Brahma-vihāra

(Sanskrit; Pāli, abode of Brahma). A key set of four meditative practices often translated as the four ‘Immeasurables’, the four ‘Pure Abodes’, or the four ‘Stations of Brahma’. The four are loving-kindness (maitrī), compassion (karuṇā), sympathetic joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekṣā). The practice of the four Brahma-vihāras involves radiating outwards the postive qualities associated with such states of mind, directing them first towards oneself, then to one's family, the local community, and eventually to all beings in the universe.