Meditating on the Four Immeasurables

Series

Ken McLeod presents a practical and experiential approach to the four immeasurables—equanimity, loving-kindness, compassion, and joy—drawing from multiple Buddhist traditions. Through guided meditations, deep inquiry, and lively exchanges with students, each session explores how these qualities emerge when we turn toward experience instead of away from it. These teachings invite a shift in how we meet ourselves and others, revealing the transformative power of an open and present heart.

Meditating on the Four <mark class="searchwp-highlight">Immeasurables</mark>

Four Immeasurables

Series

Ken guides an exploration of the four immeasurables—equanimity, loving-kindness, compassion, and joy—showing how these practices transform emotional reactivity into direct engagement with life. “All spiritual work is a process of transforming reactive, conditioned energy into natural free-flowing energy,” he says. Topics covered include recognizing emotional patterns, cultivating resilience through loving-kindness and compassion, distinguishing discernment from judgment, and experiencing joy as a natural expression of wholehearted living.

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1. Foundations for Practice

Chapter 1 of “Four Immeasurables

Reactive vs. higher emotions Ken: We’re going to begin what is a six session class on the four immeasurables. As all of you know, we’re going to be meeting every other week, not every week as we have in the past. On the alternate weeks the regular Tuesday group will be meeting here. Anybody […]

1. Foundations for Practice

5. Compassion and Joy: Forming a New Relationship with Experience

Chapter 5 of “Four Immeasurables

Forming a relationship with the world of experience Ken: This is class five of the Four Immeasurables. This is the second two weeks you’ve been working on compassion. I’d like to hear about your experiences, questions, insights, challenges. Student: Was it your intention that we say these things out loud or to ourselves? Ken: […]

5. Compassion and Joy: Forming a New Relationship with Experience

6. Wholehearted Engagement with Life

Chapter 6 of “Four Immeasurables

Having a passion for life Ken: This is our sixth and last class on the four immeasurables. I only have one thing to do, which is to go over the whole topic of transformation of emotions—from reactive emotions into expressions of natural awareness—and a couple of other things in connection with that. But first, […]

6. Wholehearted Engagement with Life

3. Loving-Kindness: Opening to Your Whole Life

Chapter 3 of “Four Immeasurables

Loving-kindness: opening to your life Ken: So, this is our third class in this series of six on the four immeasurables. I think we’ll begin following basically the same format that we did last time. What was your experience with loving-kindness? That’s what you were working on last week, wasn’t it? Anybody have any […]

3. Loving-Kindness: Opening to Your Whole Life

2. Equanimity: Meeting Experience Without Bias

Chapter 2 of “Four Immeasurables

Reading material Ken: This is our second class in this six-session course. We are going to spend one class on each of the four immeasurables. To begin this one, I want to do a little housekeeping. In each of these classes, I’m going to try to do four things, in addition to our meditation. […]

2. Equanimity: Meeting Experience Without Bias

4. Compassion: Opening to Heartbreak

Chapter 4 of “Four Immeasurables

Compassion and experiencing heart break Ken: This is the fourth class on the four immeasurables. I believe the focus for practice over the last couple of weeks was compassion. Compassion being the wish that others not suffer, at least at one level. We’re working with the four lines: May I be free from suffering, […]

4. Compassion: Opening to Heartbreak

2. Opening to Happiness and Peace

Chapter 2 of “Meditating on the Four Immeasurables

[…] in my experience of the practice, it isn’t directed inward. So I’m having a little bit of a strain there. Ken: Well, this particular approach, the four immeasurables, actually applies the principle in mind training: start the sequence with yourself. It’s not that we’re actually wishing this. We’re using these lines in order to […]

2. Opening to Happiness and Peace

3. The Heartbreak of Compassion

Chapter 3 of “Meditating on the Four Immeasurables

[…] seeing you next week. Student experiences of compassion meditation Ken: This is the fourth class. Only two more left after this. Okay, fourth class on the four immeasurables. And I believe the focus for practice over the last couple of weeks is compassion. Compassion being the wish that others not suffer, at least on […]

3. The Heartbreak of Compassion

4. The Subtle Flavor of Joy

Chapter 4 of “Meditating on the Four Immeasurables

[…] and so forth? Okay. So this concludes our fifth class. Student experiences with joy meditation Ken: Okay. This is our sixth and last class on the four immeasurables. So actually, I only have one thing to do, which is to go over the whole topic of transformation of emotions from reactive emotions into expressions […]

4. The Subtle Flavor of Joy

5. Uncovering Direct Knowing

Chapter 5 of “The Jewel in the Lotus

[…] as having a transparent, white, radiant form will enrich or enhance your experience of feeling that you are awakened compassion. And what’s your relationship with the four immeasurables when you’re awakened compassion? Janneke, anybody else? She said they arise spontaneously altogether. Anybody else? We talked about love, compassion, joy, and equanimity, for those of […]

5. Uncovering Direct Knowing

4. Taking and Sending: A Practice for Releasing Reactivity

Chapter 4 of “Releasing Emotional Reactions

[…] always in relationship to something else. And that comes out in Buddhism that everything is empty of independent existence. Which is simultaneously liberating and terrifying. The four immeasurables Ken: Now, yesterday, we worked with ways to use the breath to come into the union of knowing and experience. We’re still going to use the […]

4. Taking and Sending: A Practice for Releasing Reactivity

4. Taking and Sending: A Practice of Compassion

Chapter 4 of “Mahayana Mind Training

[…] take-send, exchange. And you’re exchanging your happiness for others’ suffering; or others’ suffering for your happiness. Now, this doesn’t sound like much fun. Here’s where the four immeasurables come in. Well I’ll back up a step. Rinpoche was once asked, “Why would you do this meditation?” His response was, “If, with a single breath, […]

4. Taking and Sending: A Practice of Compassion