Cultivation of the brahmaviharas by meditation

[Alobha]

I'm looking for an instruction how to train the Brahmaviharas, especially Upekkha by means of meditation.

1. Can anybody tell me what methods the Buddha taught for this purpose?
So far I figured out that the similes the Buddha used to explain these mental qualities can serve as objects of reflection to cultivate these states. (see here for example)
So basically I'd just reflect on these similes and mindstates very often to try to bring them to arise, but I don't know whether this is the method of choice. It certainly keeps the mind directed towards wholesome states and I find myself finding own similes just by being aware of the environment. However, it's not a very common object of reflection (or at least none that is talked about very often) so I wonder whether there are other ways I don't know of.

2. While metta-meditation, wishing all beings to be happy and well, extending love to all beings via mantras, is quite in vogue, meditation on karuna, mudita and Upekkha seem to be never talked about by teachers these days (neither mantra nor others). Is anyone familiar with Dhammatalks by a modern teacher who explains meditation on all the Brahmaviharas?

Thanks for any advice friends!
Alobha

[Ben]

Greetings Alobha,

I practice metta bhavana (Brahmavihara) morning and evening following my normal vipassana practice.
I think also many practitioners of Mahasi-style vipassana begin their practice with metta bhavana before moving on to vipassana.
It might be worthwhile having a look at the Metta Sutta (if you haven't already done so), and the section on Metta Bhavana in the Visuddhimagga.

With regards to upekkha, my vipassana practice also helps to develop upekkha as one attends to sensations that are unpleasant, pleasant and neutral in affective tone.
kind regards,

Ben

[tiltbillings]

Is anyone familiar with Dhammatalks by a modern teacher who explains meditation on all the Brahmaviharas?

Sharon Salzberg's talks might be of intertest:


http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/165/

[LonesomeYogurt]

I'm not sure if they're online, but S. N. Goenka's metta meditation instructions are the best I've ever come across, and there's no reason they can't be applied to other traditions like Mahasi or Thai Forest or whatever. I am at a loss for how you would find the talks themselves.

Otherwise Vimalaramsi, for all his weirdness, has some great talks too: http://www.dhammasukha.org/Study/metta.htm.

[befriend]

dharmaseed.org has sharons talks

[FatDaddy]

I recently stumbled into this gem:

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/brahmavihara.pdf

It is a book by Mahasi Sayadaw titled Brahmavihara Dhamma. It is very in-depth (almost 500 pages). It even gives instructions for brahmavihara Jhana.

[rowyourboat]

You should be able to expand them in a limitless way just like metta. I try to give rise to karuna, mudita and upekkha as the situation demands/opportunity arises. I am trying to stay with metta on my mind as long as possible through the day.

With metta

[befriend]

samatha suppresses unwholesome tendencies so if your doing metta for like 4 days all day long, when you stop, the defilements come back like 10 times harder, so i think its best to have some vipassana in there, any other wiser persons want to share? i know this from experience i did metta for hours a few days in a row, then one day i did none, and that day i was like BOOM i need pleasure, my mind didnt even know what exactly it wanted but it wanted pleasure, i was like a crack head.

[Alobha]

samatha suppresses unwholesome tendencies so if your doing metta for like 4 days all day long, when you stop, the defilements come back like 10 times harder, so i think its best to have some vipassana in there, any other wiser persons want to share? i know this from experience i did metta for hours a few days in a row, then one day i did none, and that day i was like BOOM i need pleasure, my mind didnt even know what exactly it wanted but it wanted pleasure, i was like a crack head.

I don't draw a distinction between samatha and vipassana in my practice. However, I'm familiar with the dangers of Metta-meditation and this is one of the reasons why i'm more interested in Upekkha than Metta right now. Mettabhavana is most fruitful for the production of mundane merit. It can lead the mind to wholesome states and thus make the mind very sensitive, too. The brahmaviharas lead to good conditions for samadhi, but especially Metta practiced without a certain calmness and Upekkha developed is, at least from my point of view, something to be careful about. People often identify strongly with feelings and the line between desire for wholesome states (chanda) and the desire and craving for feelings (tanha, Upadana) may not be so easy to see.

It might be worthwhile having a look at the Metta Sutta (if you haven't already done so), and the section on Metta Bhavana in the Visuddhimagga.

Thanks for the advice about the Visuddhimagga! I started reading the section on the brahmaviharas now and it seems to be a good source for practical, detailed instructions and explanations

I recently stumbled into this gem:

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/brahmavihara.pdf

It is a book by Mahasi Sayadaw titled Brahmavihara Dhamma. It is very in-depth (almost 500 pages). It even gives instructions for brahmavihara Jhana.

Oh, didn't know there was a book by Mahasi Sayadaw on the Brahmaviharas! I bet it will also be a huge help, thanks!

Best wishes,
Alobha