Brahmaviharas Research Project
Dr Rebecca Semmens-Wheeler & Dr Heather Buttle
About us and the project
Rebecca and Heather are both practitioners of Buddhist teachings, and we are also researchers in Cognitive Psychology (how we process and understand information). Rebecca is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Derby (UK), and Heather a Senior Lecturer at Massey University (New Zealand).
We've come together to share our interests and currently we are working to investigate the four immeasurables (also known as the Brahmaviharas or "Divine Abidings"), and how people consider them and their "near and far enemies".
Who and what are we looking for?
We are looking for people who have experience with practicing the four immeasurables, and we would be very grateful if you could take the time to leave us a comment about what they mean to you, and in particular if you could share any examples you have (from your own experience, others' experience, from stories and teachings, books, films, imagination, and anything else that seems relevant to you).
What's the point?
We are developing a way of measuring people's experience of the four immeasurables, and ideally, we want to consider the language you all use, so that we can craft our study's wording in a consistent manner that is both true to the foundation and background of the four, but is also accessible and understandable to those who have not studied and/or practiced them. We would like to use this measure to help to assess and understand the role of lovingkindness practices, which may lead to their adoption more widely. We feel that this is particularly important as a balance to secular mindfulness.
Confidentiality
As we want to know your individual responses without interference from others' views, we will keep responses hidden. This will also act to ensure confidentiality. However, if you have any questions about what we are doing, then please drop us a line, and we would be very happy to discuss our work with you.
About the Brahamviharas/Four Immeasurables/Divine Abodes
Below, we've included some descriptions of the four brahmaviharas, which have largely been influenced (and some parts written) by Dharmachari Bodhipaksa and Dharmachari Kamalshila. You can check out the sources at the links at the bottom of this post. Bodhipaksa has been a huge inspiration for this project, and his website is a wonderful respository of information on meditation: www.wildmind.org
The four immeasurables (Brahmaviharas/Divine Abodes) refer to virtues and practices that act as antidotes to negative/non-virtuous mental states. You may also have heard them referred to as the divine abodes, sublime attitudes, and/or the abodes of Brahma. These virtues, while having their origin in Buddhist teaching, can be also be applied in a secular context.
The four are:
1) Metta (Loving-kindness)
2) Karuna (Compassion)
3) Mudita (Empathetic joy/gladness/joyful appreciation)
4) Upekkha (Balance/even-mindedness/equanimity)
These are summed up in the prayer:
"May all beings have happiness and the cause of happiness.
May they be free of suffering and the cause of suffering.
May they never be disassociated from the supreme happiness which is without suffering.
May they remain in the boundless equanimity, free from both attachment to close ones and rejection of others."
As well as the four brahmaviharas, we also describe their near enemies (with which they can easily be confused) and their far enemies (opposites).
Metta
Metta, often translated to English as ‘lovingkindness’, refers to the innate desire for the true happiness of all beings (including ourselves). It also means “kindly awareness”. It means "kindly awareness", and this includes a desire for the happiness and wellbeing of ourselves and others. It is the foundation of all the other brahmaviharas.
Sangharakshita expresses metta thus: “Love is no mere flabby sentiment but the vigorous expression of an imaginative identification with other living beings.” (Sangharakshita)
The near enemy of metta is pema, or 'sentimental attachment'. Kamalashila explains, with an example: "This attachment may be very subtle or very obvious. It can range from a slight tendency to sentimentalize or idealize someone to strong sexual desire. It's quite easy to confuse pema with metta: it is common for people to consider that they are experiencing purely altruistic feelings towards someone, when in fact they simply `fancy' them."
Metta's far enemy is hatred. We may feel that we are the type of person who never experiences hatred, but here is a description from Kamalshila, again:
"Hatred is a fault that each of us has to varying degrees. Broadly speaking, hatred arises when our desires are frustrated. Since other people frequently get in the way of our achieving our desires, we are often tempted to indulge in it. In each of us there is usually some residue of unconscious resentment, irritation, and anger - all of which are forms of hatred - which can build up until we find some unfortunate person on whom we can `unload' our feelings."
Karuna
Karuna, often translated as "compassion", is what arised when metta, lovingkindess, comes into contact with another's suffering. It is the feelign of wanting to relieve their suffering, if possible, so that they may be happy.
Sometimes we can mistake karuna's near enemies for true compassion. These are "sentimental pity" (or "sorrow") and "horrified anxiety". With sorrow, compassion has failed; this is because we have become attached to removing another's suffering because it causes us discomfort - so really, we are wanting to make ourselves happy. This is not compassion, becuase their is no real recognition or resonance with the other's pain. Another way of mistaking passion is in pity, which is where we can feel superior for being better off than the suffering person.
Horrified anxiety is where we become overwhelmed with another's suffering, to the point where we become unable to help. For example, we could become overwrought with sorrow and thus become wrapped up in our own feelings, losing perspective on the person whose suffering has triggered this.
Mudita
Mudita can be translated as "joyful apprreciation", and is about valuing and appreciating people's good qualities that bring them happiness.
Its near enemy, ‘joviality,’ sometimes masks competitiveness and even antagonism. Also, mudita is concerned with positive qualities that conduce to happiness, so rejoicing in one's good luck isn't really the point of mudita.
The far enemy of mudita is aversion, or resistance, particularly to something you know will bring you joy, such as mindfulness. It can also be envy, which may arise, for example, when someone else's positive qualities make you feel inferior.
Upekkha
Upekkha is often translated as "equanimity", but also as "even-mindedness". It is a quality of non-reactivity, or even-mindedness, when we experience something ‘pleasant’, which we want, or something unpleasant. In other words, we don’t get so ‘caught-up’ in our experience. This could involve judging a person we either like or dislike, condemning them, being happy about a pleasant experience or feeling reactive about an unpleasant experience. It is a warm quality.
Its near enemy is indifference, apathy, or emotional detachment, or even 'neutrality'. It's a state of not caring. Kamalashila describes this as " lukewarm, apathetic lack of interest." If upekkha is a warm, caring, engaged state of non-reactivity, then this is certainly not the samew thing.
Far enemies of upekka are aversion and craving, and clinging to how we want things to be. Indifference is also a far enemy, which Kamalashila describes as "a cold, hardened, fixed indifference." Either of these is unhelpful; indifference is not a quality of metta, which is the foundation of the brahmaviharas, and cravinf and aversion are not qualities of equanimity.
Posting a Comment
We would be very grateful if you could take the time to leave us a comment about what they mean to you, and in particular if you could share any examples you have (from your own experience, others' experience, from stories and teachings, books, films, imagination, and anything else that seems relevant to you).
References
For more information, please contact
Dr Rebecca Semmens-Wheeler: RebeccaJSW@gmail.com
Dr Heather Buttle: H.Buttle@massey.ac.nz
