Four Qualities

by Friends of Godwin

There are four qualities mentioned in the Dhamma. They are called Sublime States or Divine Abodes. The first one is loving-kindness, metta. The second one is karuna, which means compassion, when you see someone suffering you try to help that person. The third quality is very interesting, mudita: when other people are happy you rejoice in their happiness, and I would say that you can also rejoice in your own happiness. So this quality of mudita is something very important we need to cultivate. A meditation master has put this very clearly. He said that we have a tendency to see what is wrong in ourselves, but we never look for what is right in ourselves.