Four Immeasurables Can Help

Finding Peace, well being and happiness, something we all want, can be a vexing challenge today. It depends largely upon our ability to develop skillful means for navigating life’s twists, turns and barriers of which there are many.

Looking deep within ourselves and appreciating our own true natures, despite events swirling around us, is where we all must begin.

The world we live in today often seems a confusing, turmoil ridden and war torn place. Politics and governments are increasely polarized. Catastrophies are occuring and people are dying.

Everything seems to be happening right now in full view regardless of where on the planet events take place.

Most people seem to be endlessly striving for bigger and shinier objects for themselves, regardless of what they already have. So many seem weary and perplexed from trying to fight through their daily challenges.

What are we to do ?Where are we to look for guidance?

There are some ancient principles discussed over 2,500 years ago by the Buddha, just as relevant and helpful today as they were then.

Buddhism offers many good precepts and practices for living a free and meaningful life. One of the most important is the Four Immeasurables: Loving-kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity.

Each of these is significant in its own way. When combined they offer a simple path for living in a peaceful way benefiting one’s self and all other beings as well.

We will discuss each one, what it is, and its importance. But first we will talk a bit about Buddhism. People have many varying views and sometimes significant misconceptions about what it is.

Many think Buddhism is a religion. Others think it might be a cult. It is true that some people in the world treat Buddhism as a religion.

However, it is really more a path for living successfully with inner peace and well-being.

Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha, never considered himself to be a deity or his teachings to be a religion. He only said he had become awakened to reality, and enlightened to the true nature of his being.

He spent his life after enlightenment giving talks to help others follow the path that gave him such a sense of peace and well-being.

The Dalai Lama, perhaps today’s most well-known Buddhist, says: Buddhist teachings are not a religion they are a science of mind…My religion is kindness.

The Buddha spoke often of Metta which in Pali means loving-kindness or benevolence.What is loving-kindness?

Loving-kindness for others results from seeing the innate nature of goodness all beings have within them…no matter how hidden it sometimes may seem to be.

Webster defines kindness as the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate…respectful.

Seeing the innate goodness in every person with whom we come into contact is often challenging. We may be quite judgmental when initially seeing them, sizing them up on their first impression made upon us.

Often we are looking at outer appearances before we allow ourselves to look deeply, and see who they really are. What are their real values? How they demonstrate them in their actions is what has real importance.

When we hold beings in loving-kindness we wish them to have the very best in life. It is to a degree a reflection of ourselves and our ability to see beyond externalities.

We can learn a lot about ourselves by how we view others and our feelings about them.

Closely akin to loving-kindness is Compassion. In Sanskrit it is karuna and means active sympathy and the willingness to take on the pain of others.

Webster defines it as sympathetic consciousness of others distress…a desire to alleviate it.

We are compassionate when we see our fellow beings suffering physically or mentally and desire to help them. It can be friends, family or homeless people on the streets. Wisdom arises from compassion and compassion arises from wisdom.

The Buddha often said, Teach this simple truth: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things that renew humanity.

It is not only important to understand compassion but the practice of it is what leads to peace and happiness for ourselves and others.

It is also important to have compassion for ourselves and our own periodic struggles and distresses in life. Feeling compassion for others is difficult if we cannot feel compassion for ourselves.

As Radhule Weininger says in her book, Heartwork, The Path of Self-Compassion: Wisdom includes insight into interdependence, and compassion is how your heart perceives and experiences interdependence. When you realize in your body and heart you and I are not separate…then the wish for well-being of others and compassion for their distress arises naturally.

The third of the Four Immeasureables is Sympathetic Joy, mudita in pali as expressed by the Buddha. It is being able to celebrate the good fortune of other beings.

It is akin to compassion as it is delighting in the happiness of others as compassion is in feeling the distress of others.

Happiness is infectious and an unselfish joy can naturally grow out of it. Unselfish or sympathetic joy can release many long dormant feelings of goodwill in the heart. These feelings can provide a force for celebrating the good fortunes of our fellow beings.

The chief opposing forces of sympathetic joy are usually jealousy and envy. These forces can put a strain on a being’s character.

They also can create problems with relationships in many different ways. When this happens unneeded pain and suffering are the result.

Learn to rejoice in the good fortune of others and your own happiness multiplies — it’s the best cure for envy.

Sharon Salzberg, Buddhist Teacher and Author

It behooves us all to cultivate the ability to feel and celebrate sympathetic joy in the good fortunes of other beings. An important step in creating a peaceful and meaningful life for ourselves and others.

This leads us to the Fourth Immeasureable, equanimity, which is the usual translation of upeksha in Pali and upekka in Sanskrit as written in the first writings of the talks of Buddha.

Webster defines equanimity as evenness of mind especially under stress. But is this all the Buddha meant when he spoke about the Four Immeasureables as written in upeksha or ukpekka?

Buddhist monk and scholar, Bikku Bodhi says upekkha has a more complete meaning as spoken by the Buddha: It is evenness of mind, unshakeable freedom of mind, a state of inner equipoise that cannot be upset by gain or loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Upekkha is freedom from all points of self-reference; it is indifference only to demands of the ego-self with its craving for pleasure and position, not to the well-being of one’s fellow beings.

Practicing loving-kindness, compassion and sympathetic joy are important parts of being able to experience equanimity. Practicing all of the Four Immeasureables can lead one to inner peace and a sense of well-being as well as benefiting other beings.

The Four Immeasureables can help us experience life with freedom and meaning in ways we may not be able to experience without them as part of our lives.

Whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs, contemplating the Four Immeasureables can only strength them without intruding upon them at all.

May all beings find peace, happiness and joy in their own way, and be free.

The Four Immeasureables

1-Loving-Kindness

2-Compassion

3-Sympathetic Joy

4-Equanimity

Searching For Peace And Well-Being? was originally published in The Ascent on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.