B METTA KARUNA MUDITA UPEKSA

 a

• The “Four Limitless Thoughts” are loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, each extended to all beings without exception.

• Their classic formulations are: “May all beings have happiness,” “May all be free from suffering,” “May all never be separated from happiness,” and “May all abide in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.”

• Lama Karma Thinley Rinpoche teaches that practicing these four gradually expands the heart from concern for oneself and close ones to an impartial, boundless attitude toward every sentient being.

• Each thought is cultivated in meditation by repeatedly wishing that specific benefit for oneself, then for loved ones, neutral people, difficult people, and finally all beings.

• Together they form a core Mahayana practice that generates bodhicitta: the courageous intention to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all.

1. https://tricycle.org/magazine/the-four-limitless-thoughts/
2. http://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/abhidharma-tenet-systems/comparison-of-buddhist-traditions/the-four-immeasurables-in-hinayana-mahayana-and-bon
3. https://www.lionsroar.com/four-immeasurables-leave-nothing-untouched/
4. https://nalandabodhi.org/2025/10/17/connecting-the-disconnected-the-four-immeasurables/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmavihara
6. https://davidmichie.substack.com/p/what-are-the-four-immeasurables
7. https://www.namchak.org/community/blog/what-are-the-four-immeasurables/
8. https://www.wisdomlib.org/concept/four-limitless-ones
9. https://www.facebook.com/groups/buddhateachingsgroup/posts/4405037099740759/
10. https://www.parallax.org/mindfulnessbell/article/dharma-talk-the-four-immeasurable-minds-2/

b

• Pali:

  • Loving-kindness = mettā

  • Compassion = karuṇā

  • Sympathetic joy = muditā

  • Equanimity = upekkhā

• Sanskrit:

  • Loving-kindness = maitrī

  • Compassion = karuṇā

  • Sympathetic joy = muditā

  • Equanimity = upekṣā

1. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/four-immeasurables
2. https://www.parallax.org/mindfulnessbell/article/dharma-talk-the-four-immeasurable-minds-2/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmavihara
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths
5. https://www.facebook.com/groups/buddhistnetwork/posts/10164080455581397/
6. https://www.namchak.org/community/blog/what-are-the-four-immeasurables/
7. https://www.immeasurableminds.co.uk/info/what-is-immeasurable-minds
8. https://buddho.org/buddhism/
9. https://www.facebook.com/samyeinstitute/posts/the-4-immeasurables-loving-kindness-compassion-sympathetic-joy-equanimity-the-br/1962996480519171/
10. https://everydayzen.org/teachings/loving-kindness-metta-four-immeasurables-moutain-rain-zen/