Karuna
Encyclopedia
Karuā is generally translated as "compassion
" or "pity". It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism
and Jainism
.
Karuā is important in all schools of Buddhism. For Theravāda
Buddhists, dwelling in karuā is a means for attaining a happy present life and heavenly rebirth. For Mahāyāna
Buddhists, karuā is a co-requisite for becoming a bodhisattva.
), along with loving kindness (Pāli
: mettā
), sympathetic joy (mudita
) and equanimity (upekkha
). In the Pali canon
, the Buddha
recommends cultivating these four virtuous mental states to both householders
and monastics
. When one develops these four states, the Buddha counsels radiating them in all directions, as in the following stock canonical phrase regarding karuā:
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
, rebirth in a heavenly realm
.
The Pali commentaries
distinguish between karuā 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.
: prajña
), to be cultivated on the bodhisattva
path. According to scholar Rupert Gethin
, this elevation of karuā 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
(Sanskrit; Chinese: Guan Yin; Japanese: Kanzeon; Tibetan: Chenrezig) is a bodhisattva who embodies karuā.
In the Intermediate section of the Stages of Meditation by Kamalashila, he writes:
In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, one of the foremost authoritative texts on the Bodhisattva path is the Bodhicaryavatara by Shantideva. In the eighth section entitled Meditative Concentration, Shantideva describes meditation on Karunā as thus:
, hindi
and tamil
. It is used both for girls and boys.
Compassion
Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...
" or "pity". It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
.
Buddhism
Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed. - The Buddha.Karuā is important in all schools of Buddhism. For Theravāda
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhists, dwelling in karuā is a means for attaining a happy present life and heavenly rebirth. For Mahāyāna
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
Buddhists, karuā is a co-requisite for becoming a bodhisattva.
Theravada Buddhism
In Theravāda Buddhism, karuā is one of the four "divine abodes" (brahmavihāraBrahmavihara
The brahmavihāras are a series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the four immeasurables...
), along with loving kindness (Pāli
Páli
- External links :* *...
: mettā
Metta
Mettā or maitrī is loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, close mental union , and active interest in others. It is one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four sublime states...
), sympathetic joy (mudita
Mudita
Mudita in Buddhism is joy. It is especially sympathetic or vicarious joy, the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being rather than begrudging it...
) and equanimity (upekkha
Upekkha
Upekkhā , is the Buddhist concept of equanimity. As one of the Brahma Vihara , it is a pure mental state cultivated on the Buddhist path to nirvāna.-Pali literary contexts:...
). In the Pali canon
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 only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
, the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
recommends cultivating these four virtuous mental states to both householders
Householder (Buddhism)
In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch...
and monastics
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
. When one develops these four states, the Buddha counsels radiating them in all directions, as in the following stock canonical phrase regarding karuā:
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
Karma in Buddhism
Karma means "action" or "doing"; whatever one does, says, or thinks is a karma. In Buddhism, the term karma is used specifically for those actions which spring from the intention of an unenlightened being.These bring about a fruit or result Karma (Sanskrit, also karman, Pāli: Kamma) means...
rebirth
Rebirth (Buddhism)
Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the evolving consciousness or stream of consciousness upon death , becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new aggregation...
, rebirth in a heavenly realm
Buddhist cosmology
Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries.-Introduction:...
.
The Pali commentaries
Atthakatha
Atthakatha refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries were based on earlier ones, now lost, in Old Sinhalese, which were written down at the same...
distinguish between karuā and mettā in the following complementary manner: Karuna is the desire to remove harm and suffering (ahita-dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
-apanaya-kāmatā) from others; while mettā is the desire to bring about the well-being and happiness (hita-sukha
Sukha
Sukha is a Sanskrit and Pāli word that is often translated as “happiness" or "ease" or "pleasure" or "bliss." In Buddhism's Pali literature, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits, meditative absorptions and intra-psychic phenomena....
-upanaya-kāmatā) of others.
Mahayana Buddhism
In Mahāyāna Buddhism, karuā is one of the two qualities, along with enlightened wisdom (SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
: prajña
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
), to be cultivated on the bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
path. According to scholar Rupert Gethin
Rupert Gethin
Dr. Rupert Mark Lovell Gethin is a Lecturer in Indian Religions in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and codirector of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol, and president of the Pali Text Society...
, this elevation of karuā 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
Avalokitesvara
Avalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism....
(Sanskrit; Chinese: Guan Yin; Japanese: Kanzeon; Tibetan: Chenrezig) is a bodhisattva who embodies karuā.
In the Intermediate section of the Stages of Meditation by Kamalashila, he writes:
In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, one of the foremost authoritative texts on the Bodhisattva path is the Bodhicaryavatara by Shantideva. In the eighth section entitled Meditative Concentration, Shantideva describes meditation on Karunā as thus:
Jainism
Karuā is associated with the Jain practice of compassion. For instance, karuā 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.Miscellaneous
Karuā is a common surname in sanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
. It is used both for girls and boys.
See also
- BodhicittaBodhicittaIn Buddhism, bodhicitta jang chub sem, Mongolian бодь сэтгэл) is the intention to achieve omniscient Buddhahood as fast as possible, so that one may benefit infinite sentient beings...
- BodhisattvaBodhisattvaIn Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
- BrahmaviharaBrahmaviharaThe brahmavihāras are a series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the four immeasurables...
- Nīlakantha dhāranī
- MettaMettaMettā or maitrī is loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, close mental union , and active interest in others. It is one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four sublime states...
Sources
- 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.
- Gethin, RupertRupert GethinDr. Rupert Mark Lovell Gethin is a Lecturer in Indian Religions in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and codirector of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol, and president of the Pali Text Society...
(1998). The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Monier-Williams, MonierMonier Monier-WilliamsSir Monier Monier-Williams, KCIE was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England...
(1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. 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 SocietyPali Text SocietyThe Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...
. Retrieved 2008-05-09 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/. - Shah, Pravin K. (n.d.). Nine Tattvas (Principles). Retrieved from "Harvard U." at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/jainedu/9tattva.htm.
- Thanissaro BhikkhuThanissaro BhikkhuṬhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff, is an American Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order , Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon...
(trans.) (1994). Kalama Sutta: To the Kalamas (ANAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
3.65). Retrieved 2008-05-10 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html. - Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2006). Metta Sutta: Good Will (1) (ANAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
4.125). Retrieved 2008-05-10 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.125.than.html. - Great Compassion Dharani Sutra
External links
- 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.
- A View on Buddhism COMPASSION AND BODHICITTA