The Four Immeasurables

The last question I want to answer is, “what are the four Immeasurables?”

The Immeasurables are four qualities of the heart; Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Empathetic Joy and Equanimity. While the purpose of this retreat is to develop a focused attention there are nevertheless obstacles other than a distracted mind that can impede the development of a focus attention. The purpose of the different meditations on Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Empathetic Joy and Equanimity that we will be doing is to help us work with our emotions so they do not become obstacles but rather bring support to our practice.

“These practices [of cultivating the Four Immeasurables] are especially helpful for balancing our emotions and for opening our hearts. If we know how to work intelligently with our emotions, we can avoid many obstacles that might otherwise hinder our pursuit of focused attention.” – Alan Wallace

In the cultivation of Loving-Kindness we develop the yearning, “may myself and others find genuine happiness and its causes”. The cultivation of Compassion is a similar one but is more focused on the suffering experienced by oneself and others and the yearning, “may myself and others be free from suffering and its causes”. So while Compassion focuses on the alleviation of suffering, Loving-Kindness focuses on our unfulfilled human potential for genuine happiness.

“The cultivation of the Empathetic Joy involves attending closely to something that is already a reality- the joys, successes, and virtues of yourself and others.”

In the cultivation of Equanimity we develop and attitude of impartiality. This is not to be confused with an attitude of indifference. Our limited capacity for Loving-Kindness, Compassion and Empathetic Joy for those who are closest to us, dissipating as the circle widens to those who are strangers and fading out completely as we get to those who we consider as our enemies, becomes boundless and unconditional with the cultivation of Equanimity so that the other qualities of our heart extends even to our enemies and those who wish to harm us with just as much strength as it does for those that are closest to us.