Brahmavihāra (Pali and Sanskrit) "Brahma" means great, holy, supreme, sublime, exalted, and divine. "Vihara" is a place, an abode, and also an attitude of mind. When put together, "Brahmaviharā" means the psychological abiding place of the spiritually developed, of those who are exemplary.
A loose translation of the word that spoke directly to my heart upon hearing it at a recent meditation retreat was “Best Home”
The Brahmaviharā are also called the "Four Immeasurables," or "the four sublime attitudes (loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity)" and are Buddhist virtues that anyone can cultivate endlessly - that is, without limits - as good qualities to possess in good measure. These virtues are also highly regarded as powerful antidotes to those negative mental states (non-virtues) like avarice, anger, pride and so on.
Metta: loving-kindness towards all; the hope that a person will be well; loving kindness is "the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy."
Karuna: compassion; the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; compassion is the "wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."
Mudita: altruistic joy in the accomplishments of a person, oneself or other; sympathetic joy, "is the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings."
Upekkha: equanimity, or learning to accept both loss and gain, praise and blame, success and failure with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others; equanimity means "not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind - not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation."
Metta and Karuna are both hopes for the future (leading, where possible, to action aimed at realizing those hopes), while Mudita and Upekkha are attitudes to what has already happened, but also having consequences for future action.
The Brahmaviharā are an ancient fourfold Buddhist meditational practice, the cultivation of which is said to have many beneficial effects on the practitioner as well as all beings to whom this good will is directed. The meditator is instructed to radiate out to all beings in all directions the mental states of 1) loving-kindness or benevolence; 2) compassion; 3) sympathetic joy; and 4) equanimity. Because the "beaming out" of these four positive attitudes proceeds in absolutely all directions, leaving no part of the world untouched by them, it is impossible to measure the universal extent of their reach.
A loose translation of the word that spoke directly to my heart upon hearing it at a recent meditation retreat was “Best Home”
The Brahmaviharā are also called the "Four Immeasurables," or "the four sublime attitudes (loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity)" and are Buddhist virtues that anyone can cultivate endlessly - that is, without limits - as good qualities to possess in good measure. These virtues are also highly regarded as powerful antidotes to those negative mental states (non-virtues) like avarice, anger, pride and so on.
Metta: loving-kindness towards all; the hope that a person will be well; loving kindness is "the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy."
Karuna: compassion; the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; compassion is the "wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."
Mudita: altruistic joy in the accomplishments of a person, oneself or other; sympathetic joy, "is the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings."
Upekkha: equanimity, or learning to accept both loss and gain, praise and blame, success and failure with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others; equanimity means "not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind - not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation."
Metta and Karuna are both hopes for the future (leading, where possible, to action aimed at realizing those hopes), while Mudita and Upekkha are attitudes to what has already happened, but also having consequences for future action.
The Brahmaviharā are an ancient fourfold Buddhist meditational practice, the cultivation of which is said to have many beneficial effects on the practitioner as well as all beings to whom this good will is directed. The meditator is instructed to radiate out to all beings in all directions the mental states of 1) loving-kindness or benevolence; 2) compassion; 3) sympathetic joy; and 4) equanimity. Because the "beaming out" of these four positive attitudes proceeds in absolutely all directions, leaving no part of the world untouched by them, it is impossible to measure the universal extent of their reach.
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