Karuṇā


Karuā is generally translated as compassion and self-compassion. It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism and Jainism.

Buddhism

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

Theravada Buddhism

In Theravāda Buddhism, karuā is one of the four "divine abodes", along with loving kindness, sympathetic joy and equanimity. In the Pali canon, the Buddha recommends cultivating these four virtuous mental states to both householders and monastics. When one develops these four states, the Buddha counsels radiating them in all directions, as in the following stock canonical phrase regarding karuā:
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, it will be in a heavenly realm.
The Pali commentaries distinguish between karuā and mettā in the following complementary manner: Karuna is the desire to remove harm and suffering from others; while mettā is the desire to bring about the well-being and happiness of others.
The "far enemy" of karuā is cruelty, a mind-state in obvious opposition. The "near enemy", is pity: here too one wants to remove suffering, but for a partly selfish reason hence not the pure motivation.
In the Pali Canon, buddhas are also described as choosing to teach "out of compassion for beings."

Mahayana Buddhism

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, karuā is one of the two qualities, along with enlightened wisdom, to be cultivated on the bodhisattva path. According to scholar Rupert Gethin, this elevation of karuā to the status of prajña is one of the distinguishing factors between the Theravāda arahant ideal and the Mahāyāna bodhisattva ideal:
Throughout the Mahāyāna world, Avalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies karuā.
In the Intermediate section of the Stages of Meditation by Kamalaśīla, he writes:
In Tibetan Buddhism, one of the foremost authoritative texts on the Bodhisattva path is the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra by Shantideva. In the eighth section entitled Meditative Concentration, Shantideva describes meditation on Karunā as thus:

Jainism

Karuā is associated with the Jain practice of compassion. For instance, karuā is one of the four reflections of universal friendship — along with amity, appreciation and equanimity —used to stop the influx of karma.

Miscellaneous

Karuā is a common first name throughout India, used for both genders.