Four Immeasurables

1. Equanimity
a. which is the wish that beings may be free from the attitude of
attachment to some and aversion to others.
2. Love
a. which is the wish that living beings may have happiness and its
causes.
3. Compassion
a. which is the wish that living beings may be free from suffering and its
causes.
4. Joy
a. which is the wish that living beings may remain happy and their
happiness may increase further.

How to Practice the Four Immeasurables

1. Equanimity
a. Initially, we need to train the mind in equanimity. The way in which
we are currently attached to our friends and aggressive towards our
enemies is a fault which comes from failing to examine the situation
thoroughly. In reality, today’s so-called “enemies” have, in the course
of our many past lifetimes, been dear friends who have helped us
enormously. And those whom we currently consider to be our
“friends” have been our enemies in past lifetimes, having caused us
considerable harm.

The Noble Katyayana said:

"He eats his father’s flesh, while striking his own mother,
And cradles in his lap the enemy he killed;
The wife is gnawing at her husband’s bones.
Samsara is enough to make you laugh out loud!

Recognize that this bias, which currently causes us to see some people as our friends
and others as our enemies, is a result of having fallen under the power of ignorance.
Train your mind until you feel a benevolent attitude, like the one you have now for
your present mother and father, for all beings, especially your “enemies” and those
who create obstacles for you.
 2. Love
a. Then, since these beings have shown you exactly the same kindness as
your current parents, cultivate love for them all and wish them
happiness in order to repay their past kindness. Train yourself to be
like parents caring for a small child, or a mother bird looking after her
young, so that all your actions of body, speech and mind are
undertaken only to ensure the happiness and well-being of others.
3. Compassion
a. Cultivate compassion, which is the wish for beings to be freed from
suffering. Imagine a prisoner who is about to be executed, or an
animal at the slaughterhouse, and put yourself in their position, or
imagine that they are your own dear mother. When you experience an
unbearably intense feeling of compassion for them, consider that
although the one experiencing such suffering is not actually your
mother or father in this lifetime, he or she has been your mother and
father countless times throughout the course of your innumerable
lifetimes. Practice cultivating this compassion until you feel exactly
the same compassion for all sentient beings as you do for your own
mother and father.
4. Joy
a. Whenever you see someone who is wealthy and powerful, and
apparently enjoying all the pleasures of the higher realms, or
whenever you see someone who possesses the qualities of scriptural
learning and realization, do not feel resentful or envious of them, even
if you consider them to be an enemy. Instead, feel joyful and make the
wish that their riches and power increase even further. And pray that
all sentient beings may experience the same kind of good fortune.
Train your mind in this way, again and again.

If, when you practice training the mind in these four immeasurables, you proceed
gradually—first considering your own parents; then including your friends and
relatives; and finally extending the practice to your enemies—you will come to feel
the same love and compassion for your enemies as for your parents. This is the
measure of your mind training.
Six Paramitas
The six paramitas or 'transcendent perfections' comprise the training of a
bodhisattva, which is bodhichitta in action.
1. Generosity
a. To cultivate the attitude of generosity.
2. Discipline
a. Refraining from harm.
3. Patience
a. The ability not to be perturbed by anything.
4. Diligence
a. To find joy in what is virtuous, positive or wholesome.
5. Meditative
a. Not to be distracted.
6. Wisdom
a. The perfect discrimination of phenomena, all knowable things.

The first five paramitas correspond to the accumulation of merit, and the sixth to the
accumulation of wisdom.

The ten are the six paramitas plus:

7. Skillfull means
8. Strength
9. Aspiration Prayers
10. Primordial Wisdom

These four paramitas are aspects of the sixth paramita—the paramita of wisdom—
and are not added to the first six. The way of dividing the paramitas into ten is
particularly related to the teachings on the bhumis or levels which describe the
progression of a bodhisattva where each of the paramitas are successively perfected
on each of the ten bhumis.