Karuna

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Karuna ( Sanskrit : करुण karuṇa as adjective pathetic , sad, compassionate and Pali: karuṇā; compassion, compassion, not pity) is a central concept of Buddhist mind training and ethics.

It describes the virtue of mercy, love and (active) compassion. Along with metta (loving kindness), mudita (joyfulness) and upekkhā (equanimity), this mental attitude is one of the four basic virtues ( brahmaviharas ) that a bodhisattva should develop on his way to help others to enlightenment. Karuna is an attitude of compassion in which all dualistic ideas and the associated resistances and aversions dissolve: All beings and all appearances in this world are met with the same all-encompassing love and willingness to help. The virtue of this mindset is embodied in Mahayana Buddhism by the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara .

It differs from the word “compassion” in that, in addition to perceiving the suffering, “compassion” also includes the desire and action to alleviate the suffering.

Karuna is a common first name for women in India and Sri Lanka , and more rarely for men (e.g. Karuna Amman , also called Colonel Karuna).

The term Karuna is increasingly used in connection with institution names and healing techniques, which, however, are mostly not in a Buddhist context.

In art and literature

In Aldous Huxley's novel Eiland , the islanders of the fictional island of Pala taught the birds there to call out the word Karuna to remind people of compassion and mindfulness.

literature