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The Four Immeasurable Minds
A mindfulness way of life
Our minds are not limited by our bodies and our experiences. They are far bigger than that.
I first realised this when I realised that my mind could imagine things far away, like the universe, or prehistory. Our minds are not limited to the here and now.
Then I realised, to truly be alive means to live in this moment, in the here and now. Otherwise you’re missing your life while it’s happening. And somehow that left me with something missing, the expansiveness I’d previously experienced while mind-travelling.
I started meditating, to find ways to understand this mind of mine, some thirty-plus years ago. I went on a deep space/ mind journey, and discovered the four immeasurable minds.
These minds come out of the Buddhist tradition and are a way of exploring the deeper meaning of love, but they also took me to a place of expansiveness that is far greater than my imagination could possibly conceive of - and yet I stay completely present. It opened up to me the concept of an immeasurable mind and helped me to explore my own through my mindfulness practice.
The first mind is Metta, or loving kindness, a meditation I used massively when I was on my healing journey from profound childhood trauma, releasing all to the past. I had to do…
