' () is generally translated as compassion or

mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...

and sometimes as self-compassion or spiritual longing. It is a significant spiritual concept in the Indic religions of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit= Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fr ...

, and

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Buddhism

is important in all schools of Buddhism. For

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhists, dwelling in is a means for attaining a happy present life and heavenly rebirth. For

Mahāyāna ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

Buddhists, is a co-requisite for becoming a

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schoo ...

Theravada Buddhism

In Theravāda Buddhism, is one of the four "divine abodes" ('' brahmavihāra''), along with loving kindness ( Pāli: '' mettā''), sympathetic joy ('' mudita'') and equanimity ('' upekkha''). In the

Pali canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During ...

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

recommends cultivating these four virtuous mental states to both householders and

monastics Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...

. When one develops these four states, Buddha counsels radiating them in all directions, as in the following stock canonical phrase regarding : Such a practice purifies one's mind, avoids evil-induced consequences, leads to happiness in one's present life and, if there is a future karmic rebirth, it will be in a

heavenly realm Heavenly may refer to: * Pertaining to Heaven Music Bands * Heavenly (British band), an English pop band * Heavenly (French band), a French heavy metal band Albums * ''Heavenly'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1959 * ''Heavenly'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel ...

. The

Pali commentaries Aṭṭhakathā (Pali for explanation, commentary) refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries w ...

distinguish between and mettā in the following complementary manner: Karuna is the desire to remove harm and suffering (''ahita- dukkha-apanaya-kāmatā'') from others; while mettā is the desire to bring about the well-being and happiness (''hita- sukha-upanaya-kāmatā'') of others. The "far enemy" of is

cruelty Cruelty is the pleasure in inflicting suffering or inaction towards another's suffering when a clear remedy is readily available. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept. Cruel ways of inflicting suffering may involve vi ...

, a mind-state in obvious opposition. The "near enemy" (quality which superficially resembles but is in fact more subtly in opposition to it), is (sentimental)

pity Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to '' compassion'', '' condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin '' pietas'' (etymon also of '' piety''). Self-pity is ...

: here too one wants to remove suffering, but for a partly selfish (attached) reason hence not the pure motivation. In the

Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During ...

, Buddhas are also described as choosing to teach "out of compassion for beings."

Mahayana Buddhism

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, is one of the two qualities, along with enlightened wisdom (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

: '' prajña''), to be cultivated on the

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schoo ...

path. According to scholar Rupert Gethin, this elevation of to the status of prajña is one of the distinguishing factors between the Theravāda arahant ideal and the Mahāyāna bodhisattva ideal: Throughout the Mahāyāna world,

Avalokiteśvara In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara ( Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर, IPA: ) is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He has 108 avatars, one notable avatar being Padmapāṇi (lotus bearer). He is variably depicte ...

(Sanskrit; Chinese: Guan Yin; Japanese: Kannon; Tibetan: Chenrezig) is a bodhisattva who embodies . In the Intermediate section of the ''Stages of Meditation'' by Kamalaśīla, he writes: In

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...

, one of the foremost authoritative texts on the Bodhisattva path is the ''

Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra The ''Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra'' or ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' ( sa, बोधिसत्त्वाचर्यावतार; Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་ ''b ...

'' by Shantideva. In the eighth section entitled ''Meditative Concentration'', Shantideva describes meditation on Karunā as thus:

Jainism

is associated with the Jain practice of compassion. For instance, is one of the four reflections of universal friendship — along with amity (Sanskrit: '' maitri''), appreciation (''pramoda'') and equanimity (''madhyastha'')—used to stop ('' samvara'') the influx of

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively ...

.Shah (n.d.).
Regarding ''samvara'', see "Release from karmas". From a comparative religion perspective, cf. Buddhism's four

brahmavihara The ''brahmavihārās'' (sublime attitudes, lit. "abodes of brahma") are a series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the four immeasurables (Sanskrit: अप्रमाण, ''apr ...

; for instance, ''maitri'' is often identified as a Sanskrit correlate of the Pali ''mettā'' (Rhys Davids & Stede, 1921-5, p. 540, entry for "Mettā," retrieved a

.

Miscellaneous

is a common first name throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, used for both genders.

Notes

Sources

Bhikkhu Bodhi Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Public ...

(trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. . * Buddha Dharma Education Association & BuddhaNet (n.d.). ''Buddhist Studies for Secondary Students, Unit 6: The Four Immeasurables''. Retrieved from "BuddhaNet" at http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/bs-s15.htm. * Buddhaghosa, Bhadantacariya & Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (trans.) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. . * Gethin, Rupert (1998). ''The Foundations of Buddhism''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). ''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary''. London: Oxford University Press. . Retrieved 2008-05-09 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf. * Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). ''The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary''. Chipstead:

Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...

. Retrieved 2008-05-09 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/. * Saddhatissa, H. (1985/2003) Curzon, London/Humanities Press, New York, 1985 * Salzberg, Sharon (1995). Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston: Shambhala Publications. . * Shah, Pravin K. (n.d.). ''Nine Tattvas (Principles)''. Retrieved from "Harvard U." at https://web.archive.org/web/20090605003634/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/jainedu/9tattva.htm. * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994). ''Kalama Sutta: To the Kalamas'' ( AN 3.65). Retrieved 2008-05-10 from "Access to Insight" at https://web.archive.org/web/20111006181109/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html. * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). ''Ayacana Sutta: The Request'' ( SN 6.1). Retrieved 2016-04-30 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn06/sn06.001.than.html. * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2006). ''Metta Sutta: Good Will (1)'' ( AN 4.125). Retrieved 2008-05-10 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.125.than.html. * Warder, A. K. (1970; reprinted 2004). Indian Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass: Delhi. .

External links

*
Four Sublime States and The Practice of Loving Kindness
' by Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu & Nyanaponika Thera *
Don’t Push – Just Use the Weight of Your Own Body
' by Ajahn Amaro
Dharma Dictionary - RangjungYesheWiki - Snying Rje / Karuna

Caring For the Poorest children in Cambodia: Karuna Foundation - by Cathy and Phil Kiely

The network of Karuna-Shechen foundations in Europe, North America and Asia is raising funds for Karuna-Shechen humanitarian projects in the Himalayan region.

{{Authority control Wholesome factors in Buddhism Jain philosophical concepts Sanskrit words and phrases