In a world increasingly dominated by hate and war, cultivating compassion and benevolence has become an imperative need. In this edition of Buddhistdoor in Spanish, we have the honor of interviewing Dr. Javier García Campayo, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Zaragoza and the Miguel Servet Hospital. He is director of the Master of Mindfulness and the Chair of Contemplative Sciences. He is also the author of several books on mindfulness and compassion, and organizer of the International Congress on Mindfulness. We talked about his most recent book, The Quintessence of Meditation: The Brahmaviharas: Love, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity, published by Editorial Kairós in 2024. This work represents a significant contribution in Spanish to the study and promotion of mental states that promote love and compassion.
During the interview, we explored the profound relevance of Brahmaviharas, also known as “sublime” or “immeasurable attitudes”, and their possible application in modern psychology. These practices, essential in traditions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, are gaining ground in contemporary psychological therapies, offering new tools for emotional well-being and mental health.
Dr. García Campayo also shares his perspectives on how to integrate these practices into daily life and their potential to transform both individual practice and group and community dynamics. Dr. García Campayo's work includes audio meditations guided by himself, providing a valuable tool for personal development. We invite you to join this conversation about how Brahmaviharas can help to face the emotional challenges of the modern world.
BUDDHISTDOOR IN SPANISH: At first glance, it might seem that the practice of Brahmaviharasfocuses solely on psychological development and on the formation of compassionate and benevolent personality traits. However, as is clear from your book and from the scriptures and commentaries of the Buddhist tradition, the cultivation of loving kindness (Mettā), compassion (Karuṇā), altruistic joy (Muditā) and equanimity (Upekkha) has a much deeper purpose. These practices not only promote the development of concentration (Samatha) and the full vision (Vipassana), but they can also lead to states of meditative absorption (Jhāna) and even bring the doors to the lighting. Could you elaborate on this topic and explain how Brahmaviharas do they contribute to the Buddhist path?
JAVIER GARCIA CAMPAYO: Indeed, the immeasurable or Brahmaviharas could be used in two ways, that's why they're so incredible. On the one hand, they can be used as generative meditation to produce in meditators these four sublime qualities: kind love, compassion, empathic joy and equanimity. They are states that should structure human relationships and constitute their foundation. In this way, individual conflicts and also social conflicts, such as wars, dictatorships or any abuse of human rights, would be avoided. But, together with their social function, they would have great individual importance because they would avoid all kinds of negative interpersonal action, being the basis of ethics in any religious tradition. In addition, the joy and joy they generate provide the basis for deeper meditations.
But, as you said, they can also be used as attentional support to develop states of absorption or Jhanas. There are forty possible care supports for this purpose, and the Brahmaviharas are one of the most used for this purpose, being able to reach the deepest states.
This implies that these meditations can serve people with little knowledge in meditation, and they can enjoy the multiple psychological benefits (demonstrated by research studies) that immeasurable ones produce. And they can also constitute the main meditation or one of them, in advanced meditators.
BDE: As mentioned in The quintessence of meditation, although scientific research on Brahmaviharas It is limited and has focused mainly on compassion, some recent studies highlight its benefits on personality. Could you give examples of scientific evidence to support these benefits? In addition, how do you align the cultivation of Brahmaviharas with recent discoveries in psychology and neuroscience?
JGC: For decades, psychology demonstrated that people who try to develop happiness by increasing the happiness of others are much happier than those who try to be happy by focusing exclusively on their well-being. This is the foundation of compassion, in particular, and of brahmaviharas, in general.
Compassion is especially useful for reducing guilt, shame, perfectionism, or self-demand, all of which cause heightened suffering. It has been used with great success in disorders such as depression, anxiety, anorexia, addictions or chronic pain. But it also develops strengths such as gratitude, resilience, optimism, curiosity, creativity or the capacity for cooperation. Loving kindness and empathic joy would produce similar and complementary effects to compassion, although they are less studied.
Equanimity is different from the rest. It is associated with greater acceptance, scarce internal dialogue, greater flow and greater emotional regulation.
In current psychology, in third-generation psychotherapies, Brahmaviharas are considered to be useful tools that still have a lot to offer for the well-being of both healthy people and those affected by specific disorders.
BDE: Do you think that the cultivation of Brahmaviharas could it be adapted and applied effectively in modern psychology and in therapy within a secular context, similar to what has happened with mindfulness? What opportunities and challenges do you see in their integration into the field of mental health? How could these practices enrich our current approach to emotional well-being?
JGC: I see no difficulty in getting these meditations incorporated into the daily practice of people who meditate (whether they practice a specific religion or are agnostic) and for them to be used effectively in psychotherapy.
The four qualities that develop Brahmaviharas are universal and have permeated, with greater or lesser intensity and perhaps with some cultural connotations, all societies and religions. On the other hand, they are strengths or qualities identified by psychology and which are known to be associated with greater psychological well-being and reduced psychiatric pathology. They were already practiced in Hinduism, later in Buddhism and then in Jainism. Some contemplations of monotheistic religions are similar. And the model that we present in the book (just like the one in tradition) is extremely neutral and can be used in a secular way without problem. As has happened with mindfulness, and can already be seen with compassion, I think they will be of wide use by the population in the future.
BDE: What advice would you offer readers to effectively integrate the practices of Brahmaviharas in your daily life?
JGC: Any meditation technique begins to be practiced formally, in sessions of 30-45 minutes or of whatever duration is considered appropriate, until we can do it almost effortlessly, because we have embodied it. The great difficulty and the extent to which we practice correctly is that these practices permeate our mind and are extrapolated to daily life. This is what we call informal meditation. We include in each of the brahmaviharas recommendations for their informal practice, in daily life, so that they reinforce formal practice and we end up embodying these principles.
BDE: We would like to know more about the evolution of your work. How have your courses and seminars evolved over the past few years? Are there any recent changes that you would like to highlight? What is your long-term vision for these courses in the field of mindfulness and meditation?
JGC: I have been meditating on the Buddhist tradition since the late 70's. I discovered mindfulness in 1997 in Canada, but in Spain (and in almost all of Europe) there were no conditions to use it in psychology until 2007 or so, when I published an article on the subject in a Spanish medical journal.
Our Master's Degree in Mindfulness at the University of Zaragoza began in 2013 and that was an opportunity to structure knowledge, not only of mindfulness, but of compassion and acceptance, and to introduce elements of Buddhist psychology. Over the years I have tried, with other friends and colleagues, to carry out research to demonstrate the efficacy and feasibility of these ancient techniques in medicine and psychology, but also in education, sports or in the business world.
The theoretical body has begun to include deconstructive techniques, something that seems especially valuable to us, and a body of knowledge called contemplative sciences has been consolidated, which seeks to bring together everything that ancient spirituality can bring to human beings for their well-being, evaluating it by current science to identify the most therapeutic elements, in what contexts to use them and for which people.
In my opinion, the next and last step is total collaboration between spiritual teachers and scientists to bring Humanity to much higher levels of psychological well-being and spiritual fulfillment.
Web links
https://www.editorialkairos.com/…/la-quintaesencia-de...
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Daniel Millet Gil has a law degree from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and has a master's degree and a doctorate in Buddhist Studies from the Center for Buddhist Studies of the University of Hong Kong. He received the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Award for Excellence in Buddhist Studies (2018-2019). He is a regular editor and author of the web platform Buddhistdoor in Spanish, as well as founder and president of the Dharma-Gaia Foundation (FDG), a non-profit organization dedicated to the academic teaching and dissemination of Buddhism in Spanish-speaking countries. This foundation also promotes and sponsors the Catalan Buddhist Film Festival. In addition, Millet serves as co-director of the Buddhist Studies program at the Fundació Universitat Rovira i Virgili (FURV), a joint initiative between the FDG and the FURV. In the editorial field, he manages both Editorial Dharma-Gaia and Editorial Unalome. He has published numerous articles and essays in academic and popular journals, which are available in his Academia.edu profile: https://hku-hk.academia.edu/DanielMillet.
