2.3.4. Brahma’s Chariot

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

— Albert Einstein

Sometimes I find it helpful to picture this peculiar alchemical journey as a kind of gentle ride out of the darkness of nigredo. The ancient texts give us an elegant metaphor for it: Brahma’s Chariot. This is no ordinary vehicle, but a subtle conveyance fashioned from four noble mental qualities known as the illimitables (appamaññā). When cultivated together, they form a quiet path that leads not only toward profound states of absorption (jhāna) but also steadily out of the tangled undergrowth of self-clinging.

At first glance, it may all sound a bit mechanical: four factors, like wheels on an axle, driving one deeper into tranquil mind. Yet as I explore how each quality ripens, it becomes clear how naturally they can lift the heart. There is, however, a curious consequence of nurturing these forces. This is genuine “magical” work. A subtle field of benevolence develops that seems to radiate outward — animals, children, even the most skittish creatures feel unusually safe around it. More than once, I’ve found myself in awkward moments, like trying to pass through an airport canine security check only to be swarmed by dogs for reasons their handlers did not expect. We do retain some modest control over this field, so discretion has its uses.

The four qualities harnessed by this chariot are straightforward enough in name: kindness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), appreciative joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekkhā). Yet to truly embody them is to undergo a profound refinement.

Kindness is simply the absence of hostility. It is a soft, benevolent openness that recognises every being’s right to happiness, however confused they may be. Importantly, it cannot be selective. This kindness must stretch beyond those we naturally favour to include even the most undeserving. When fully developed, kindness becomes robust enough to “turn the other cheek” — an ability that only arises with the utter abandonment of self-interest. It is Jesus who bids us, when struck, to offer the other side. By the sixth stage of the Bodhisattva’s path, such responses come effortlessly; by the eighth, even pain cannot disturb the limbs, which grow indifferent like wood. Hostility simply finds no purchase. Meeting aggression with gentle fearlessness can so confound the aggressor that it leaves them momentarily spellbound. Yet the slightest trace of fear within us breaks this power. There is no need to force it. When we are ready, it comes of itself — a natural reaching out in kindness, seeing even in anger a being wracked by delusion and bound by kamma.

Compassion is the wish for all beings to be free from suffering. Early on, this is hard. It drains us, particularly when our own energy feels scarce. There is often a pitiful inner voice protesting its own neglect when we extend care to another. But with practice, we develop a tolerance — not indifference, rather a greater capacity that grows through repeated stretching. Eventually we see how suffering seldom relates neatly to external conditions. Some endure terrible adversity with grace, while others suffer mightily amid comfort. At first, our compassion carries a hidden contract: this person is worthy, that one is not. As long as compassion is measured this way, it struggles. But once the habit of judgment dissolves, compassion flows freely. It becomes truly illimitable, no longer constrained by who deserves it.

As this judgment falls away, so too do the limits on kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. These states deepen toward jhāna, each quality expanding until it seems to light up a room. Paradoxically, the more compassion we extend outward, the more we gain tolerance for our own troubles. Observing another’s pain often brings ours into gentle proportion, quieting its clamour.

Appreciative joy emerges once ill-will, especially envy, is seen through. When we cease clinging to joy, we can genuinely rejoice in another’s happiness. This mastery of envy is tied to uprooting conceit — the eighth fetter. Without the impulse to compare, someone else’s good fortune can become our delight, lifting us effortlessly. This joy is remarkable for how completely free it is.

The first three qualities — kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy — lead to jhānas, but only up to a certain point. They still involve subjects: someone to send kindness toward, someone whose joy we share. Equanimity is different. It is a serene balance rooted in seeing that all phenomena lack intrinsic self.

This is subtle but essential. We think we see stable objects: an apple with taste, colour, texture. Yet in truth there is no inherent “apple,” only a bundle of phenomena — taste, colour, scent — stitched together by the mind’s labeling. Conditioned reality appears stable, but it is a moving stream of causes and effects, sensed through elements in the body and interpreted by mind. When we perceive a green circle that smells sweet and feels smooth, we declare “apple,” though this object as such does not exist outside our constructing mind.

As insight grows, we see that all things are empty of inherent “thingness.” Without intrinsic identity, comparisons fail; nothing can be truly alike or unlike. This is the basis of deep equanimity. Realising this breaks the dualities that normally govern perception — light and dark, sound and silence, pain and ease. Without duality, sense awareness expands beyond objects and becomes boundless. In this way, equanimity reaches into omniscience, not by accumulating data, but by transcending the limiting grasp on particular objects. Awareness itself stands free, resting in a vast, open present.

This is Brahma’s Chariot. Its four wheels roll us gently out of the clinging shadows of nigredo, onward toward a lighter, more spacious way of being.

By cultivating the four illimitables — kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity — the alchemist rides steadily out of old patterns of self-grasping. Each quality broadens the heart and mind, eventually breaking even the subtle habits of duality. Thus Brahma’s Chariot carries us across terrain where suffering once seemed inevitable, revealing an open, luminous expanse that was here all along.

This text is excerpted from the upcoming book Albedo: A Course in Modern Alchemy. The complete volume will include additional study guides, glossaries, and extended teachings. Learn more about the book here.