Here is what we find for Mett\u0101, the first of them: <\/p>\n
Characteristic <\/span>(lakkhana):<\/p>\n
\n
- promoting welfare (hit-\u0101k\u0101ra-ppavatti)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Function <\/span>(rasa):<\/p>\n
\n
- to prefer welfare (hit-\u016bpasa\u1e43h\u0101ra)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Manifestation <\/span>(paccupa\u00f1\u00f1h\u0101na):<\/p>\n
\n
- removal of annoyance (\u0101gh\u0101ta-vinaya)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Proximate<\/span> Cause<\/span> (pada\u00f1\u00f1h\u0101na):<\/p>\n
\n
- seeing the loveability of beings (satt\u0101na\u1e43 man\u0101pa-bh\u0101va-dassana)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Succeeds when it<\/span> (sampatti):<\/p>\n
\n
- makes ill-will subside (vy\u0101p\u0101d-\u016bpasama)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Fails when it <\/span>(vipatti):<\/p>\n
\n
- produces sentimentality (sineha-sambhava) [a.k.a. selfish affection]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Way to Purity<\/span> (visuddhi-magga):<\/p>\n
\n
- for one who has much ill-will (vy\u0101p\u0101da-bahulassa)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Near Enemy<\/span> (\u0101sanna-paccatthika):<\/p>\n
\n
- attachment (r\u0101ga)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Far Enemy<\/span> (d\u016bra-paccatthika):<\/p>\n
\n
- ill-will (vy\u0101p\u0101da)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Like a Mother with a Son<\/span> (yath\u0101 m\u0101t\u0101 putta\u1e43):<\/p>\n
\n
- who is a baby, for she wants him to grow & thrive (abhivu\u1e0d\u1e0dhi-k\u0101m\u0101).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I also came across this quote from Thanissaro Bhikkhu<\/a> (a .pdf):<\/p>\n
Because emotions contain these elements of thought, evaluation, and perception\u2014 they\u2019re not totally preverbal, as we sometimes assume\u2014we can thus use our knowledge of karma and fabrication to shape these elements in the direction we want. Our knowledge of the what <\/span>and why <\/span>of the brahmaviharas helps us master the how<\/span>. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I especially appreciate that last line, affirming the value of understanding the concepts \u2013 even though they are mere concepts<\/span> \u2013 and context of the Buddhadharma. (see also this collection of quotes<\/a>)<\/p>\n
Some other resources:<\/p>\n
The Visuddhimaga, in German and Pali<\/a> (there is no English version currently available that I know of \u2013 but here is the Google Book<\/a> with part of it). Chapter 9 is on the Brahma-viharas. Also of interest, generally, are these many great talks by Thanissaro Bhikkhu<\/a> and Gil Fronsdal<\/a>, may we all benefit and aspire to instruct with such wisdom.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My great thanks to Andrew Olendzki and Dharma.org for a great chart (a .pdf) of the aspects of the Buddhist Divine Abidings (Brahma-vih\u0101ras). Here is what we find for Mett\u0101, the first of them: Characteristic (lakkhana): promoting welfare (hit-\u0101k\u0101ra-ppavatti) Function (rasa): to prefer welfare (hit-\u016bpasa\u1e43h\u0101ra) Manifestation (paccupa\u00f1\u00f1h\u0101na): removal of annoyance (\u0101gh\u0101ta-vinaya) Proximate Cause (pada\u00f1\u00f1h\u0101na): seeing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Pause for Mett\u0101: Loving- kindness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My great thanks to Andrew Olendzki and Dharma.org for a great chart (a .pdf) of the aspects of the Buddhist Divine Abidings (Brahma-vih\u0101ras).Here is what\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/10\/a-pause-for-metta-loving-kindness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Pause for Mett\u0101: Loving- kindness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My great thanks to Andrew Olendzki and Dharma.org for a great chart (a .pdf) of the aspects of the Buddhist Divine Abidings (Brahma-vih\u0101ras).Here is what\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/10\/a-pause-for-metta-loving-kindness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Buddhist Perspectives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-10-05T00:08:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-7330704289631061639?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/10\/a-pause-for-metta-loving-kindness.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/10\/a-pause-for-metta-loving-kindness.html\",\"name\":\"A Pause for Mett\u0101: Loving- kindness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-05T00:08:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-10-05T00:08:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\"},\"description\":\"My great thanks to Andrew Olendzki and Dharma.org for a great chart (a .pdf) of the aspects of the Buddhist Divine Abidings (Brahma-vih\u0101ras).Here is what\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/10\/a-pause-for-metta-loving-kindness.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/10\/a-pause-for-metta-loving-kindness.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/10\/a-pause-for-metta-loving-kindness.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Pause for Mett\u0101: Loving- kindness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/\",\"name\":\"American Buddhist Perspectives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\",\"name\":\"Justin Whitaker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Justin Whitaker\"},\"description\":\"I am an almost-life-long Montanan; a baptized Catholic; an ardent Atheist; a practicing Buddhist; a lover of Wisdom. 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