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**Aaron757** · 04-03-2008, 01:54 PM

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share an interesting discovery I made yesterday.

In my Pali class we are reading a text called the Samanna-Phala-Sutta - the "discourse on the rewards of meditation", in which the Buddha convinces a skeptical king of the worth of the meditating renunciant's life by listing in ascending order all the wonderful results one gains from it. So the text is a very interesting catalogue of all the supernormal powers meditators may develop in the course of their practice, culminating in enlightenment.

The point that struck me yesterday as we were reading was a particular metaphor Buddha gives to convey the experience of the psychic ability known as "(para-) ceto-pariya-nana" - "the super-knowledge of encompassing others' minds". It is the same power known in the Yoga Sutras as "para-citta-nana" "knowledge of others' minds" and is a standard amongst the lists of powers that result from meditative attainment.

The metaphor he gives is of a mirror, in which one with this power sees a reflection - "an image before him." This metaphor has caused a lot of consternation among scholars because it's slightly anti-intuitive, and also because scholars tend not to have much personal experience of meditative attainments, I think

But to someone with working experience of "empathy" as a psychic sensitivity, the metaphor really makes perfect sense: One looks into the "mirror" of *one's own mind* and sees the mental states of others. (The confusion comes from trying to get others to be the mirror one looks into. To support it they've re-interpreted sammukha-nimittam "the image before him" as "samukha-nimittam" "the image of one's own face"! In this reading, the metaphor just doesn't work.) But I'm sure every empath can attest to the consternating experience of looking into one's own mind and perceiving other people's mental states! The metaphor in its intended meaning captures the experience really precisely - when the mind becomes purified and clear, it begins to act like a mirror that "encompasses" other people's minds, a mirror in which one can see other people's mental states reflected.

So, empaths take heart - Buddha at least knows just how you feel

Best wishes,
Sean

04-03-2008, 01:54 PM	#1
Aaron757 Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 422 Senior Member	Buddha on Empathy Hi everyone, I wanted to share an interesting discovery I made yesterday. In my Pali class we are reading a text called the Samanna-Phala-Sutta - the "discourse on the rewards of meditation", in which the Buddha convinces a skeptical king of the worth of the meditating renunciant's life by listing in ascending order all the wonderful results one gains from it. So the text is a very interesting catalogue of all the supernormal powers meditators may develop in the course of their practice, culminating in enlightenment. The point that struck me yesterday as we were reading was a particular metaphor Buddha gives to convey the experience of the psychic ability known as "(para-) ceto-pariya-nana" - "the super-knowledge of encompassing others' minds". It is the same power known in the Yoga Sutras as "para-citta-nana" "knowledge of others' minds" and is a standard amongst the lists of powers that result from meditative attainment. The metaphor he gives is of a mirror, in which one with this power sees a reflection - "an image before him." This metaphor has caused a lot of consternation among scholars because it's slightly anti-intuitive, and also because scholars tend not to have much personal experience of meditative attainments, I think But to someone with working experience of "empathy" as a psychic sensitivity, the metaphor really makes perfect sense: One looks into the "mirror" of one's own mind and sees the mental states of others. (The confusion comes from trying to get others to be the mirror one looks into. To support it they've re-interpreted sammukha-nimittam "the image before him" as "samukha-nimittam" "the image of one's own face"! In this reading, the metaphor just doesn't work.) But I'm sure every empath can attest to the consternating experience of looking into one's own mind and perceiving other people's mental states! The metaphor in its intended meaning captures the experience really precisely - when the mind becomes purified and clear, it begins to act like a mirror that "encompasses" other people's minds, a mirror in which one can see other people's mental states reflected. So, empaths take heart - Buddha at least knows just how you feel Best wishes, Sean
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