“Metta” is a Pali word that doesn’t have a direct English equivalent, but is often translated as “loving-kindness”. The cultivation of “loving-kindness” (metta bhanvava) is a popular form of Buddhist meditation. It was taught by the Buddha as a way to cultivate altruistic love; i.e. love without attachment.
The cultivation of loving-kindness can be used to create harmony within relationships; as a way to calm down a distressed mind; and it can be a very good antidote to anger. When loving-kindness has been cultivated the practitioner will not be as easily angered because they have created an inner state that is more caring, peaceful, & unconditionally loving.
Metta Meditation can also have a tremendous effect on the amount of joy in our life because through the practice we’ll be sharing positive energy with our self, someone we care about, and then working our way through other individuals until our loving-kindness is finally extended towards all sentient beings.
Metta meditation is regularly recommended by the Buddha in the Pali canon of the Buddhist Scriptures. This canon generally advises radiating metta to people in each of the six directions. A different set instructions, which has become popularized by many of today’s well-known meditation teachers, is found in Buddhaghosa’s great commentary on the pail canon, the 5th CE Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification).
There are many slight variations to this practice, but in this popular meditation technique one progressively cultivates loving-kindness (metta) as follows:
- oneself
- someone we love dearly (family member or close friend)
- a “neutral” person
- a difficult person
- and finally All Beings Everywhere.
We begin by giving love to ourselves because the love of self will grow outwards, reaching those we care about most. And eventually, this feeling will extend even further to more than just our immediate family & friends. The continued practice of cultivating loving-kindness will tend the seeds of love and compassion that exist deep within the core of our being; and this will help our compassion & loving-kindness grow so much that it will extend to each & every individual we come into contact with.
And we start with ourselves because if we don’t have love, compassion, respect for ourselves we can not have true compassion & love for others. There is a quote often attributed to the Buddha which says:
“You yourself, as much as anybody else in the entire universe deserve your love & affection” *** [see foot note]
Jesus said “Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, & strength. And love your neighbor, AS YOURSELF.” [emphasis added]
Many christians forget those last 2 words spoken by Jesus “as yourself“. It is not selfish to love you. In fact, it is necessary. If we have love for ourselves we will not allow others to take advantage of us, etc… And as I mentioned above, only when we have love for ourselves can we send out true & authentic love to others.
A METTA MEDITATION EXAMPLE:
1. We begin the practice by bringing all our attention & awareness to our self & then say something such as:
“May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be peaceful”
We would then sit for a few moments & offer this loving kindness to ourselves by continually silently repeating, mentally reciting these statement to ourselves.
2. After a few moment we would imagine or visualize someone we love dearly. It could be a family member such as a mother, father, spouse, Grandparent, child, grandchild, or a very close & dear friend. As we picture/imagine the person in front of us we would offer the loving-kindness to them by inserting his/her name into the statement.
“May he/she be safe. May he/she be happy. May he/she be peaceful”
Again we would sit for a few moments & offer this loving kindness to this person by continuing to silently repeat these statements.
3. We would then move to a “neutral person”. Someone we have no real feelings for. Someone we may pass each day on the way to work, such as a neighbor who might live on our street that we may wave to, but not really know, etc…
Picture this person in your minds eye. If you know their name then again insert it into the statements, otherwise simply say:
“May he/she be safe. May he/she be happy. May he/she be peaceful”
Once again sit for a few moments & extend your loving kindness to this person by silently repeating, mentally reciting these statements.
4. Next we move to a difficult person. Someone we may be having a hard-time getting along with.Then once again take a few moments to send out your loving kindness to this person.
5. Finally offer your loving-kindness (metta) to ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE! Silently recite:
“May ALL BEINGS be safe. May ALL BEINGS be happy. May ALL BEINGS be peaceful.”
Sit for a few moments and sent out this positive energy to all beings everywhere.
Throughout all these scenarios really try your best to sincerely send out this loving-kindness. Don’t just think these words or rush through the statements. Really try to feel their meaning. Put feeling behind the words. It’s your intention that really makes this technique very powerful.
RESEARCH
Recent psychological research suggests that Metta Meditations may have a very positive impact on our health & well-being.
Stanford University study suggests that even a short 7-minute Metta practice can increase feelings of social connectedness.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that Metta meditation can boost positive emotions & well-being.
An EEG study by Richard J. Davidson found that people who practice Metta meditation (minimum of 10,000 hours practice) showed drastic differences in gamma waves as well as gamma synchronization.
Therefore, the process of cultivating Metta, & incorporating this technique as part of your meditation practice, can be very rewarding. In fact, we can just add 5-10 minutes of metta meditation as a way to end whatever meditation technique we work with. We don’t have to practice metta meditation all by itself. But, also know that we don’t need to be in sitting in meditation to send out postive-vibes & loving thoughts either. We can send out Metta as we are driving in our car; when we are shopping in a store; or even when we are walking down the street. In such a manner we are continually dropping pebbles into a pond & sending out waves of positive, loving thought vibrations to the world around us. And thereby, doing our oart to help make the world around us a better & more peaceful place to live.
May all your days be filled with an abundance of love, happiness, & peace. ~ Anthony
