An Ethical Samādhi: Brahma-vihāra Meditation and the Flexible Early Buddhist Path
Mindfulness May 20, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-025-02597-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Brahma-vihāra meditation |
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Keywords | Path computing Public health Psychotherapist Theology Virology Nursing |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key points | Argues that Brahma-vihāra meditation in early Buddhism functions both as the completion of ethical practice and as a form of samādhi that can be liberating, revealing a flexible path for practitioners. |
Abstract
Abstract This article offers a new interpretation of Brahma-vihāra meditation (BVM) in early Buddhism, positioning it between ethical cultivation and development of samādhi ; BVM can thereby perfect ethical practice by creating a comprehensive meditative state that is thoroughly ethical. The fact that the radically ethical states of mind of BVM are sometimes included in the path to liberation, while more commonly they are not, further affords an important understanding regarding the flexible nature of the early Buddhist path. This is not one path, two paths, or any other number of paths, but a flexible method that different practitioners can use in various ways, evoking its diverse potentials according to their personal inclinations and contexts. Within this dynamic structure, Brahma-vihāra meditations play two main roles: first, they allow a completion of ethical practice, bringing it to perfection through the divine attitudes of love ( mettā ), compassion ( karuṇā ), empathic joy ( muditā ), and equanimity ( upekkhā ). Second, these states of mind, in which the mind reaches a state of totality, serve as a form of samādhi , which can replace other types of meditative concentration, such as jhāna . At their best, these states can be liberating. This interpretation of BVM’s role improves our understanding of the early Buddhist path, and specifically of the manner in which it combines ethical cultivation with advanced meditation. Here, samādhi proves to be ethical, and ethics liberating.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Bridging the Gap Between Sīla and Samādhi: The Role of Mindfulness in Pre-Meditative Practice Mindfulness September 1, 2024
- The Ancient Therav?da Meditation System, Bor?n Kamma??h?na: ?n?p?nasati or ‘Mindfulness of The Breath’ in Kammatthan Majjima Baeb Lamdub Buddhist Studies Review February 24, 2016
- Rethinking the Buddha June 23, 2014