Brahmaviharā (Pali and Sanskrit) can be translated as Sublime Attitudes or Abodes of God. They form a sequence of Buddhist meditations recommended in the Pali Brahmavihara Sutta and the Sanskrit Brahmavihara Sutra. Pāli is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... The Sanskrit language ( , ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. ... Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma, Pali: बुद्ध धम्म, the teachings of the awakened one) is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a practical philosophy, and a life-enhancing system of applied psychology. ...

1. Metta/Maitri: loving-kindness towards all; the hope that a person will be well
2. Karuna: compassion; the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish
3. Mudita: altruistic joy in the accomplishments of a person, oneself or other
4. Upekkha/Upeksha: equanimity, or learning to accept both loss and gain, praise and blame, success and failure with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others

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. Mettā (मेटा in Devanagari) is a Pali word meaning unconditional loving-kindness. ... For the army colonel see Colonel Karuna. ... Mudita is a Buddhist (Pali) word meaning happiness in others good fortune. ... Upeksa, also upekkha in Pali, is the Buddhist concept of equanimity. ...

The Brahmaviharā (literally: “Brahma abidings”) are an ancient fourfold Buddhist meditational practice, the cultivation of which is said (by the Buddha) to have the power to cause the practitioner to be re-born in the realm of the god Brahma. 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, they are also known as the "Four Immeasurables" (apramana). It is impossible to measure the universal extent of their reach.

The Brahmaviharā practices are explained in "The Path of Purification" (Visuddhimagga), written in the fifth century CE by the scholar and commentator Buddhaghosa. They are often practiced by taking each of the "Immeasurables" in turn and applying it to oneself, wishing oneself well (ommited while training oneself in mudita), and then to others nearby, and so on to everybody in the world, and to everybody in all universes (interestingly, the Buddha himself is not presented in the relevant suttas as specifically teaching the directing of these mental attitudes towards oneself). Buddhism accepts, but does not insist on, the Hindu cosmology of multiple universes throughout space and time, a notion that has models in current physics. The Visuddhimagga (The path to purity) is a Theravada Buddhist commentary written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. ... Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa was a 5th century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. ... Mudita is a Buddhist (Pali) word meaning happiness in others good fortune. ... The Rig Veda questions the origin of the cosmos in: Neither being (sat) nor non-being was as yet. ...

Although this form of these ideas has a Buddhist origin, the ideas themselves are in no way sectarian. The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement uses them in public meditation events in Sri Lanka bringing together Buddhists, Hindu, Muslims, and Christians. Rudyard Kipling's inspirational poem If refers to the idea of Upekkha in calling Triumph and Disaster impostors. The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, founded by A. T. Ariyaratne, provides comprehensive development programs based on Buddhist and Gandhian principles to villages in Sri Lanka. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the Quran, its principal scripture, whose followers, known as Muslims (مسلم), believe God (Arabic: الله ) sent through revelations to Muhammad. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was a British author and poet, born in India, and best known today for his childrens books, including The Jungle Book (1894), The Second Jungle Book (1895), Just So Stories (1902), and Puck of Pooks Hill (1906...

Some scholars have pointed out that the expression “Brahmaviharā” can also mean “dwelling in Brahman” (the essence of All-being) – but this interpretation is not generally accepted within the Buddhist context.

The Brahmaviharā in Early Buddhism

In the Subha Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya set of scriptures, the Buddha is asked the way to fellowship/companionship/communion with Brahma. He replies that he personally knows the world of Brahma and the way to it, and explains the meditative method for reaching it thus:

“A monk suffuses the world in the four directions with a mind of benevolence, then above, and below, and all around – the whole world from all sides, completely, with a benevolent, all-embracing, great, boundless, peaceful and friendly mind … Just as a powerful conch-blower makes himself heard with no great effort in all four [cardinal] directions, so too is there no limit to the unfolding of [this] heart-liberating benevolence. This is a way to communion with Brahma”. (“Majjhimanikaya”, tr. by Kurt Schmidt, Kristkeitz, Berlin, 1978, p.261, tr. by Tony Page).

The Buddha then says that the monk must follow this up with an equal suffusion of the entire world with mental projections of compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity (regarding all beings with an eye of equality).

In the two "Metta Suttas" of the Anguttara Nikaya (AN 4.125[1], AN 4.126[2]), the Buddha states that one who practices radiating the brahmaviharas in this life is destined for rebirth in a heavenly realm in their next life. In addition, if such a person is a Buddhist disciple (Pali: sāvaka) and thus realizes the three characteristics of the five aggregates, then after his heavenly life, this disciple will reach nibbana. However, if one is not a disciple, then after the heavenly life, they will (or may, according to Ñanamoli's translation) be reborn in a hell realm or as an animal or as a hungry ghost. The Anguttara Nikaya (Gradual Collection) is the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the three baskets that compose the Pali Tipitaka. ... Sravaka (Sanskrit śrāvaka; Tibetan nyan thos; Pali sāvaka) is a hearer, a term applied to the personal disciples of the Buddha, distinguished as mahā-śrāvaka; it is also applied to hearers, or disciples in general; but its general connotation relates it... After much meditation, the Buddha concluded that everything in the physical world (plus everything in the phenomenology of psychology) is marked by three characteristics, known as the three characteristics of existence or Dharma Seals. ... The skandhas (Sanskrit: Pāli: Khandha; literally: heap or bundle) are the five constituents or aggregates through which the functioning and experience of an individual is created according to Buddhist phenomenology. ... [ (Devanagari , Pali: Nibbāna निब्बान -- Chinese: 涅槃; Pinyin: niè pán), literally extinction and/or extinguishing (ie, of the passions) is a mode of being that is free from mind-contaminants (Kilesa) such as lust, anger or craving. ... A hungry ghost is a kind of ghost associated with hunger common to many religions. ...

The Brahmaviharā in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra

In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha teaches that the Brahmaviharā are characteristic qualities of the Buddha-dhatu (Buddha-nature or Buddha-Principle (the all-pervading essence of the Buddha). He states: Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ... Buddha-nature (originally in Sanskrit, Buddha-dhatu - Buddha Element, Buddha-Principle) is a doctrine important for many schools of Mahayana Buddhism. ...

“Great Benevolence [or “Loving-kindness”] and Great Compassion are the Buddha-dhatu (Buddha-nature). Great Sympathetic Joy and Great Equanimity are the Buddha-dhatu. The Buddha-dhatu is at once the Tathagata [ = Buddha]" (Nirvana Sutra, Vol. 9, p. 59). Buddha-nature (originally in Sanskrit, Buddha-dhatu - Buddha Element, Buddha-Principle) is a doctrine important for many schools of Mahayana Buddhism. ... Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa SÅ«tra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehankyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ...

The Buddha is himself (as the embodiment of the Buddha-dhatu and Nirvanic Liberation) replete with the Brahmaviharic qualities. He says:

“The Tathagata is Benevolence, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity. Benevolence, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity are Liberation [moksha]. Liberation is Nirvana, and Nirvana is Benevolence, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity.” (Yamamoto/Page, Vol. 10, p. 50).

In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra (as in other Mahayana sutras), a particularly high place is accorded to the Brahmaviharas of benevolence and compassion. Benevolence/ friendliness/ loving-kindness (maitri) is especially viewed in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra as the root of all good qualities, the very heart and inner soul (atman) of what the Buddha and Mahayana ultimately are. The Buddha declares: Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ... Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ... Atman may refer to a concept in Hindu and Buddhist traditions: Atman (Hinduism) Atman (Buddhism) See also Anatta (anatman) This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ...

“All the roots of goodness of all … Bodhisattvas and all Tathagatas [= Buddhas] have as their foundation Loving-kindness (maitri)… If any person asks about the root of any aspect of good, say that it is Loving-kindness … Loving-kindness is Mahayana. Mahayana is Loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is the Tathagata. The Tathagata is Loving-kindness … Loving-kindness is the Buddha-dhatu (Buddha-nature) of all beings…. Loving-kindness is the Self (atman). The Self is Dharma. Dharma is the Sangha. The Sangha is Loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is the Tathagata…. Loving-kindness is the Immortal (amrta). The Immortal is Loving-kindness…. Loving-kindness is the Supreme Way of all Bodhisattvas. The Way is Loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is the Tathagata …. Loving-kindness is the limitless world of the Blessed Buddha. The limitless world is Loving-kindness. Know that Loving-kindness is the Tathagata.” (Yamamoto/Page, Vol. 5, pp. 16-18). Buddha-nature (originally in Sanskrit, Buddha-dhatu - Buddha Element, Buddha-Principle) is a doctrine important for many schools of Mahayana Buddhism. ... Atman may refer to a concept in Hindu and Buddhist traditions: Atman (Hinduism) Atman (Buddhism) See also Anatta (anatman) This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as association or assembly. It is commonly used in several senses to refer to Buddhist or Jain groups. ...

See also

• Metta
• Karuna
• Mudita
• Upekkha

Mettā (मेटा in Devanagari) is a Pali word meaning unconditional loving-kindness. ... For the army colonel see Colonel Karuna. ... Mudita is a Buddhist (Pali) word meaning happiness in others good fortune. ... The introduction of this article does not provide enough context for readers unfamiliar with the subject. ...

External links

• The Four Sublime States by the Venerable Nyanaponika Thera.

Further reading

• Buddhas Reden (Majjhimanikaya), Kristkreitz, Berlin, 1978, tr. by Kurt Schmidt
• The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, tr. by Kosho Yamamoto, revised by Dr. Tony Page (Nirvana Publications, London 1999-2000).