Karuṇā (in both Sanskrit and Pali) is generally translated as "compassion" or "pity".^[1] It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism and Jainism.

Buddhism[link]

Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed. - The Buddha.^[2]

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Karuṇā is important in all schools of Buddhism. For Theravāda Buddhists, dwelling in karuṇā is a means for attaining a happy present life and heavenly rebirth. For Mahāyāna Buddhists, karuṇā is a co-requisite for becoming a bodhisattva.

Theravada Buddhism[link]

In Theravāda Buddhism, karuṇā is one of the four "divine abodes" (brahmavihāra), along with loving kindness (Pāli: mettā), sympathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha).^[3] In the Pali canon, the Buddha recommends cultivating these four virtuous mental states to both householders and monastics.^[4] When one develops these four states, the Buddha counsels radiating them in all directions, as in the following stock canonical phrase regarding karuṇā:

He keeps pervading the first direction—as well as the second direction, the third, and the fourth—with an awareness imbued with compassion. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around, everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with compassion: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.^[5]

Such a practice purifies one's mind, avoids evil-induced consequences, leads to happiness in one's present life and, if there is a future karmic rebirth, rebirth in a heavenly realm.^[6]

The Pali commentaries distinguish between karuṇā and mettā in the following complementary manner: Karuna is the desire to remove harm and suffering (ahita-dukkha-apanaya-kāmatā) from others; while mettā is the desire to bring about the well-being and happiness (hita-sukha-upanaya-kāmatā) of others.^[7]

Mahayana Buddhism[link]

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, karuṇā is one of the two qualities, along with enlightened wisdom (Sanskrit: prajña), to be cultivated on the bodhisattva path. According to scholar Rupert Gethin, this elevation of karuṇā to the status of prajña is one of the distinguishing factors between the Theravāda arahant ideal and the Mahāyāna bodhisattva ideal:

For the Mahāyāna ... the path to arhatship appears tainted with a residual selfishess since it lacks the motivation of the great compassion (mahākaruṇā) of the bodhisattva, and ultimately the only legitimate way of Buddhist practice is the bodhisattva path.^[8]

Throughout the Mahāyāna world, Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit; Chinese: Guan Yin; Japanese: Kanzeon; Tibetan: Chenrezig) is a bodhisattva who embodies karuṇā.

In the Intermediate section of the Stages of Meditation by Kamalashila, he writes:

Moved by compassion[karunā], Bodhisattvas take the vow to liberate all sentient beings. Then by overcoming their self-centered outlook, they engage eagerly and continuously in the very difficult practices of accumulating merit and insight. Having entered into this practice, they will certainly complete the collection of merit and insight. Accomplishing the accumulation of merit and insight is like having omniscience itself in the palm of your hand. Therefore, since compassion is the only root of omniscience, you should become familiar with this practice from the very beginning."^[9]

In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, one of the foremost authoritative texts on the Bodhisattva path is the Bodhicaryavatara by Shantideva. In the eighth section entitled Meditative Concentration, Shantideva describes meditation on Karunā as thus:

Strive at first to meditate upon the sameness of yourself and others. In joy and sorrow all are equal; Thus be guardian of all, as of yourself. The hand and other limbs are many and distinct, But all are one--the body to kept and guarded. Likewise, different beings, in their joys and sorrows, are, like me, all one in wanting happiness. This pain of mine does not afflict or cause discomfort to another's body, and yet this pain is hard for me to bear because I cling and take it for my own. And other beings' pain I do not feel, and yet, because I take them for myself, their suffering is mine and therefore hard to bear. And therefore I'll dispel the pain of others, for it is simply pain, just like my own. And others I will aid and benefit, for they are living beings, like my body. Since I and other beings both, in wanting happiness, are equal and alike, what difference is there to distinguish us, that I should strive to have my bliss alone?"^[10]

Jainism[link]

Karuṇā is associated with the Jain practice of compassion. For instance, karuṇā is one of the four reflections of universal friendship — along with amity (Sanskrit: maitri), appreciation (pramoda) and equanimity (madhyastha)—used to stop (samvara) the influx of karma.^[11]

Miscellaneous[link]

Karuṇā is a common surname in sanskrit, hindi and Tamil. It is used both for girls and boys.

See also[link]

• Bodhicitta
• Bodhisattva
• Brahmavihara
• Nīlakantha dhāranī
• Metta

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Buddha Dharma Education Association & BuddhaNet (n.d.). Buddhist Studies for Secondary Students, Unit 6: The Four Immeasurables. Retrieved from "BuddhaNet" at http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/bs-s15.htm.
• Gethin, Rupert (1998). The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. Retrieved 2008-05-09 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf.
• Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. Retrieved 2008-05-09 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
• Shah, Pravin K. (n.d.). Nine Tattvas (Principles). Retrieved from "Harvard U." at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/jainedu/9tattva.htm.
• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994). Kalama Sutta: To the Kalamas (AN 3.65). Retrieved 2008-05-10 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html.
• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2006). Metta Sutta: Good Will (1) (AN 4.125). Retrieved 2008-05-10 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.125.than.html.
• Great Compassion Dharani Sutra

External links[link]

• Dharma Dictionary - RangjungYesheWiki - Snying Rje / Karuna
• Caring For the Poorest children in Cambodia: Karuna Foundation - by Cathy and Phil Kiely
• The network of Karuna-Shechen foundations in Europe, North America and Asia is raising funds for Karuna-Shechen humanitarian projects in the Himalayan region.
• A View on Buddhism COMPASSION AND BODHICITTA

Imee Ooi

Imee Ooi (pronounce as English "E-ME WOO --E"^{[needs Chinese IPA]} (connected) - Ch: 黃慧音, pinyin: Huáng Huìyīn, which means HUANG-Yellow - HUI-Wisdom - YIN-Sound/Music, being her original name by birth) is a Malaysian music producer, composer, arranger and vocalist who brings traditional Buddhist chants, mantras and dharanis (typically from the Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan or Mandarin languages) into sung versions with accompanying musical scores. She also is a classical pianist by training.

Ooi is the musical director and composer of two highly-acclaimed stage musicals; Siddhartha and Above Full Moon, and is currently working on a musical entitled Jewel of Tibet. The musical is set during the Tang Dynasty and is about a Tang princess who marries a Tibetan king and how she brings Buddhism to Tibet.

Imee Ooi established I.M.M Musicworks in 1997, and to date has released over 20 albums.

Discography[link]

• Jayamangalagatha Mantra
• The Chant of Metta
• Great Compassionate Mantra
• Mantra of Guanyin
• Mantras of the Sanskrit
• Namo Amitabha (Mandarin)
• Diamond Sutra (Mandarin)
• Arya Ekdasa-Mukha Dharani
• Medicine Buddha Dharani
• Amitabha (Mandarin)
• Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra
• Karaniya Metta Sutta
• Ratana Sutta, Discourse of the Jewels
• The Wisdom of Manjusri Bodhisattva
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 1
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 2
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 3
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 4
• Tisarana
• Heart Sutra
• Om Mani Padme Hum
• Green Tara Mantra
• The Mantra of Guru Rinpoche
• Chants from Heart to Heart
• Message in Music Vol.1
• Message in Music Vol.2
• Message in Music Vol.3
• Heart Of Repentance
• Hymns Of The Pureland
• The Shore Beyond Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutram (Sanskrit)
• Universal Door Chapter (The Lotus Sutra)
• The Mantra Of Vajrasattva ~ Om Benza Sato Hum
• World In One Heart : Voices Of The Heart Sutra
• Shurangama Mantra

References[link]

• Meet Imee the mantra musician
• I.M.M. Music Works
• An interview by 劉潔芬 in Chinese: 俗世慧音

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Joanna Rogers Macy, Ph.D (sometimes listed as Joanna R. Macy or Joanna Macy; born May 2, 1929), is an environmental activist, author, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is the author of eight books.^[1]

Biography[link]

Macy graduated from Wellesley College in 1950 and received her Phd in Religious Studies in 1978 from Syracuse University, Syracuse. She studied there with Huston Smith, the influential author of The World's Religions (previously entitled The Religions of Man). She is an international spokesperson for anti-nuclear causes, peace, justice, and environmentalism,^[1] most renowned for her book Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World and the Great Turning initiative, which deals with the transformation from, as she terms it, an industrial growth society to what she considers to be a more sustainable civilization. She has created a theoretical framework for personal and social change, and a workshop methodology for its application. Her work addresses psychological and spiritual issues, Buddhist thought, and contemporary science.

Macy travels giving lectures, workshops, and trainings internationally. Widowed in January 2009, she lives in Berkeley, California, near her children and grandchildren. She serves as adjunct professor to three graduate schools in the San Francisco Bay Area: the Starr King School for the Ministry, the University of Creation Spirituality, and the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Works[link]

• Coming Back to Life : Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World; Joanna R. Macy, Molly Young Brown; New Society Publishers (1998); ISBN 0-86571-391-X
• Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age; New Society Pub, (1983); ISBN 0-86571-031-7
• Dharma and Development: Religion as resource in the Sarvodaya self help movement; Kumarian Press revised ed (1985); ISBN 0-931816-53-X
• Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory: The Dharma of Natural System (Buddhist Studies Series); State University of New York Press (1991); ISBN 0-7914-0637-7
• Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God; poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy; Riverhead Books(1996); ISBN 1-59448-156-3
• Thinking Like a Mountain: Toward a Council of All Beings; Joanna Macy, John Seed, Pat Fleming, Arne Naess, Dailan Pugh; New Society Publishers (1988); ISBN 0-86571-133-X
• Widening Circles (memoir); New Society, 2000
• World as Lover, World as Self; Parallax Press (2005); ISBN 0-938077-27-9

See also[link]

• David Korten, a collaborator with Macy on the Great Turning Initiative

References[link]

External links[link]

• Joanna Macy's website on the work of Experiential Deep Ecology
• Gaia Foundation of Western Australia — an Australian organisation based on the principles of Deep Ecology.
• California Institute of Integral Studies
• Interview with Joanna Macy by John Malkin — published in ascent magazine, summer 2008
• The Healing on Mother Earth Project — a Sebastopol, Ca organisation based on the principles of deep ecology.
• "The Work that Reconnects" — Video series of a workshop with Joanna Macy.
• A Wild Love for the World, and interview with Joanna Macy, by Krista Tippet on the American Radio Show "On Being"

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Bhikkhu Bodhi
School	Theravada
Personal
Nationality	American
Born	(1944-12-10) December 10, 1944 (age 67) Brooklyn, New York, United States
Senior posting
Based in	Buddhist Publication Society Sangha Council of Bodhi Monastery Yin Shun Foundation
Predecessor	Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (BPS editor and president)
Successor	Mr. Kariyavasam (BPS editor)[1]
Religious career
Teacher	Ven. Ananda Maitreya

Bhikkhu Bodhi (b. December 10, 1944, NYC), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

Life[link]

In 1944, Block was born in Brooklyn, NY. In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College. In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.^[2][3]

In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a novice monk in the Vietnamese Mahayana order.^[3] In 1972, after graduation, Bodhi traveled to Sri Lanka where, under Ven. Ananda Maitreya,^[4] he received novice ordination and, in 1973, he received full ordination in a Theravada order.^[2]

In 1984, succeeding co-founder Ven. Nyanaponika Thera,^[4] Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS, Sri Lanka) and, in 1988, became its president.^[1][2][5] In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining its president.^[1][3][5]

In 2000, at the United Nations' first official Vesak celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address.^[6]

In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS,^[3] Bodhi returned to the United States. He currently teaches at Bodhi Monastery (Lafayette, New Jersey) and Chuang Yen Monastery (Carmel, New York) and is the chairman of the Yin Shun Foundation.^[2][7]

Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of the organisation "Buddhist Global Relief", which is fighting hunger across the world.^[8]

Publications and teachings[link]

Bodhi's publications include:

• The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering (1984, BPS; 2000, Pariyatti)^[9]
• The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (with Bhikkhu Nanamoli, 1995, Wisdom Publications)
• Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya (with Nyanaponika Thera, 2000, Altamira Press)
• The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya (2000, Wisdom Publications)
• A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha (2000, BPS Pariyatti)
• In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (2005, Wisdom Publications)

Bodhi's on-line courses include:

• "The Buddha's Teaching As It Is" (1981)^[10]
• "A course in Pali Language" (2003)^[11]
• Majjhima Nikaya lectures (2003–2008)^[12]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (December 2011)

• www.dharma.org – An interview with Bhikkhu Bodhi
• Bodhi Monastery
• Online Books and Articles at "Access to Insight"
• Suttas read aloud
• Dhamma Talks
• Videos of Bhikkhu Bodhi at "Google Video"
• Insight Meditation Center talks