On Radiating the Sublime Attitudes

If you want to, you can radiate thoughts of good will, etc., in extended form, either in Pali or in translation. Your thoughts should be directed in two directions: inwardly and outwardly.

Inwardly: Radiating good will, compassion, and appreciation to yourself means to do no evil, to take pity on yourself by abandoning evil, and to be appreciative of the aims of virtue and morality. To develop equanimity toward yourself means to be unruffled when the occasion calls for it. For instance, when you’re ill and have done all you can to treat the illness, you should then limit your attention to the goodness in the heart.

Outwardly: To radiate thoughts of good will, etc., to others can be done in two ways: (a) radiating such thoughts specifically to those you know and love—your parents, teachers, relatives, and close friends; and (b) radiating such thoughts in general to all living beings of all kinds, without specifying anyone in particular: seeing that we are all alike in having bodies and minds and in feeling pain, and so radiating thoughts of good will throughout the three realms—the sensual realm, the realm of form, and the realm of formlessness—without making distinctions or drawing lines. To radiate good will in this way is very powerful and gives the mind enormous strength.

The extended formula, in Pali and in translation, is as follows:

Once you feel complete good will toward yourself, you should share these feelings, spreading them to all others in general:

(Mettā)

(Karuṇā)

(Muditā)

(Upekkhā)

This ends the formula for radiating the four sublime attitudes. To spread these thoughts without specifying this or that particular person is called developing the quality of immeasurability (appamañña dhamma).

If you have trouble memorizing the extended formula, you can reduce it to:

Or if you want, you can simply express these thoughts in your own words.