Four Immeasurable Minds (사무량심)
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Writer Jogye Date17 Aug 2015 Read9,021 Comment0Content
The Four
Immeasurable Minds
사무량심
Mahayana
bodhisattvas have four kinds of limitless minds to deliver sentient beings from
suffering. These four minds of immeasurable concern for others are: metta, karuṇā,
muditā and upekkhā.
The
immeasurable mind of kindness (metta) is the mind which considers all sentient
beings as one's self and wants to bestow joy upon them. The immeasurable mind
of compassion (karuṇā) is
the mind which wants to save all beings from suffering. The immeasurable mind
of joy (muditā) is the mind which wants to help all beings acquire joy and to
share this joy as one’s own. The immeasurable mind of equanimity (upekkhā) treats all
beings equally and with compassion without distinguishing between friend and
enemy.
Just
as a mother would guard her only child
At
the risk of her own life
Even
so towards all beings
Let
him cultivate boundless mind
Let
thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world
Above,
below and across
Without
any obstruction
Without
any hatred, without any enmity
-Karaniya
Metta Sutta (The Discourse on
Loving-Kindness) SN 149-150
- excerpt from Buddhist English (Elementary 2) published in 2014 by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism
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