The ''brahmavihārās'' (sublime attitudes, lit. "abodes of brahma") are a series of four
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the four immeasurables (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
: अप्रमाण, ''apramāṇa'',
Pāli
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
: अप्पमञ्ञा, ''appamaññā'') or four infinite minds (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
: 四無量心). The ''Brahma-viharas'' are:
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loving-kindness or benevolence (maitrī/mettā)
#
compassion
Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...
(karuṇā)
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empathetic joy (muditā)
#
equanimity
Equanimity (Latin: ''æquanimitas'', having an even mind; ''aequus'' even; ''animus'' mind/soul) is a state of inner peace, psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenom ...
(upekṣā/upekkhā)
According to the ''
Metta Sutta
The Mettā Sutta is the name used for two Buddhist discourses (Pali: '' sutta'') found in the Pali Canon. The one, more often chanted by Theravadin monks, is also referred to as ''Karaṇīyamettā Sutta'' after the opening word, ''Karaṇīyam'' ...
'', cultivation of the four immeasurables has the power to cause the practitioner to be reborn into a "
Brahma
Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...
realm" (Pāli: ''Brahmaloka'').
Etymology and translations
* Pāli: ''cattāri brahmavihārā''
* sa, चत्वारो ब्रह्मविहाराः (
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...
: ')
* , (
Wylie: tshad med bzhi)
''Brahmavihāra'' may be
parsed
Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is the process of analyzing a String (computer science), string of Symbol (formal), symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal gra ...
as "Brahma" and "
vihāra
Vihāra generally refers to a Buddhist monastery for Buddhist renunciates, mostly in the Indian subcontinent. The concept is ancient and in early Sanskrit and Pali texts, it meant any arrangement of space or facilities for dwellings . The term ev ...
", which is often rendered into English as "sublime" or "divine abodes".
''Apramāṇa'', usually translated as "the immeasurables," means "boundlessness, infinitude, a state that is illimitable".
[ Rhys Davids & Stede, 1921-25, ''Pali-English Dictionary'', ]Pali Text Society
The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts".
Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...
. When developed to a high degree in meditation, these attitudes are said to make the mind "immeasurable" and like the mind of the loving ''Brahma'' (gods).
Other translations:
* English: four divine abodes, four divine emotions, four sublime attitudes, four divine dwellings.
* East Asia: (), (), ().
[ W.E. Soothill and , 1937]
''A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms''
* (four Brahmavihara) or (four immeasurables).
The ''Brahma-vihara''
The four ''Brahma-vihara'' are:
#
Loving-kindness Loving-kindness may refer to:
* an English translation of Chesed
( he, חֶסֶד, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love o ...
(Pāli: ''
mettā'', Sanskrit: ''
maitrī
''Maitrī'' (Sanskrit; Pali: ''mettā'') means benevolence, loving-kindness,Warder (2004), pp. 63, 94. friendliness,Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 540, entry for "Mettā," retrieved 2008-04-29 from "U. Chicago" a amity, good will,Richard G ...
'') is active good will towards all;
[
# ]Compassion
Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...
(Pāli and Sanskrit: ''karuṇā
' () is generally translated as compassion or mercy and sometimes as self-compassion or spiritual longing. It is a significant spiritual concept in the Indic religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism.
Buddhism
is important in all ...
'') results from ''metta'', it is identifying the suffering of others as one's own;[
# Sympathetic joy (Pāli and Sanskrit: '']muditā
''Muditā'' (Pāli and Sanskrit: मुदिता) means joy; especially sympathetic or vicarious joy, or the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being.
The traditional paradigmatic example of this mind-state is the att ...
''): is the feeling of joy because others are happy, even if one did not contribute to it, it is a form of sympathetic joy;
# Equanimity
Equanimity (Latin: ''æquanimitas'', having an even mind; ''aequus'' even; ''animus'' mind/soul) is a state of inner peace, psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenom ...
(Pāli: '' upekkhā'', Sanskrit: ''upekṣā
''Upekṣā'' (Sanskrit: उपेक्षा; Pali: ''Upekkhā'') is the Buddhist concept of equanimity. As one of the Brahma-viharas, virtues of the "Brahma realm" (Pāli: '), it is one of the wholesome (') mental factors (') cultivated on the ...
''): is even-mindedness and serenity, treating everyone impartially.
Early Buddhism
The ''Brahma-vihara'' are a pre-Buddhist Brahminical concept, to which the Buddhist tradition gave its own interpretation. The ''Digha Nikaya
Digha is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in West Bengal.
Hi ...
'' asserts the Buddha to be calling the Brahmavihara as "that practice", and he then contrasts it with "my practice" as follows:
According to Richard Gombrich, an indologist and scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli, the Buddhist usage of the ''brahma-vihāra'' originally referred to an awakened state of mind, and a concrete attitude towards other beings which was equal to "living with Brahman" here and now. The later tradition took those descriptions too literally, linking them to cosmology and understanding them as "living with Brahman" by rebirth in the Brahma-world. According to Gombrich, "the Buddha taught that kindness - what Christians tend to call love - was a way to salvation.
In the ''Tevijja Sutta'', "The Threefold Knowledge" in the ''Digha Nikāya'' or "Collection of the Long Discourses", a group of young Brahmins consulted Lord Buddha about the methods to seek fellowship/companionship/communion with Brahma. He replied that he personally knows the world of Brahma and the way to it, and explains the meditative method for reaching it by using an analogy
Analogy (from Greek ''analogia'', "proportion", from ''ana-'' "upon, according to" lso "against", "anew"+ ''logos'' "ratio" lso "word, speech, reckoning" is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject ( ...
of the resonance of the conch shell
Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snail, sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high Spire (mollusc), spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point a ...
of the '' aṣṭamaṅgala'':
The Buddha then said 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 ''Aṅguttara Nikāya
The Anguttara Nikaya ('; , also translated "Gradual Collection" or "Numerical Discourses") is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali ...
,'' the Buddha states that those who practice radiating the four immeasurables in this life and die "without losing it" are destined for rebirth in a heavenly realm in their next life. In addition, if such a person is a Buddhist disciple (Pāli: '' sāvaka'') and thus realizes the three characteristics
In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are three characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण trilakṣaṇa) of all existence and beings, namely '' aniccā'' (impermanence), '' dukkha'' (commonly translated as "su ...
of the five aggregates
(Sanskrit) or (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are also ...
, then after his heavenly life, this disciple will reach ''nibbāna
Nirvana (Sanskrit: निर्वाण, '; Pali: ') is "blowing out" or "quenching" of the activities of the worldly mind and its related suffering. Nirvana is the goal of the Hinayana and Theravada Buddhist paths, and marks the soteriologica ...
''. Even if one is not a disciple, one will still attain the heavenly life, after which, however depending on what his past deeds may have been, one may be reborn in a hell realm, or as an animal or hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a concept in Buddhism, and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.
The terms ' literally "hungry ghost", are the Chinese translation of the term ''pret ...
.
In another sutta in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the laywoman Sāmāvatī is mentioned as an example of someone who excels at loving-kindness. In the Buddhist tradition she is often referred to as such, often citing an account that an arrow shot at her was warded off through her spiritual power.
''Visuddhimagga''
The four immeasurables are explained in ''The Path of Purification'' (''Visuddhimagga''), written in the fifth century CE by the scholar and commentator Buddhaghoṣa
Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Indian Theravada Buddhist commentator, translator and philosopher. He worked in the Great Monastery (''Mahāvihāra'') at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajjavāda school and in t ...
. They are often practiced by taking each of the immeasurables in turn and applying it to oneself (a practice taught by many contemporary teachers and monastics that was established after the Pali Suttas were completed), and then to others nearby, and so on to everybody in the world, and to everybody in all universes.
''A Cavern of Treasures'' (''mDzod-phug'')
''A Cavern of Treasures'' () is a Bonpo '' terma'' uncovered by Shenchen Luga () in the early eleventh century. A segment of it enshrines a Bonpo evocation of the four immeasurables. Martin (n.d.: p. 21) identifies the importance of this scripture for studies of the Zhang-Zhung language
Zhang-Zhung () is an extinct language, extinct Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language that was spoken in what is now western Tibet. It is attested in a bilingual text called ''A Cavern of Treasures'' (''mDzod phug'') and several shorter te ...
.
Origins
Prior to the advent of the Buddha, according to Martin Wiltshire, the pre-Buddhist traditions of ''Brahma-loka'', meditation and these four virtues are evidenced in both early Buddhist and non-Buddhist literature. The Early Buddhist Texts
Early Buddhist texts (EBTs), early Buddhist literature or early Buddhist discourses are parallel texts shared by the early Buddhist schools. The most widely studied EBT material are the first four Pali Nikayas, as well as the corresponding Chines ...
assert that pre-Buddha ancient Indian sages who taught these virtues were earlier incarnations of the Buddha. Post-Buddha, these same virtues are found in the Hindu texts such as verse 1.33 of the ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ' ...
''.
Three of the four immeasurables, namely Maitri, Karuna and Upeksha, are found in the later Upanishads, while all four are found with slight variations – such as ''pramoda'' instead of ''mudita'' – in Jainism literature, states Wiltshire. The ancient Indian '' Paccekabuddhas'' mentioned in the early Buddhist Suttas
Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
– those who attained nibbāna
Nirvana (Sanskrit: निर्वाण, '; Pali: ') is "blowing out" or "quenching" of the activities of the worldly mind and its related suffering. Nirvana is the goal of the Hinayana and Theravada Buddhist paths, and marks the soteriologica ...
before the Buddha – mention all "four immeasurables."
According to British scholar of Buddhism Peter Harvey, the Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that the four ''Brahmavihara'' meditation practices "did not originate within the Buddhist tradition". The Buddha never claimed that the "four immeasurables" were his unique ideas, in a manner similar to "cessation, quieting, nirvana".
A shift in Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
ideas, from rituals to virtues, is particularly discernible in the early Upanishadic thought, and it is unclear as to what extent and how early Upanishadic traditions and Sramanic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism influenced each other on ideas such as "four immeasurables", meditation and Brahmavihara.
In an authoritative Jain scripture, the Tattvartha Sutra
''Tattvārthasūtra'', meaning "On the Nature 'artha''of Reality 'tattva'' (also known as ''Tattvarth-adhigama-sutra'' or ''Moksha-shastra'') is an ancient Jain text written by ''Acharya (Jainism), Acharya'' Umaswami in Sanskrit, somet ...
(Chapter 7, sutra 11), there is a mention of four right sentiments: Maitri, pramoda, karunya, madhyastha:
References
Sources
*
*
See also
* Karuṇā
' () is generally translated as compassion or mercy and sometimes as self-compassion or spiritual longing. It is a significant spiritual concept in the Indic religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism.
Buddhism
is important in all ...
* Metta
* Mudita
''Muditā'' (Pāli and Sanskrit: मुदिता) means joy; especially sympathetic or vicarious joy, or the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being.
The traditional paradigmatic example of this mind-state is the att ...
* Upekkha
Further reading
* ''Buddhas Reden'' (Majjhimanikaya), Kristkreitz, Berlin, 1978, tr. by Kurt Schmidt
* Yamamoto, Kosho (tr.) & Page, Tony (revision) (2000). ''The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra''. London, UK: Nirvana Publications.
External links
The Four Immeasurable Attitudes in Hinayana, Mahayana, and Bon
- by Alexander Berzin (2005)
An Extensive Commentary on the Four Immeasurables
by Buddhagupta
The Four Sublime States
by the Venerable Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera or Nyanaponika Mahathera (July 21, 1901 – 19 October 1994) was a German-born Theravada Buddhist monk and scholar who, after ordaining in Sri Lanka, later became the co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society and author ...
.
Brahma-Vihara Foundation
{{Authority control
Buddhist philosophical concepts
Buddhist meditation
Pali words and phrases