Introduction
There are certain wholesome and positive virtues inherent in the human mind which can give rise to positive emotional health, happiness, rewarding social relationships and contribute to spiritual development when they are developed and maintained. Lord Gautama Buddha called them Brahma-viharas, which means dwelling places of Brahma, a form of celestial beings existing in heavenly worlds.
Four Brahma-viharas
- Loving kindness (metta)
- Compassion (karuna)
- Sympathetic joy (mudita)
- Equanimity (upekkha)
They are also known as abodes of brahma, excellent or sublime attitudes, boundless states, divine states and the immeasurables (appamanna). They are referred to as abodes of brahma as the brahmas (heavenly beings) are supposed to possess limitless loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity towards other beings.
Venerable Buddhaghosa, the Buddhist scholar in the fifth century AD, has defined the brahma viharas in his book The Path of Purification (visuddhimagga) as follows;
“Why are these called Brahma-vihara? It is because they are supreme and faultless. These states constitute the best mode of conduct towards others. The Brahmas live with their minds freed of the five hindrances. The meditators who are endowed with these states also live with faultless minds like the Brahmas” (1)
The concept of the brahma vihara is not unique to Buddhist teaching and has existed among the religions in India even before the appearance of Lord Gautama Buddha in the 6th century BC. The main purpose of cultivating the brahma vihara then was to be reborn in one of the brahma worlds. However, the Buddha adapted them and reinterpreted them so that in addition to the possibility of being born in a heavenly realm, their cultivation also contributed to the cultivation of the Buddhist path of liberation which is the Noble Eight-fold Path or the Middle Path.
Loving kindness (metta) is the unconditional love or friendliness towards others and all beings in the universe without any discrimination and without expecting anything in return. It has been compared to the unconditional love that a mother has towards her own child. By developing the virtue of loving kindness one is able to eradicate it’s opposite emotions such as anger, aversion, ill-will and hatred.
Compassion (karuna) is the ability to feel distress, pain and suffering in others with empathy as if it is one’s own and to wish them relief from suffering and distress. The true feeling of compassion will make one to want to do some thing to remove suffering in others. The negative emotions of cruelty and wish to harm others will be countered by developing the virtue of compassion.
Sympathetic, altruistic or appreciative joy (mudita) is the ability to feel joy and happiness when someone else is experiencing success or happiness as if it is one’s own. It can also be described as one’s ability to share in others’ success, joy and happiness. It is perhaps the most difficult of the four brahma viharas to develop within oneself. When one is feeling sympathetic joy towards someone else’s success and happiness it will counter the negative feelings of resentment, envy and jealousy.
Equanimity (upekkha) is the state of mind based on wisdom which can stay calm, steady and balanced in the face of vicissitudes of life that one is confronted with. During worldly life one could not avoid facing the eight worldly conditions (attha lokadhamma) which are gain and loss, honour and dishonour, praise and blame and happiness and misery. The virtue of equanimity helps one to stay calm and steady while facing the above not only in oneself but in others too. It also helps one to remain composed and impartial with emotional evenness when faced with happy and exciting situations or difficult and provoking situations and people.
Compassion (karuna)
Compassion is the quality of mind which can feel empathy and concern for suffering in others as if it is one’s own and wants to act in a way which will reduce or bring an end to that suffering. A glossary of Pali and Buddhist terms has defined karuna as “the aspiration to find a way to be truly helpful to one self and others”. The English word compassion consists of two Latin words “com” meaning “with” and “passio” meaning “suffering”. Compassion is an innate positive quality inherent in every human being’s mind which exists at different levels in different individuals depending on how far it has been cultivated and developed. It’s manifestation will also depend on to what extent it is being inhibited and suppressed by other negative qualities such as resentment, envy and jealousy.
Compassion has the characteristic of promoting the removal of suffering in others and it’s function is not being able to bear others’ suffering. Compassion is manifested as non-cruelty. It’s proximate cause is seeing helplessness in those overwhelmed by suffering. It succeeds when it causes cruelty to subside and it fails when it produces sorrow (2).
Among the four brahma viharas, compassion follows loving kindness. When one develops loving kindness towards others, it will naturally lead to compassion when one encounters suffering in others wishing for their suffering and the causes of suffering to stop. Cultivation of the quality of compassion is based on one’s belief that similar to oneself all other beings in the universe too like happiness and would wish to be free from their suffering but continue to suffer from ill-health, unhappiness, fear, grief, physical and mental pain and other forms of suffering. True compassion is to be able to wish relief from suffering to others irrespective of who they are. Having an understanding and compassion into one’s own difficulties, weaknesses, distress and suffering can enhance one’s ability to cultivate compassion for others. For some people it may be possible to show compassion to one’s immediate family members, relatives and friends when they are in distress but not to others or strangers. Others may find it difficult to show compassion to those who have caused their own suffering through their behaviour and to people who have been hostile to them or to their enemies.
Abstaining from killing any living beings (panatipata veramni sikkhapadam samadiyami), the first of the five precepts (panchasila) that a lay Buddhist undertakes to observe on a regular basis to maintain one’s moral behaviour (sila) is mainly based on the principle of compassion towards other living beings. One does not like to be harmed, punished or killed and similarly, other beings too fear experiencing harm, punishment and death and hence one would want to abstain from harming or killing other living beings. This fact is aptly described by the Buddha in the 129th verse of the Dhammapada (collection of the Buddha’s sayings in verse form).
“All fear punishment, all fear death,
Comparing oneself with others, one should neither kill nor cause to kill” (3)
Great compassion of Lord Gautama Buddha
It is quite clear from the Buddhist literature that Lord Gautama Buddha was perhaps the one who possessed the highest and greatest compassion towards other beings. During the time of a previous Samma Sambuddha named Dipankara, the future Gautama Buddha was born as the only son of very rich Brahmin parents and was named Sumeda. He had completed enough perfections (paramis) to become enlightened as an Arahant (the final stage of the enlightenment process in Theravada Buddhism) during that life time and escape from suffering and the cycle of birth and death (samsara). Instead, through compassion for other beings, he took the vow to become a Samma Sambuddha in the distant future so that he could guide numerous other beings to attain Nibbana and escape from the cycle of birth and death. Having become an aspirant to Buddhahood (bodhisatta), he went through untold suffering perfecting the necessary virtues over an extensive period described as four incalculables and one hundred thousand eons or kalpas (consisting of innumerable numbers of years).
In this life, though he was born a royal prince, an heir to the kingdom, through compassion for other beings he renounced the domestic life and the royal comforts to become a homeless ascetic. He then underwent six years of suffering and self torture in search of a way out of suffering and finally gained enlightenment by following the Middle Path. Having become a Samma Sambuddha, through compassion for the other beings, the Buddha decided to proclaim the path of liberation to the world so that others could also follow the same path and seek their own liberation from suffering.
Soon after becoming the Samma Sambuddha, the Buddha instructed the group of first sixty ordained Arahants to wander around the villages, out of compassion for the world, and spread the teaching among the people so that they could also travel on the path and gain liberation from suffering.
“Go forth, monks, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world. There are beings whose eyes have little dust on them, who will perish if they do not hear the teaching. But, if they hear the teaching they will gain liberation”
Through great compassion for the world beings, the Buddha used to survey the entire world with His divine eye (maha karuna samapatti nana) early in the morning to see who could be helped with His spiritual guidance on that day. Having identified such a person, the Buddha would go to them often by foot and uninvited, to provide spiritual guidance so that they would enter the spiritual path of liberation dependent on their previous perfections (parami). While most of those who were spiritually inclined would come in search of the Buddha, the Buddha used to go in search of those vicious or unfortunate people who had the potential to be spiritually helped. For example, when the serial killer Angulimala was just about to commit a great crime by killing his own mother, the Buddha went in search of him and gave spiritual advice. Having listened to the Buddha, Angulimala understood the Dhamma, became a Buddhist monk and soon attained Arahanthood, the final stage of enlightenment.
Throughout the forty five years from enlightenment to passing away at the age of eighty, Lord Gautama Buddha comforted the bereaved with consoling words, ministered to the sick that were deserted, helped the poor that were neglected, ennobled the lives of the deluded, purified the corrupted lives of criminals, encouraged the feeble, united the divided, enlightened the ignorant, clarified the mystic, guided the benighted, elevated the base and dignified the noble. The Buddha through compassion for other beings travelled from place to place mainly in North Eastern India teaching the path out of human suffering to a diverse range of people including kings and rulers, followers of other religions and ordinary people from all walks of life (4). Even while on His death bed, old and frail, through enormous compassion, the Buddha willingly volunteered to teach a brahmin called Subhadda who wanted to learn the Buddha’s teaching.
Universal nature of suffering
According to Buddhist teaching, human beings as well as all other sentient beings wherever they are born among the thirty one realms of existence will invariably undergo immense suffering until one day they gain enlightenment by following the Buddhist path of liberation. In His first sermon called the “Dhammachakkappavattana sutta” meaning “Turning of the Wheel of Truth” to the five ascetic companions, the Buddha described the universality of suffering existing in the world.
“Birth is suffering
Ageing is suffering
Sickness is suffering
Death is suffering
Association with the unpleasant is suffering
Dissociation from the pleasant is suffering
Not to receive what one desires is suffering
In short, the five aggregates connected with clinging is suffering” (5)
The five aggregates of clinging are; material form (rupa), feeling (vedana), perception (sanna), mental formations (sankhara) and consciousness (vinnana). These together constitute the Psycho-physical complex recognised as a being or personality. They arise due to physical and mental antecedent conditions only to cease instantly and are in a constant state of flux with no stable or permanent entity. Hence clinging to them, believing them to constitute a permanent entity like “I” or “me”, can only result in eventual suffering.
Compassion is the genuine wish, which is not selfish or self-centred, to see happiness in others and to do whatever possible to relieve others from their suffering. Personal qualities such as the ability to share and to show sympathy, empathy, care and concern for others can be described as external manifestations of compassion in one’s heart. It should be noted that compassion is not self pity or pity for others who are experiencing misfortune. In order to be able to cultivate compassion for others one should be able to see life from the point of view of another person, placing oneself in the shoes of that person, who is in distress or is suffering. It is easier to show compassion to others when oneself or members of one’s immediate family have gone through similar distress and suffering and knew what it felt like and it’s consequences first hand. If one expects to gain some benefit for oneself such as a better relationship, fame or popularity through an action to help others, there is a selfish motive and is not genuine compassion.
In several discourses the Buddha has stated the fact that by cultivating compassion and maintaining it one is able to be born in a brahma world after death. For example, in the Tevijja sutta of the Digha Nikaya (collection of the Buddha’s long discourses), the Buddha has stated how meditating on compassion and other three brahma viharas will lead one to be born in a brahma world.
“Then with his heart filled with compassion, he dwells suffusing one quarter, the second, the third, and the fourth. Thus, he dwells suffusing the whole world, upwards, downwards, across, everywhere, always with a heart filled with compassion, abundant, unbounded, without hate or ill-will. This is the way to union with brahma” (6)
In the Maha Rahulovada sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya (collection of the Buddha’s middle length discourses), the Buddha has instructed Venerable Rahula, His son, to meditate on compassion in order to get rid of the negative quality of cruelty.
“Develop the meditation of compassion. For when you are developing the meditation of compassion, cruelty will be abandoned” (7)
When hatred develops in one’s mind towards some one else, cultivating compassion towards that person will be an excellent way of subduing that anger. In the Aghata Vinaya sutta of the Anguttara Nikaya (collection of the Buddha’s numerical discourses), development of compassion has been described as one of the five techniques to subdue hatred towards a person.
“When one gives birth to hatred for an individual, one should develop compassion for that individual. Thus, the hatred towards that person should be subdued” (8)
When compassion is absent it can lead to personal, relationship and social problems. If one does not have compassion for oneself, there is the possibility of being harsh to oneself in situations of distress and suffering believing that one deserves to suffer. Similarly, inability to understand distress and suffering in others can lead to selfishness, insensitivity, lack of care and concern for others’ welfare. It may also lead to ignore or downplay others’ suffering and to various discrimination practices.
Cultivation of compassion will act to counter the negative quality of the wish to harm others. In the Noble Eight-fold Path, the Buddha has stated three types of right intentions that need to be developed by a disciple cultivating the path of liberation.
- Right intention of renunciation (nekkhamma sankappa)
- Right intention of good-will (avyapada sankappa)
- Right intention of harmlessness (avihimsa sankappa)
Right intention of harmlessness is to counter the negative and harmful thoughts of aggression and violence towards others and is achieved by developing compassion (karuna), towards all other beings as they are also subject to various kinds of suffering.
Compassion as a meditation object
In Theravada Buddhism there are two main types of meditation.
- Concentration meditation (samatha bhavana)
- Insight meditation (vipassana bhavana)
The aim of concentration meditation is to cultivate a state of deep concentration or one- pointedness of mind by focusing one’s attention on a single meditation object. This state will be maintained as long as the attention of the meditator is completely absorbed into that particular object. As the concentration of the mind becomes deeper and deeper, different stages of calmness and joy called Jhana or deep mental absorptions arise which are free from any mental hindrances such as sensual desire (kamacchanda), ill-will (vyapada), sloth and torpor (thina-middha), restlessness and remorse (uddhacca-kukkucca) and sceptical doubt (vicikicca).
There are forty objects or tools that have been described as suitable meditation objects for concentration meditation. Compassion is one of the forty meditation objects along with the other three brahma viharas. During meditation, as the concentration on a meditation object deepens from preliminary concentration (parikamma samadhi) through access concentration (upacara samadhi) and fixed concentration (arpana samadhi), deep meditative absorption states (jhana) arise in the mind during the periods of strong and deep concentration. In the Theravada teachings, there are four fine material states (rupa jhana) and four immaterial or formless states (arupa jhana) which can be attained through concentration meditation. By meditating on compassion, a meditator is able to attain the first three fine material deep absorptions.
Meditation on Compassion (karuna bhavana)
Venerable Buddhaghosa in his book “The Path of Purification”, has advised the meditator intending to meditate on compassion to first reflect on the dangers of not having compassion and the advantages of possessing the quality of compassion. A positive mindset is essential when one begins to meditate on compassion. Prior practice of loving kindness meditation (metta bhavana) sending unconditional loving kindness to oneself first and then gradually extending it to all beings can prepare one’s mindset to start compassion meditation. Even when compassion begins to appear in relation to a suffering person during meditation on compassion, it should be associated with a degree of loving kindness which can protect it from possible negative reactions such as sentimental pity, anxiety and fear. In a way, meditation on compassion is an extension of loving kindness when one is confronted with suffering in others.
One needs to find a quiet and peaceful place with no distractions or disturbances and then assume a comfortable posture. Sitting on the floor, or if it is difficult, on a chair would be the preferred posture at least in the initial stages but, meditation on compassion can be practised in the postures of standing, walking and reclining as well.
It would be helpful to close the eyes gently and take a few deep soft breaths to relax the mind and the body. Through a few body scans from the head down to the toes identify any spots of prevailing tension and continue to relax until there is no tension and one is comfortable and relaxed in the current posture. A beginner to meditation on compassion may find it helpful to meditate in a group setting preferably with a mentor or a teacher who can assist and guide during the initial practice.
In the Path of Purification, Venerable Buddhaghosa has recommended that one should start compassion meditation by first selecting a person who is currently in distress and is suffering one way or another from a situation such as ill heath, injury, bereavement, any other loss, discrimination, natural disaster etc. Choosing a person who is actually suffering is more likely to arouse a feeling of compassion and a wish to help and alleviate the suffering. It is important to select an appropriate person in distress. Although one does not have to know the suffering person personally, choosing someone known may make it easier to relate to. It could be an unknown person in distress that one has come to hear about through News paper or television reports. It does not matter whether they live near or far or even if they live on the other side of the world. Initially it would be advisable to choose a person who is not suffering extremely as it’s intensity could overwhelm the meditator emotionally and cause undue anxiety and fear which may be a hindrance to continue with the practice.
Having chosen a person and visualizing him/her in the mind, one should first send loving kindness to that person and then contemplate on their suffering. Then one can wish for that person’s distress and suffering to stop and be happy. It may be helpful to mentally repeat certain phrases to express compassion to the intended person such as;
“May you be free of pain and sorrow”
“May you be well and happy”
When compassion for that person is developed well, then one can express compassion towards others in an order that one can choose. One such order is to next select a person dear to one, a neutral person, a hostile person and then to all beings in the universe mentally repeating;
“May all beings be free of pain and sorrow”
“May all beings be well and happy”
One should be able to express compassion to all beings in the universe in a boundless and limitless manner with no limitations by barriers such as discrimination, prejudice or personal preferences. One could utilize one of two techniques to express compassion to all living beings. In the first technique, compassion is expressed to all living beings in the ten geographical directions of North, South, East, West, North East, North West, South East, South West, above and below.
In the second technique, compassion is expressed to all living beings in an expanding order of geographical locations. This can begin with all beings in one’s residence and then gradually extend it to the neighbourhood, village or town, county, state or province, country, continent, whole world and the universe.
Some meditation teachers suggest that similar to meditation on loving kindness, meditation on compassion should also start by sending feelings of compassion to oneself first. This could be done by mentally repeating the above phrases replacing “you” and “all beings” with “I”.
“May I be free of pain and sorrow”
“May I be well and happy”
One could make up other phrases that one is comfortable with or prefer to repeat while meditating. When one begins to concentrate the mind on compassion, it is quite natural for the mind to experience distractions and move to other objects, people or events. When it does happen, one has to just notice it and bring the mind back to the person one is contemplating on.
Compassion can also be extended to those who appear to be happy and not suffering currently but are engaged in actions that will bring them harsh consequences and intense suffering later either in this life itself or in future lives. When one starts meditating on compassion it is possible that there is no obvious compassion present but, with practice it will eventually develop and be noticed. One needs to practise meditation on compassion with patience and perseverance specially during the initial period but with persistent practise, one would gradually master the technique and be able to feel compassion to even those who are experiencing extreme distress and suffering.
Benefits of meditation on compassion
- Ability to develop deep concentration and attain meditative absorption states (jhana) up to the third fine material absorption state (rupa jhana)
- Meditating on compassion will enhance spontaneous compassion for others
- It will improve the ability to connect with one self and others
- It will help one to become more tolerant and forgiving
- It will enhance one’s motivation to work actively to help those who are suffering
- It will improve inner strength and self confidence
- It is known to reduce stress, anxiety and depression
- In the Aghatavinaya sutta of the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha has described the practice of compassion as one of the five ways to get rid of hatred caused by someone
- It will enhance positive qualities such as empathy, sharing, care and concern for others which will lead to improved personal and social relationships
- It will lead to happiness in the present life
- Sustained compassion of the mind will after death lead to rebirth in the brahma world
- Deep concentration attained through compassion meditation can be used to proceed with insight meditation (vipassana bhavana)
Enemies of compassion
When one practises compassion one needs to be mindful of it’s enemies. There are two types of enemies to compassion, a far enemy and a near enemy. The far enemy to compassion is cruelty wanting to cause physical and/or mental pain and unhappiness in others which is easy enough to identify. Cruelty may also manifest as insensitivity and lack of concern for suffering in others and as a tendency to exploit more vulnerable people. It is much more difficult to identify the near enemy sentimental pity, which can be mistaken as true compassion. Pity may look very similar to true compassion at a superficial level but, it lacks any identification with the sufferer placing oneself above the sufferer and there is a strong sense of sadness and sympathy towards the sufferer who is considered unfortunate to be in a situation of suffering.
Compassion and enlightenment
In the Metta sahagata sutta of the Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha has stated that having developed compassion to the level of deep meditative absorptions (jhana) one can then develop the seven factors of enlightenment (sapta bhojjanga) accompanied by compassion and attain liberation of the mind based on compassion (karuna cetovimutti). The seven factors of enlightenment are mindfulness (sati), investigation of the dhammas (dhamma vicaya), effort (viriya), rapture or joy (piti), tranquillity (passaddhi), concentration (samadhi) and equnimity (upekkha) (9).
In the Aththakanagara sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya, Venerable Ananda has stated that a meditator can contemplate on the fact that the liberation of the mind attained by meditating on compassion is conditioned and voluntarily produced and hence is impermanent and subject to cessation. Through such contemplation one can eradicate all the mental defilements and attain enlightenment. If full enlightenment is not attained, the third supra-mundane stage of Non-Returner (anagami) will be attained with a re-birth in one of the Pure Abodes (Suddhavasa brahma worlds) and attain full enlightenment there (10).
The deep absorptions attained through meditation on compassion are pure, tranquil and calm states of the mind. They can be utilised by the meditator as a firm basis to proceed with insight meditation to eliminate the mental defilements and attain the final liberation from suffering. The meditator can proceed to contemplate on phenomena connected with the five aggregates of materiality (rupa), feeling (vedana), perception (sanna), mental formation (sankhara) and consciousness (vinnana) as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a disintegration, an emptiness, not-self. This practice will lead to the supra-mundane stages of spiritual path and final awakening through the development of dis-enchantment (nibbida) and dispassion (viraga).
Compassion and the other three brahma viharas
Loving kindness which is universal, unconditional and limitless love can be expressed to all sentient beings without the need for empathy or for someone to be in any distress. Compassion on the other hand involves a degree of sympathy and empathy towards someone who has experienced or is experiencing some distress or suffering and the wish to remove any harm and suffering from them. Compassion will protect loving kindness from becoming complacent in spreading unconditional love in a passive manner and also remind it that along with happiness there are also numerous beings in the world who are experiencing extreme distress, pain, loss and suffering. Loving kindness will protect compassion from becoming partial and discriminatory by considering some who are considered to be suffering and deserve attention while excluding the others.
Sympathetic joy will protect compassion from being overwhelmed by the enormous suffering existing in the world and from becoming preoccupied with it to the exclusion every thing else. It will also prevent development of mental agony and unhelpful sentimentality that can affect the quality and the effectiveness of compassion negatively.
Equanimity will protect compassion from being overwhelmed and paralysed by the extreme distress and suffering that it will come across in the world and enhance the positive and helpful qualities such as courage and fearlessness. Equanimity will also provide compassion with calm, firmness and patience which are essential qualities needed in the most difficult task of alleviating suffering in the others (11).
