Cattāri Brahmavihārā

17. There are these four kinds of happiness to be won by a householder who enjoys sense pleasures from time to time and when occasion offers. What four? The happiness of ownership, the happiness of wealth, the happiness of freedom from debt and the happiness of blamelessness.

And what is the happiness of ownership? Concerning this, a householder has wealth acquired by energetic striving, won by strength of arm and sweat of brow, justly and lawfully won. When he thinks of this he feels happiness and satisfaction.

And what is the happiness of wealth? Concerning this, a householder has wealth justly and lawfully won, and with it he does many good deeds. When he thinks of this he feels happiness and satisfaction.

And what is the happiness of freedom from debt? Concerning this, a householder owes no debt large or small to anyone, and when he thinks of this he feels happiness and satisfaction.

And what is the happiness of blamelessness? Concerning this, the noble disciple is blessed with blameless action of body, speech and mind, and when he thinks of this he feels happiness and satisfaction.

Anguttara Nikaya II.68

I have volunteered to be a manager for the Thursday night class at DNYMC and I also get the benefit of the teachings as well as the gift of being able to serve. The theme for the class is “Making the Path” and we have been concerned with clarifying just how the Lord Buddha envisioned the goal (at least in the Pali canon) and how we see our practice in relation to it.

At one point in the class the teacher asked us what kind of experiences we have had that have given us a taste of what release might be like, what the happiness of Nibbana might feel like. He gave the oft quoted example of the young Siddattha spontaneously entering jhana when in his garden and other examples of happy occurrences which alluded to the happiness of release from him past. I replied that I really couldn’t think of any except for once on retreat. Like a good teacher he took me to task and, though I won’t bore you with more details, suffice it to say that he helped to correct my perception.

In short, these intimations of Nibbana that we all have are not necessarily moments of ecstasy and trumpeting seraphim but can be pretty ordinary despite their import. As an example of one of these petite analogs of liberation he gave the example of the feeling one gets when offering a gift, doing service or otherwise being compassionate. This struck a chord with me as a flood of memories of those times when I have been generous, loving and otherwise altruistic rushed through me and made me realize that, yes, I know this feeling of release.

Granted, these moments of happiness brought about by selfless acts are still conditioned but they are good for the heart and offer tantalizing insight into the possibility of release. May all beings taste the happiness of compassion, love and generosity!