for your views, you want to make sure that they’re all right views. If everyone shares right view, then it’s very easy to get along.

So as you meditate, remember meditation isn’t just a matter of sitting with your eyes closed or doing walking meditation. It’s how you go through the day. You’re trying to develop good qualities of all kinds, not just mindfulness, not just concentration—but all the virtues of a good heart. When we have these qualities, qualities of a good mind, qualities of a good heart, then the fact that we’re living together here actually becomes a source of joy rather than an irritation. And our own practice will develop.