Cattāri Brahmavihārā

At times, when the practice is difficult and one is feeling badly, it helps to recall that there are beings out there of much merit and power who are rooting for us. There are bodhisattvas and, according to the Mahayana, even other buddhas working for our benefit even now.

Now, I have always been circumspect when it comes to the idea of the buddhas one hears of in Tibetan and Pure Land Buddhism. In fact, I have outright dismissed them as fantasy in the past but it makes sense that there are beings working towards complete enlightenment even if I don’t know their names. What’s more, an ajahn I really trust, has recounted that others have spoken to Avalokiteshvara and Amitabha, so it seems that there must be something objectively true there.

I’m not ready now to make the plunge into orthodox Pure Land but just giving that there may have been a Buddha who vowed to come to the aid of any being who called his name is enough to brighten the mind and lift it out of darkness. And, even if these were fantasies at least the themes are wholesome and leave the heart better off than indulging in sexual fantasies or acquisition thoughts.