Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

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‘sublime state of living’. This ‘sublime state of living’ is similar
to the moral living of celestial Brahmas. So it is called
‘Brahmavihàra’.
The four Brahma-vihàras are also known as ‘four Appama¤¤às’
meaning ‘four boundless states’. They are so called
because those who practise these exercises are radiating lovingkindness
or compassion or sympathetic joy to all beings without
limit or obstruction.
1 Mettà – loving-kindness, benevolence, goodwill.
It is defined as that which softens one’s heart. It is the
wish for the good, safety and happiness of all beings.
Benevolent attitude is its chief characteristic.
It is not carnal love (ràga) or personal affection
(pema). Its direct enemy is hatred or illwill (dosa) or
aversion (kodha). Its indirect enemy is pema (lobha). It
has the ability to quench illwill.
The culmination of mettà is the identification of
oneself with all beings, i.e. one no longer differentiates
between oneself and the others in the order of priority.
Mettà stands for adosa-cetasika.
2 Karunà – compassion
It is defined as that which makes the hearts of the noble
quiver when others are subject to suffering or that
dissipates the sufferings of others. The wish to remove
the sufferings of others is its chief characteristic.
Its direct enemy is cruelty or wickedness (hiüsa)
and its indirect enemy is passionate grief (domanassa).
It discards cruelty or wickedness.