The Four Sublime States

By Thera, Nyanaponika

Book Id: WPLBN0000708254
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.1 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	The Four Sublime States
Author:	Thera, Nyanaponika
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Religion, Buddhism, Buddhism and literature
Collections:	Buddhist Literature Collection, BuddhaNet: Buddhist Information and Education Network
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Buddhanet: Buddhist Information and Education Network


Citation APA MLA Chicago Thera, B. N. (n.d.). The Four Sublime States. Retrieved from https://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
BuddhaNet: Buddhist Information and Education Network document.

Excerpt
Excerpt: The Buddha often spoke about four states of mind as the four Brahma-Viharas: the divine or god-like dwellings, the lofty and excellent abodes in which the mind reaches outwards towards the immeasurable world of living beings, embracing them all in these boundless emotions. These four sublime states are: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. They are considered to be the ideal social attitudes, the springs underlying the ideal modes of conduct towards living beings. The great healers of social tension and conflict, the builders of harmony and cooperation, they serve as potent antidotes to the poisons of hatred, cruelty, envy and partiality so widespread in modern life. In the present tract, Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, one of the great interpreters of Buddhist teachings in our time, offers a series of contemplations on these four lofty states, exploring them individually and in their subtle and complex inter-relationships. Though short in extent, this tract remains one of the most inspiring and uplifting essays on Dhamma to appear in our era.