Yoga Nidra for the Brahma Viharas (scripts)
In Buddhism, the myth of Brahma describes a four-faced god with one face for each of the sublime emotions: loving-kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha). As Brahma abides in these four forms of unselfish love, they are known as the Brahma Viharas or the “dwelling place of the Brahmas.” Buddhism teaches that true happiness must be cultivated through these four sublime emotions. Only then can we experience an awakened mind and overcome suffering.
We can learn to cultivate the Brahma Viharas through meditation, starting with loving-kindness as the foundation. Loving-kindness means holding goodwill towards all beings. While it is easy to wish goodwill to those we love, we may find it difficult to wish metta to challenging people. In the face of suffering, a heart residing in loving-kindness will experience compassion, or karuna, and a wish that the suffering cease. In the face of joy and others’ success, a heart residing in loving-kindness experiences sympathetic joy, or mudita, and hope for happiness to continue. However, we may try; our limited human hearts cannot hold all the world’s suffering and joy. But we can cultivate equanimity--not to turn away from suffering or become insensitive to joy, but to help us focus our energies on ways we can help without creating suffering for ourselves.
- Yoga Nidra for Loving-Kindness (Metta) - A classic meditation helping you hold easy, neutral, and challenging people and yourself in loving-kindness.
- Yoga Nidra for Compassion (Karuna) - A meditation helping you hold those suffering in compassion.
- Yoga Nidra for Sympathetic Joy (Mudita) - A meditation helping you to wish appreciative joy to everyone in your life.
- Yoga Nidra for Equanimity (Upekkha) - A meditation helping you maintain mental and emotional balance no matter what you face.
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DID YOU KNOW:
- Scripts for these meditations are also available for purchase.
- I teach live Yoga Nidra classes.
- Want to learn how to write your own scripts? Join this 10-hour Yoga Nidra Training (CEC's for Yoga Alliance available)
- View all of the Yoga Nidra resources.
