In mid-June my friend Caro and I had the great opportunity to go on a Brahmavihara Retreat in magic Rivendell, led by wonderful Vessantara. What are the Brahmaviharas, where is Rivendell (that much I can tell you already, we did not travel to Middle Earth), and who is Vessantara? The brahmaviharas, or sublime attitudes, are also called the Four Immeasurables. In Buddhism, they denote the mental states of loving-kindness (Sanskrit: maitri), compassion (Sanskrit: karuna), sympathetic joy (Sanskrit: mudita), and equanimity (Sanskrit: upeksa). There is a specific meditation that one can use to cultivate these states of mind, and they can also be practised during one’s everyday life, for example when interacting with others. Rivendell Retreat Centre is a retreat centre located between Tunbrigde Wells and Lewes in East Sussex, not far from
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