METTA (Loving Kindness)
(full text as spoken by Bhante)
Metta expresses a friendliness that is without boundaries. It is the abstract noun for the word “mitta”, which means “good friend”. Its natural function is to promote friendliness. When metta succeeds, it eliminates ill will. It is “seeing” with kindness. It is the indispensable and essential foundation for the growth and purification of the individual. It is necessary for the construction of a peaceful, progressive and healthy society.
Metta is the wish for the welfare and happiness of all beings, without exception or condition. It has the characteristic of a benevolent friendship.
We can cultivate metta and compassion to improve ourselves, to work towards the end of our own suffering. As you become more proficient in practicing metta, you become more and more peaceful and calm.
To cultivate metta, find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed and can release all tensions. Try to find somewhere away from the turmoil, hustle and bustle of daily life. It can be a room, a garden, your bedroom; anyplace that feels comfortable to you. For the best results, it is good to decide on a particular time for daily practice and to stick to it. If possible, sit cross-legged, keeping the body erect and eyes closed. If you practice twice daily, morning and evening for at least five minutes each, you will as the Buddhist texts say:
Sleep and wake in comfort; you see no evil dreams;
you are dear to humans and non-humans;
Deities protect you.
Your mind quickly concentrates, your countenance is serene.
Metta should be practiced first towards yourself. If you do not love yourself, how can you love others? You can give others what you yourself have. You cannot give others what you have not experienced. Therefore you have to be friendly towards yourself. Do not burden yourself with an unhealthful guilty conscience. To err is human. No one is all-good, no one is all bad. Even if you do something wrong, you need not feel guilty, but should take advantage of the opportunity to correct yourself. You should not brood about the past, nor worry about the future. Look inside yourself to gently eradicate feelings of superiority or inferiority. By examining yourself you will come to appreciate your own value. Appreciating your own value, you will appreciate others and their service to the world. When you recognize the goodness within yourself, you will realize that there is goodness in others too. You will reach a point where unhealthful thoughts and actions will not arise.
The way to develop metta is to examine the effects of anger and see the advantages of its eradication.
When you have lost your temper,
you have lost your reason too.
You will not be proud of anything
which in anger you may do.
When in anger you have spoken and been by emotion led,
you will have uttered something that you will wish you
had never said.
In anger you will never do
a kindly deed, or wise.
But many things for which you will feel you should apologize.
In looking back upon your life,
and all you have lost or made
you will never find a single time when anger ever paid.
So cultivate calm patience,
and grow wiser as you age.
Never act, nor speak a word when overcome by rage.
Remember without fail that when your temper flies,
you will never do a worthy thing, a decent deed, or wise.
Metta is the best antidote for anger. It is also the best medicine for those who are angry with themselves. Let us extend metta, to all with a free and boundless heart:
Metta is firm, not unstable;
Metta is steady, not shakeable;
Metta is gentle, not hard;
Metta is helpful, not hindering;
Metta is dignified, not proud;
Metta is active, not passive.
Hate restricts, but metta releases;
Hate brings grief, but metta brings peace;
Hate divides, but metta unites;
Hate harms, but metta helps.
Metta leads to right understanding;
Metta leads to right thought;
Metta leads to right speech;
Metta leads to right action;
Metta leads to right livelihood;
Metta leads to right effort;
Metta leads to right mindfulness;
Metta leads to right concentration.
Metta teaches us to be hospitable and charitable to one another. Metta teaches us to speak pleasantly and kindly with one another. Metta teaches us to not quarrel among ourselves, but to work for each other’s welfare. We even send metta to those who hate us, for our enemy in this life may have been our mother, father, brother, or sister in a previous life.
Thus we can reflect:
This person, when she was my mother in a previous birth,
carried me in her womb.
When I was a baby, she cleaned me without disgust.
She played with me, nourished me, and
carried me in her arms.
Thus she cared for me with deep love.
When this person was my father in a previous life,
he risked his life for me in pursuing wealth for my
comfort.
When born as my brother, sister, son, or daughter,
he or she treated me with loving care and gave me every possible help for my welfare.
So, it is unjust for me to harbor anger toward anyone
merely because of some disagreeable thing done to
me in this life.
When anger arises, we can counteract it by recollecting impermanence, as follows:
That person has now changed completely, mind and body:
What can I be angry with there?
Am I angry with hair, nails, teeth or skin?
By such a method one finds out that one is not angry with that person, but one’s own ideas and feelings cause the anger. This is a good reason to start metta towards oneself first.
You may use a short reflection as follows:
May I be free from sorrow and always be happy.
May those who desire my welfare be free from sorrow and
always be happy.
May those who are indifferent towards me be free from sorrow
and always be happy.
May those who hate me be free from sorrow and always be
happy.
May all beings who live in this city be free from sorrow and
always be happy.
May all beings who live elsewhere be free from sorrow and
always be happy.
May all beings who live anywhere in the world be free from
sorrow and always be happy.
May all beings living in every galaxy and each element of life in
each of those systems be happy, having achieved the highest bliss.
Whatever beings there are:
timid, strong, and all other, tiny or huge, long, average, or short, seen or unseen, living near or far, born or coming to birth,
may all these beings have happy and healthy minds.
Let no one deceive another, nor despise anyone anywhere.
Neither in anger nor ill-will should one wish another harm.
As a mother would risk her own life to protect her only child,
So should one cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings.
Let our love pervade the whole world, without any obstructions,
above, below and across.
A traditional chant from Sri Lanka can also serve as a good base for establishing metta:
Aham avero home May I be free from enmity
Abyapajjho homi May I be free from hurtfulness
Anigho homi May I be free from troubles of mind and
body.
Sukhi attanam pariharami May I be able to protect my own
happiness
Sabbe satta Whatever being there are
Avera huntu May they be free from enmity
Sabbe satta Whatever beings there are
Abyapajjha huntu May they be free from hurtfulness
Sabbe satta` Whatever beings there are
Anigha hontu May they be free from troubles of mind &
body.
Sabbe satta Whatever beings there are
Sukhi attanam pariharantu May they be able to protect their own
happiness
These reflections and meditations form part of traditional Buddhist practice. We can say that metta is the basis of Buddhist ethics. Of course all true religions and spiritual traditions share this kind of dedication towards spreading happiness, so thoughts and meditations such as these are not limited to those who follow the teachings of the Buddha.
But for those who are following the path of the Buddha to the end of suffering, metta can be the base of a meditative practice which will lead to awakening, the end of suffering. We recommend you start your day by chanting and reflecting on the following:
May I be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to me, may no difficulties come to me,
may no problems come to me; may I always meet with success.
May I also have patience, courage, understanding, and determination
to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties, problems, and
failures in life.
May my parents be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with
success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties, problems, and failures in life.
May my family be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with
success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties,
problems, and failures in life.
May my teachers be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with
success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties,
problems, and failures in life.
May my relatives be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with
success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties,
problems, and failures in life.
May my friends be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties,
problems, and failures in life.
May those unfriendly to me be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with
success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties, problems, and failures in life.
May those unknown to me be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with
success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties,
problems, and failures in life.
May all living beings be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.
May no harm come to them, may no difficulties come to them,
may no problems come to them; may they always meet with
success.
May they also have patience, courage, understanding, and
determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties,
problems, and failures in life.
To continue your meditation, you can follow the above with a period of sitting holding only the thought of metta in your mind, feeling yourself infused with metta and radiating it in every direction.
All people will benefit from this practice.
May the suffering not suffer, the fearful not fear, the grieving not grieve;
May all beings be well and happy.
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