Published Thursday, 31 August 2023
One who has abandoned liking and disliking,
who is cooled,
who is not swayed by worldly conditions -
I call a great being.
Dhammapada v.418
What does the Buddha mean here by abandoning liking and disliking? It does not mean not having any preferences. Thankfully, the wise disciples of the Buddha have explained how those who have cultivated their spiritual faculties – faith, energy, disciplined attention, collectedness and discernment – relate to their conditioned preferences in a totally different way from the rest of us. We still believe that what ‘I’ like, and what ‘I’ dislike, really matters, and we act accordingly. Truly wise beings – great beings – see conditioned preferences clearly, as they are, from the perspective of selfless, compassionate, just-knowing awareness. For them there is no struggle, no heat, no confusion.