Buddhists Concept of Brahma-Vihar: An Analysis of Morals

The Brahma-Viharas, or “sublime attitudes,” are the Buddha"s primary heart teachings—the ones that connect most directly with our desire for true happiness. Brahmas live in the higher heavens, dwelling in an attitude of unlimited goodwill, unlimited compassion, unlimited empathetic joy, and unlimited equanimity. These unlimited attitudes can be developed from the more limited versions of these emotions that we experience in the human heart. Maitri or good will or love is the most fundamental. It"s the wish for true happiness. Goodwill was the underlying motivation that led the Buddha to search for awakening and to teach the path to awakening to others after he had found it. Compassion (karuna) is what goodwill feels when it encounters suffering: it wants the suffering to stop. Empathetic joy (mudita) is what goodwill feels when it encounters happiness: it wants the happiness to continue. Equanimity (upekkha) is a different emotion, in that it acts as an aid to and a check on the other three. When we encounter suffering that we can"t stop no matter how hard we try, we need equanimity to avoid creating additional suffering and to channel our energies to areas where we can be of help. In this way, equanimity isn"t cold hearted or indifferent. It simply makes our goodwill more focused and effective. Making these attitudes limitless requires work. It"s easy to feel goodwill, compassion, and empathetic joy for people you like and love, but there are bound to be people we dislike—often for very good reasons. Similarly, there are many people for whom it"s easy to feel equanimity: people we don"t know or don"t really care about. But it"s hard to feel equanimity when people you love are suffering.