Why Is Brahma Viharas Important

The Brahma-Viharas are considered some of the most important parts of a good meditation practice in the Buddhist tradition. Furthermore, it's important to cultivate and practice the Brahma-Viharas outside of a meditation practice as well. When a person spreads these types of emotions, they simultaneously spark and continue a ripple of goodwill. There are four qualities that make up the Brahma-Viharas and they are loving-kindness, sympathetic joy, compassion and equanimity.

1. Loving-kindness
Metta is another word for loving-kindness. When a person practices loving-kindness, they actively want the best for others. They wish them well. Jealousy isn't a part of loving-kindness. Jealousy wants others to fail because it's born from a place of insecurity. When a person can actively wish the best for others, this also means that they're doing the work to be healthy and emotionally whole for themselves. Extending the quality of loving-kindness has everything to do with putting self-motive aside to want the best for someone else.

2. Sympathetic Joy
It's also known as appreciative joy. It allows a person to experience a true level of happiness and joy because of their desire to see goodwill spread. There's also no selfish motive involved in sympathetic joy. They can appreciate the joy at the moment it happens. A person can understand that sympathetic joy is fleeting. As a result, they can absorb the moment when it comes and enjoy it for what it is. Human nature doesn't allow a person to do this. For some reason, it's natural for people to keep their guard up and assume they can't fully enjoy joy because it is a quickly-passing