In
Buddhist teachings, the four Brahmaviharas, translated as the Immeasurable,
Divine Abodes, or Divine Abidings are: metta or loving-kindness, karuna or
compassion, mudita or sympathetic joy, and upeksha or equanimity. These are not
just emotions we may or may not feel; they are states that we cultivate on our
journey to being truly awakened.
The
Buddha taught his son: Rahula, practise loving-kindness to overcome anger.
Loving kindness has the capacity to bring happiness to others without demanding
anything in return. Practise compassion to overcome cruelty. Compassion has the
capacity to remove the suffering of others without expecting anything in
return. Practise sympathetic joy to overcome hatred. Sympathetic joy arises
when one rejoices over the happiness of others and wishes others well-being in
success.
Practise
equanimity to over come prejudice. Equanimity is looking at all things openly
and equally... Do not reject one thing only to chase after another. I call
these the Four Immeasurable. Practise them and you will become a refreshing
source of vitality and happiness for others.
Although
each of these states is a mark of wakefulness and evolving, each can be
confused with a condition that mimics the true state, but actually arises out
of fear, and is aptly referred to as a near enemy.
When
westrive to follow a path like the Brahmaviharas, we may not find it too
difficult to identify and perhaps steer away from their absolute opposites –
sometimes referred to as 'far enemies' – which are anger, cruelty, envy and
bias.
Much
less easy to notice are the near enemies, as they cunningly masquerade as a
spiritual quality being subtle, disguised versions of what we might ordinarily
see as pure and wholesome. One thing that makes these distinct from The Four
Divine Abodes is that this path is essentially about connecting – to the
deepest parts of our selves as well as to other beings. The near enemies end up
being about compartmentalization or separation, and moral arrogance.
The
near enemy of loving kindness is attachment. Attachment may feel like love, but
as it grows is revealed as insecure clinging, fear and the desire to control.
The
near enemy of compassion is pity; a superior attitude, seeting up above or
apart from suffering around us, turning it to a kind of unhealthy spectator
sport.
The
near enemy of sympathetic joy is comparison, checking whether we have or are
more, the same, or less than another. Manifestations range from hypocritical
humility to even over identifying with success of others, especially those near
to us.
The
near enemy of equanimity is indifference. True equanimity is about balance and
acceptance in any situation; indifference is withdrawal and not caring, often
numbing us to the need to stand and act for justice.
Without
examining these near enemies that create separations, our spiritual life
stagnates and our awareness cannot continue to grow.
Wise
teachers suggest that we need to work on near enemies not as something to
ignore, or roughly discard, but to first know as intimates – after all they are
termed near ones – by drawing on out inherent gifts of self – reflection and
self-awareness. This we do mainly by applying loving – kindness, compassion,
sympathetic joy and then to others, enabling us to become those refreshing
sources of vitality and happiness for others that the Buddha taught of.
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