Benefits of Developing Various Kinds of Meditation

Rāhula, develop meditation on loving-kindness; for when you develop meditation on loving-kindness, any ill will will be abandoned.

Rāhula, develop and cultivate the mind on compassion; for when you develop and cultivate the mind on compassion, any cruelty will be abandoned.

Rāhula, develop and cultivate the mind on sympathetic joy; for when you develop and cultivate the mind on sympathetic joy, any jealousy will be abandoned.

Rāhula, develop and cultivate the mind on equanimity; for when you develop and cultivate the mind on equanimity, any aversion will be abandoned.

Rāhula, develop meditation on unattractiveness of the body; for when you develop meditation on unattractiveness of the body, any lust will be abandoned.

Rāhula, develop meditation on the perception of impermanence; for when you develop meditation on the perception of impermanence, the conceit ‘I am’ will be abandoned.

(Reference: MN 62)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares with his son Rāhula to develop meditation on six (6) qualities of mind.

The first four (4) of these mental states are often referred to as “The Brahma-viharas”.

1.) Loving-kindness (Pāli: mettā) is active goodwill towards all beings without judgment. A genuine interest in seeing all beings be well.

2.) Compassion (Pāli: karuṇā) is concern for the misfortunes of others.

3.) Sympathetic joy (Pāli: muditā) is joy for others’ success, even if you did not contribute to it.

4.) Equanimity (Pāli: upekkhā) is mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation; treating everyone impartially.

5.) Unattractiveness of the body is developed to abandon the fetter/taint/pollution of “sensual desire”.

6.) Perception of impermanence is developed to train the mind to realize The Universal Truth of Impermanence so that it will be disinterested in craving/desire/attachment and to eliminate the fetter/taint/pollution of “conceit”.

“Rāhula, develop meditation on loving-kindness; for when you develop meditation on loving-kindness, any ill will will be abandoned”: Loving-kindness is cultivated through Loving-kindness Meditation and will then need to be practiced in daily life to help the mind eliminate anger/hatred/ill will filling up the mind with loving-kindness.

“Rāhula, develop and cultivate the mind on compassion; for when you develop and cultivate the mind on compassion, any cruelty will be abandoned”: Compassion is cultivated, to a certain extent, with Loving-kindness Meditation as that meditation tends to develop compassion in the mind but, this will also need to be practiced in daily life.

“Rāhula, develop and cultivate the mind on sympathetic joy; for when you develop and cultivate the mind on sympathetic joy, any jealousy will be abandoned”: Sympathetic joy is cultivated through actively cutting off and letting go of any feelings of jealousy or envy in daily life. When situations arise where it is observed that the mind has jealousy or envy, the Practitioner needs to cut off and let go of those unwholesome feelings, and arise the wholesome mental state of sympathetic joy.

“Rāhula, develop and cultivate the mind on equanimity; for when you develop and cultivate the mind on equanimity, any aversion will be abandoned”: Equanimity is cultivated through training the mind in Breathing Mindfulness Meditation to reside peaceful and content but more actively in daily life when difficult situations arise. As a difficult situation is experienced, a Practitioner will need to arise equanimity cutting off and letting go of any uncalmness or unsteadiness that arises in the mind bringing the mind to the middle practicing mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.

Allowing the mind to be shaken up to become unsteady will only create more difficulties by the mind being uncalm.

Calm —> Mindfulness —> Concentration —> Wisdom

It is calmness of mind that leads to a Practitioner being able to practice mindfulness (i.e. awareness of mind). By practicing mindfulness, the mind can then be concentrated (i.e. singleness of mind with focus). With concentration, a Practitioner can access wisdom to make wise decisions leading to wholesome outcomes.

But, allowing the mind to become uncalm, will have the downstream negative effects of inhibiting the practice of mindfulness (i.e. awareness of mind), concentration (i.e. singleness of mind with focus), and then being unable to access wisdom to make wise decisions leading to wholesome outcomes. Allowing the mind to be uncalm or shaken up can create a situation where, due to a lack of being able to access wisdom, the situation turns from bad to worse or even detrimental. Through maintaining one’s calmness and composure, they can then make wise decisions to improve the situation based in wisdom.

Observing a difficult situation and then arising equanimity to maintain calmness needs to be developed and cultivated so that it becomes first nature during any and all life situations.

“Rāhula, develop meditation on unattractiveness of the body; for when you develop meditation on unattractiveness of the body, any lust will be abandoned”: A Practitioner can use Thirty-Two Part Body Meditation to develop the unattractiveness of the body to reduce and eliminate the fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as sensual desire to include sexual contact. There is also a meditation where one can observe images of a corpse or be in the presence of a corpse to develop unattractiveness of the body.

Through training the mind to observe the unattractiveness of the body, a Practitioner can then train the mind to eliminate the desire for sexual contact, when or if they are ready to accomplish this goal.

“Rāhula, develop meditation on the perception of impermanence; for when you develop meditation on the perception of impermanence, the conceit ‘I am’ will be abandoned”: A Practitioner can use Breathing Mindfulness Meditation as a general approach to developing the perception of impermanence and deeply soak this into the mind through observing that all thoughts, feelings, ideas, bodily sensations, sounds, etc. are impermanent as one meditates. But, to eliminate the conceit ‘I am’, it is suggested that you use the Meditation to Realize Non-self, available in this same book series found in Chapter 11 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

In addition to employing the Meditation to Realize Non-self, a Practitioner will need to be observant of the mind through practice of Right Mindfulness that as conceit arises in the mind, to cut it off and let it go so that it can be actively eliminated.

Meditation alone will not completely transform the mind towards any of the wholesome qualities discussed by The Buddha. But through a combination of meditation and applying the entire Eight Fold Path in daily life, a Practitioner can train the mind to eliminate the unwholesome qualities of mind and arise the wholesome qualities of mind mentioned in this Teaching from The Buddha.

Detailed explanation of The Brahma-viharas is available in this same book series found in Chapter 14 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

Detailed explanation to develop a meditation practice is available in this same book series found in Chapter 11 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).