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difference between metta and karuna


from an old forum thread in 2018:



 What is the practical difference between metta ( loving kindness ) and karuna ( compassion )? If we feel loving kindness towards somebody, wouldn’t that include compassion towards them?

frankk:

Stepping back, looking at the 4bv (brahma vihara), there’s a progression in wisdom, depth, subtlety as you progress through the 4.

Here’s an example of a practical difference: Someone could be motivated with the emotion of good will for everyone to be happy, wishing everyone has their wishes fulfilled, getting their dream job, getting their dream partner, getting dream kids, etc.

But with more wisdom, one sees that mere having wishes fulfilled, is only going to lead to short term happiness, and may even be just a spring loaded trap for much bigger dukkha bundled with it (getting a dream job means higher pressure, stressful job. Getting a dream wife means other people are jealous, hitting on her, trying to steal her from you… etc.)

So compassion, or wishing people be free of dukkha, is a wiser more subtle emotion, since wishing for people to be free of dukkha would eliminate the wish for them being happy based on things that would simply lead to more dukkha.



Ven. Dhammanando:

P.S.: I did some googling and found people saying that the specific terms near enemy (āsannapaccatthika) and far enemy (dūrapaccatthika) appears to only have matches in the commentaries and later texts (including VIsuddhimagga). Is anyone able to confirm ?

The terms are from the Visuddhimagga and Atthasālinī, though in the case of “far-enemy” I think the basic idea is prefigured in much earlier texts like the Paṭisambhidāmagga and the Sallekhasutta.

An equivalent term for “near-enemy” is “deceitful state” (vañcaka dhamma or just vañcaka) which has its provenance in the Nettippakaraṇa-related literature, starting with Dhammapāla’s Nettippakaraṇa Atthakathā. The list of these is much longer than Buddhaghosa’s āsannapaccatthika, numbering thirty-eight in all:

Five hindrances

appaṭikkūlasaññā > kāmacchanda
paṭikkūlasaññā > byāpāda
samādhi > thinamiddha
vīriyārambha > uddhacca
sikkhākāmatā > kukkucca
ubhayapakkhasantīraṇa > vicikicchā
Miscellaneous

iṭṭhāniṭṭhasamupekkhana > sammoha
attaññutā > attani aparibhavane māna
vīmaṃsā > hetupatirūpakapariggahena micchādiṭṭhi
virattatā > sattesu adayāpannatā
anuññātapaṭisevana > kāmasukhallikānuyoga
ājīvapārisuddhi > asaṃvibhāgasīlatā
saṃvibhāgasīlatā > micchājīva
asaṃsaggavihāritā > asaṅgahasīlatā
saṅgahasīlatā > ananulomikasaṃsagga
saccavāditā > pisuṇavācā
apisuṇavāditā > anatthakāmatā
piyavāditā > cāṭukamyatā
mitabhāṇitā > asammodanasīlatā
sammodanasīlatā > māyā sāṭheyyañca
niggayhavāditā > pharusavācatā
pāpagarahitā > paravajjānupassitā
Three kinds of stinginess

kulānuddhayatā > kulamacchariya
āvāsaciraṭṭhitikāmatā > āvāsamacchariya
dhammaparibandhapariharaṇa > dhammamacchariya
Three vices mentioned in the Adhimāna Sutta

dhammadesanābhirati > bhassārāmatā
apharusavācatāgaṇānuggahakaraṇa > saṅgaṇikārāmatā
puññakāmatā > kammārāmatā
Miscellaneous

saṃvega > cittasantāpa
saddhālutā > aparikkhatā
vīmaṃsanā > assaddhiya
Three predominances

attādhipateyya > garūnaṃ anusāsaniyā appadakkhiṇaggāhitā
dhammādhipateyya > sabrahmacārīsu agārava
lokādhipateyya > attani dhamme ca paribhava
Four divine abidings

mettā > rāga
karuṇā > soka
muditā > pahāsa
upekkhā > kusalesu dhammesu nikkhittachandatā

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