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I have been practising breathing meditation for some time. Now, I feel compassion meditation would benefit me more. I was thinking of practising 30 min of each every day.

Would such interspaced practise (one session breathing, one session compassion, etc.) be beneficial, or discouraged?

In other words, is it better to stick to the same practice on the long term?

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  • It is said that Brahmavihara leads to jhana, but I can't find canonical evidence of it. In most Buddhism, compassion practices don't lead to factual acts of compassion, but merely to creating a mood. I find that breathing practice leads to compassion which I can act on.
    – brother eric
    Apr 28, 2019 at 18:38
  • @brothereric I'm not trying to complain, and thank you for posting, but FYI When my answer is short, shall I post it as a comment instead? Generally a "good answer" is based on something -- perhaps a reference to literature, and/or personal experience -- so I think what you posted might be better posted as an answer instead of a comment.
    – ChrisW ♦
    Apr 28, 2019 at 18:56

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While it is sometimes said that Brahmavihara leads to jhana, but I can't find canonical evidence of it. In most Buddhism, compassion practices don't lead to factual acts of compassion, but merely to creating a mind filled with compassion and loving kindness. While I think compassion practices are a good idea, translating the mentally felt compassion is more of a problem. Personally, I find that breathing practice leads to compassion which I can act on. (Chris edit as you like)

Here is a study concerning mindfulness meditation not making a difference in terms of prompting compassionate actions: https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/05/17/mindfulness-training-does-not-foster-empathy-and-can-even-make-narcissists-worse/

Here is an article saying more empathy isn't what we need: https://www.fastcompany.com/40483014/actually-we-dont-need-more-empathy

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