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Easy to digest approach to the darma that I think is especially well suited for stressful

times such as these known as the divine abodes or the Brahma Viharas.

And I will talk about why I think

this is, these practices are so well suited to the context within which we find ourselves. The divine abodes, what are they? Well, they are states of mind in which

it is said that the awakened reside. These are in many ways the goal of spiritual practice from the Buddhist

perspective. They are states that are most manifested in our intentions

towards other people and towards our own internal experience.

They are sometimes known as the four immeasurables, a complete in and of itself simple

spiritual path that can be practiced without limit.

The beautiful thing about the these divine states of mind,

these pure intentions, is that it's said that if you practice these, that you don't

really need to add anything else to your spiritual practice to go all the way to a state of

enlightenment and indeed much of the darma, the Brahma Vahares are found throughout.

It's also lovely in that it's four easy to remember reflections or intentions and so it's not like all the some of the other Buddhist teachings can be far

more complex for for example, trying to follow the eightfold path, the Four Noble Truth, or the

Paticea Samapata requires a lot more cognitive reflection and it's sometimes more

sometimes more difficult to discern at times how we can implement in day-to-day moments. There are many other

the wings to awakening, the five factors and so forth but I think the most portable of the

Buddha's dama taught many different paths all of which lead to some form of freedom from stress and suffering.

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