Treat those who are unhappy with compassion
Treat those who are virtuous with supreme joy
Treat those who are wicked with indifference
About a year ago, I was in class and Kathy mentioned these Buddhist "sublime attitudes". I wrote some of it down, then went home to Google it (completely missing the fact that they were in my Yoga Sutras!). I found nothing, punching in terms that were delivering other results. I decided to come back to it again later.
And, as life does, it came back to me at a time I needed it most. Dealing with frustration, trying hard to control and detach from emotion...it was hard to breathe! And there they were. Like a key to finding peace of mind. I read them over and over thinking, how can I remember these in the future? So, I thought I would share them with you all.
In Buddhism, this is the Brahmaviharas: the Four Immeasureables. It is discussed in Yoga Sutra 1.33: "In relationships, the mind becomes purified by cultivating feelings of friendliness towards those who are happy, compassion for those who are suffering, goodwill towards those who are virtuous, and indifference or neutrality towards those we perceive as wicked or evil."(maitri karuna mudita upekshanam sukha duhka punya apunya vishayanam bhavanatah chitta prasadanam)
To break the sanskrit down, I found this direct translation:
- maitri = friendliness, pleasantness, lovingness
- karuna = compassion, mercy
- mudita = gladness, goodwill
- upekshanam = acceptance, equanimity, indifference, disregard, neutrality
- sukha = happy, comfortable, joyous
- duhka = pain, misery, suffering, sorrow
- punya = virtuous, meritorious, benevolent
- apunya = non-virtuous, vice, bad, wicked, evil, bad, demerit, non-meritorious,
- vishayanam = regarding those subjects, in relation to those objects
- bhavanatah = by cultivating habits, by constant reflection, developing attitude, cultivating, impressing on oneself
- chitta = mind field, consciousness
- prasadanam = purified, clear, serene, pleasant, pacified, undisturbed, peaceful, calm
(jaycie)