Bhāvanā

Cultivation, meditation, contemplative generation. The active practice of developing a quality, insight, or state of mind through sustained attention. In the Yoga Sūtras (1.33), bhāvanā describes the cultivation of maitrī (friendliness), karuṇā (compassion), muditā (joy), and upekṣā (equanimity). Unlike passive reception, bhāvanā is an intentional process of generating and stabilising transformative states. In tantra, bhāvanā becomes deity yoga — the visualisation and embodiment of divine forms. It is the practice of making real what is already true. See bhava, dhyana.