Another sutta connected with BV, which states that, if a person thinks they have developed BV and yet still get obsessed by ill-will, thoughts of harming, or is discontent etc, then they have not actually developed it.
Development or the developed BV, in this context, is the ability to discern the BV at will, whenever one wants, so to speak.
One might have felt great kindness, which is nice, but the BV are dwellings that one can abide in at will, they are developments of mind, not intense emotions.
If one were to have that developed state, then the mere finger snap of entering that dwelling once it is built is infinitely meritorious. It was developed, one knows it, and can return to it, and abide for quite a few more finger snaps.
I would also translate upekkha as impartiality or fairness in the context of the brahmaviharas
I think we agree in terms of the sentiment, but I would say âfair, impartial, unbiased, equitable, or objectiveâ of everyone, rather than say âequal, identical, sameâ treatment of everyone.
âUpekkha, the last of the four sublime attitudes, is equanimity. Upekkha establishes an even or balanced mind in an unbalanced world with fluctuating fortunes and circumstances: gain and loss, fame and ill repute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Upekkha also looks upon all beings impartially, as heirs to the results of their own actions, without attachment or aversion. Upekkha is the serene neutrality of the one who knows.â
I donât know if anyone else has experience of scuba diving, but I like to think of Upekkha like being in the depths of the ocean, and on a sliding scale. On the surface one is buffeted about by every smallest wavelet, the deeper one goes, the less the impact of surface disturbances. To be able to bring this quality of being un-moved, non-agitated by the vicissitudes of life - to the experience of life - not be thrown about/effected by external things, like a piece of wood floating on the surface would be. Beautiful and peaceful - freedom. No matter what
The practice of 4 Brahmavihara is very similar to the practice of âright thoughtâ (sammaa sa.nkappa):
thought of detachment (nekkhamma sa.nkappa), thought of non-malice (abyaapaada sa.nkappa), thought of non-harming (avihi.msaa sa.nkappa).
The right thought is one of the 8 fold path. Possibly the 4 Brahmavihara is an expanded version of the right thought.
About non-malice in connection with a deva-path, cf. also SN 55.34-35 (= SA 847-848). In the suttas the Buddha teaches the noble disciples to reflect (pa.tisa.mcikkhati) thus:
âWhat is a deva-path to the heavens (devaana.m devapadan)? He knows (pajaanaati) thus: Now indeed I hear the devas who have non-malice (abyaapajjha) as the highest (parame). So then I am also without malice (na byaabaadhemi), whether fearful or steady (tasa.m vaa thaavara.m vaa). I surely abide possessed of the dharma of the deva-path (devapada-dhamma-samannaagato).â (Choong Mun-keat, Fundamental Teachings of Early Buddhism, pp. 233-234).
Arahants are moved by compassion to help others, but they seem to wish to help in a fair way, for example, prioritizing those who are faithful and ethical over say those who undertaking animal sacrifice or unreceptive to the help of Arahants.
The view of Arahants as cold, unfeeling, detached, etc. seems to be a propaganda made up by later Buddhist sects such as Mahayana, etc. - it is a misrepresentation of how Arahants actually areâŠthe Buddha was an Arahant.
