Training the mind in the four boundless qualities

Boundless love, compassion, sympathetic joy and impartiality

The four boundless qualities are boundless love, compassion, sympathetic joy and impartiality. Love is usually dealt with first. However, when we practise the four qualities one after the other as a training for the mind, we should start by developing impartiality. Otherwise, whatever love, compassion and sympathetic joy we generate, this will tend to be one-sided and not completely pure. Therefore, we begin with the meditation on impartiality.