The boundless states or brahmaviharas are considered friends on the way to Nirvana. They help in dissolving the idea of a separate self.
Near
enemy is a quality that can masquerade as the original, but is not the
original. Far enemy is the clearly opposite quality. The boundless
state serves as an antidote for the quality mentioned as the far enemy.
| Pali | English | Description | Near Enemy | Far Enemy |
| metta | loving kindness | good-will, friendship, unconditional love for all beings | selfish love | hatred |
| karuna | compassion | empathy, to feel with someone instead of for someone | pity | cruelty |
| mudita | sympathetic joy | spontaneous joy in response to others success | hypocrisy | envy |
| upekkha | equanimity | even-mindedness based on insight into the nature of things | indifference | anxiety |