Explanations of the Practice -
The Four Immeasurables
Geshe Dakpa Topgyal
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1. Love and kindness - a mental state characterized by a sincere wish that others enjoy happiness. This serves as an antidote to hatred.
2. Compassion - a natural feeling of empathy in which one takes the responsibility of liberating all sentient beings from suffering. This serves as an antidote to anger.
3. Joy - a sincere wish that others meet with the causes of happiness and that they never be separated from the causes of happiness. This serves as an antidote to jealousy.
4. Equanimity - a mental state free from attachment and aversion in which we see all sentient beings as equal, and we do not hold some closer or more distant than others. This serves as an antidote for discrimination.
The most important aspect of this practice is to hold these aspirations in one's mind even when one's practice is "over." One should remember and try to carry out these four aspirations in all of one's interactions with others. It is then that the practice becomes sincere, meaningful, and truly beneficial. It then "works" when one is in the meditation room or out in the crazy world. Through practice, the four immeasurables will become automatic, spontaneous, not requiring any conscious effort to generate. Even though one may not have arrived at this point yet, when one tries to truly practice the four immeasurables, he or she will find that they help protect the mind in challenging situations, where anger, etc. might normally arise. They bring our mind back to a state of calm and peace.
(Practice, practice, practice! It is all about practice, please.)
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