Brahmavihara

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Brahmavihāra is a Buddhist term and means "the four heavenly abodes" or "the four immeasurable" (pali: appamaññā , skt .: apramana ). The Brahmavihāras are the basis for meditation exercises ( brahmavihāra-bhāvanā ) in Theravada as well as in Mahayana . They are part of Buddhist ethics and denote four attitudes to be cultivated towards other beings. Further translations of the term are: "The four immeasurable attitudes", "The four limitless states of mind", "The four abodes of Brahma" ( Vihara means something like "abode", "place of abiding"; Brahma is an Indian deity).

General

"The four immeasurable liberations of the heart" read:

# German pali Sanskrit
1. Love, loving kindness mettā maitrī
2. compassion  karuṇā  karuṇā
3. With joy muditā muditā
4th equanimity upekkhā upekṣā

Metta / maitri

Metta is a friendly form of love that is not rooted in desire (attachment), but is motivated by an interest in everyone's happiness. A benevolent recognition and appreciation of one's own person is the prerequisite for this form of the ability to love. If this is not available, it can be learned. Many Buddhist authors avoid translating metta as 'love' and instead prefer terms like 'loving-kindness', 'kindness' or 'benevolence'. For them, the term 'love' is too closely associated with possessive and greed-bound forms of passionate affection.

Karuna

Karuna is compassion, empathy, the ability to deeply sympathize and empathize with other beings. In the past, karuna was often translated as “pity” and the term “compassion” is still used in English today. The term 'compassion', however, is misleading insofar as karuna on the one hand does not require active co-suffering and 'compassion' also always includes an element of condescending distancing from the object of pity. This separation of subject and object contradicts the non-dualistic spirit of Buddhist anatta teaching and the mindset of upeksha .

Mudita

While karuna is primarily about the ability to perceive the suffering of other beings, mudita is about participating in the joy of other beings. mudita is with joy, the gift of being able to share joyful (= pain-free) moments with others.

Upekkha / upeksha

This term has multiple levels of meaning: equanimity, serenity, letting go, not clinging, not distinguishing. In the meaning of equanimity, it refers to a form of serenity in relationships that acts as a corrective to the possessive and clinging tendencies of affection. This equanimity should not be confused with indifference. On a further level of meaning, upeksha refers to the insight into the fundamental equivalence of love objects and the fundamental equality between subject and object in the context of metta .

Quote

"Four immeasurables: There, you brothers, a loving-minded monk shines in one direction, then in a second, then in the third, then in the fourth, also upwards and downwards: recognizing himself everywhere in everything, he shines through the whole A world with a loving mind, with wide, deep, unlimited, cleared of rage and resentment. With a compassionate mind, a joyful mind, an unmoved mind, it shines in one direction, then a second, then the third, then the fourth, also upwards and downwards: recognizing itself everywhere in everything, it shines through the whole world with a compassionate mind , with a joyful mind, with an unmoved mind, with wide, deep, unlimited, cleared of rage and resentment. "

- From the agreement

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anguttara Nikaya X.208, The Four Immeasurable Areas, 9th Karajakāya Sutta
  2. ↑ The Brahmavihāra are described in the Palikanon : Majjhima Nikaya 7 : 12-16 , Aṅguttāra Nikaya IV, 125 , Majjhima Nikaya 43:31
  3. ↑ Digha-Nikaya : From The Agreement - Sangīti Sutta - DN33 greatly abbreviated teaching speech from the collection of the Longer Speeches from the Pali Canon , trans. Karl Eugen Neumann . The processing of this online edition consists in the merging of the repetitions that are often found in oral traditions.