Embodiment · “Being Precedes Having”
The Four Attitudes
To keep the mind clear, serene, and undisturbed (citta-prasadana) by deliberately adopting the right inner attitude toward four kinds of people — friendliness toward the happy, compassion toward the suffering, gladness toward the virtuous, and equanimity toward the wicked.
In 5 lines: Match your attitude to the person. Toward the happy, be friendly (maitri). Toward the suffering, be compassionate (karuna). Toward the good, be glad (mudita). Toward the wrongdoer, stay equanimous (upeksha) — unmoved, not approving. Cultivate these deliberately and in the moment, and your mind stays clear and serene.
What it is
Sutra 1.33 gives one of Patanjali’s most practical, everyday teachings: the mind stays clear and serene (citta-prasadana, “the gracing / clarifying of the mind-field”) when you meet other people with the right one of four attitudes, matched to their condition:
- Maitrī — friendliness / loving-kindness toward those who are happy (sukha);
- Karuṇā — compassion toward those who are suffering (duḥkha);
- Muditā — gladness / sympathetic joy toward the virtuous (puṇya);
- Upekṣā — equanimity / non-disturbance / disregard toward the wicked / non-virtuous (apuṇya). The insight is that our peace of mind is constantly eroded by reactive attitudes — envy of the happy, contempt or pity for the suffering, jealousy of the good, agitation at wrongdoers. Patanjali prescribes the antidote attitude for each, cultivated deliberately (bhāvanā), so the mind is no longer thrown by other people. These four are known in the broader tradition as the brahmaviharas (“divine abodes”), shared with Buddhism.
The Method
From sutra 1.33, as a contemplative practice and an in-the-moment stance:
- Recognise which of the four situations you are in. Notice the person before you (in life or in mind): are they happy, suffering, virtuous/good, or acting badly? Each calls for a different attitude.
- Toward the happy — cultivate maitri (friendliness). Instead of envy or comparison, deliberately wish them well and feel gladness with them. Let their happiness be welcome to you.
- Toward the suffering — cultivate karuna (compassion). Instead of indifference, superiority, or anxious pity, meet their pain with warm, steady compassion and the wish to help. Open toward the suffering rather than turning away.
- Toward the virtuous / those doing good — cultivate mudita (gladness). Instead of jealousy or one-upmanship, delight in their goodness and success. Take joy in others’ virtue.
- Toward the wicked / those acting wrongly — cultivate upeksha (equanimity / disregard). Instead of anger, hatred, or obsessive disturbance, hold a non-reactive equanimity — neither approving the wrong nor letting it poison your own mind. (Classically this is not moral indifference; it is refusing to let another’s wrongdoing destroy your inner clarity.)
- Cultivate it deliberately and repeatedly — bhavana. As a seated practice, bring people of each type to mind and rehearse the matching attitude until it feels real. As a life practice, catch yourself reacting and substitute the right attitude in the moment. Over time the attitudes become the default, and the mind stays serene (prasadana). (Sourcing note: the four pairings of attitude→object are exactly as Patanjali states them in 1.33; the contemplative-and-in-the-moment application is the standard classical reading. Wording is faithful paraphrase, not a reproduction of any single translation.)
Source & Lineage
Patanjali places this in Book 1, the Samadhi Pada, in the cluster of methods (1.32–1.39) for steadying the disturbed mind — here by removing the interpersonal sources of disturbance.
The four (maitri, karuna, mudita, upeksha) are the brahmaviharas, also central to Buddhism, where they are cultivated as boundless states in dedicated meditation. The teaching feeds directly into modern loving-kindness (metta) and compassion meditation and into compassion-focused therapy. It is distinct from this teacher’s existing, and.
The Traditions' versions
Loving-kindness / metta meditation (Buddhist) — systematic radiation of goodwill; the most direct living descendant of maitri.,
- Compassion meditation (karuna) & tonglen — cultivating compassion for the suffering. - Sympathetic-joy (mudita) practice — deliberately rejoicing in others’ good fortune (the antidote to envy).
- Equanimity (upeksha) practice — non-reactive balance toward the disturbing.
- Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) & loving-kindness interventions — clinical forms with measured benefits for mood and self-criticism.
- New Thought goodwill / benediction practices — blessing others to clear one’s own field.
Common refinements
Faking the feeling. Forcing goodwill you don’t feel breeds strain. Start small/genuine (an easy person) and let it grow; bhavana is cultivation, not pretence.
- Misreading upeksha as approval or doormat-passivity. Equanimity toward wrongdoers protects your mind; it does not mean condoning harm, tolerating abuse, or abandoning boundaries and just action.
- Pity instead of compassion. Karuna meets suffering as an equal, with warmth — not from above with superiority or anxious over-identification.
- Skipping mudita. Sympathetic joy is the rarest and the specific antidote to envy — don’t neglect it.
- Treating it as theory. The power is in applying the right attitude in the actual moment of reaction, repeatedly.