Carola Roloff (Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen)
Cultivating Kindness and Perspective: Maitrī and the Four Immeasurables in a Pluralistic World
This contribution explores how the Buddhist brahmavihāras
—particularly loving-kindness (maitrī) and equanimity
(upekṣā)—can be understood as intentional relational
attitudes that foster openness, dialogue, and resilience in
pluralistic societies. Drawing on canonical sources from
different Buddhist traditions and contemporary contexts of
interreligious and inter-convictional education, I will
examine how these practices may serve as both ethical
principles and transformative exercises cultivating
perspective-taking and mutual respect.
In dialogue with modern philosophy of emotions and
Martha Nussbaum’s concept of ‘cultivated capabilities’, I
propose that maitrī and upekṣā represent not only inner
dispositions but also capacities for social justice and
inclusive coexistence. Equanimity here does not mean
indifference or impartiality, but a compassionate
discernment that acknowledges suffering on all sides and
helps overcome affective bias, stigma, and polarization.
Within a dialogical-hermeneutical framework, I will further
explore how Buddhist contemplative methods such as the
practice of exchanging self and other can enact the ethical
core of the so-called Golden Rule—encouraging empathy
without identity dissolution. In a world marked by conflict
and fragmentation, the cultivation of kindness and
equanimity may open new pathways for ethical
responsibility, relational awareness, and peaceful
coexistence across religious and non-religious boundaries.
Dr Carola Roloff (Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen) is a Tibetologist,
Buddhologist, and ordained Buddhist nun. She is Senior
Research Fellow in Pluralistic Dialogical Religious Education
at the University of Hamburg. Her work focuses on Buddhist
ethics and the brahmavihāras—especially loving-kindness
(maitrī) and equanimity (upekṣā)—in interreligious and
educational contexts. She researches how contemplative
practices cultivate perspective-taking, reduce affective bias,
and support convivial coexistence in plural societies. Recent
publications include The Buddhist Nun’s Ordination in the
Tibetan Canon (2020), ‘Gender Justice as a Challenge to
Buddhism and Christianity’ (2024), and ‘Openness towards
the Religious Other in Buddhism’ (2020). She contributes to
academic and civil-society dialogue (ENBCS, ESWTR, ESITIS)
and chairs Buddhist foundations supporting education and
women’s monastic initiatives.