Posts Tagged ‘metta’
Practice Circle 4/26: Love is the Antidote to Fear
There is the liberation of the heart by loving-kindness; frequently giving wise attention to it — this is the denourishing of the arising of ill-will that has not yet arisen, and the decrease and weakening of ill-will that has already arisen. — SN 46:51 There is much fear in the world now. Most of us…
Read MoreBrittle Metta
We may practice kindness, but anger and hatred will take over at times. We’ll deal with one syndrome involving anger and talk about ways to approach it that may be helpful. Thich Nhat Hanh on embracing anger Check out my Patreon page!
Read MoreKindness Towards Everyone?
When we practice loving kindness, are we really supposed to direct kindness towards everyone? Does everyone really deserve kindness? We will look at the early texts as well as a recent article in Tricycle Magazine by scholar Andrew Olendzki. We will also consider some of the teachings of Socrates and the ancient Greeks. The Sutta…
Read MoreOn Mettā
Where do the instructions for mettā practice come from? The suttas give relatively little instruction on what actually to do, beyond generating universal good will that we find in the Mettā Sutta (Sn. 143-152), and the practice of focusing on each direction, in an oft-cited pericope: [W]ith his heart filled with lovingkindness, he dwells suffusing…
Read MoreLoving Kindness Meditation: History and Practice
What is Loving Kindness (mettā) meditation and how did it develop? Many people today practice a form that probably originated centuries after the Buddha’s day.
Read MoreLovingkindness Now and in the Past
In contrast to the dominant role that mettā (lovingkindness) and the other Brahmavihāras (compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity) play in contemporary Buddhist practice, they seem to have played a relatively minor role in the earliest tradition. One looks in vain for much elaboration on mettā’s dhammic role; largely it seems to have been seen as…
Read MoreAn Anecdote of Mettā and Pain
I’ve been doing mettā (lovingkindness) practice this last month. Day to day it involves spending meditation periods slowly repeating well-meaning hopes and wishes towards myself and others. It started off interesting, since I had to come up with some new formulae for my wishes, but it quickly became rote, much akin to breathing or repeating…
Read MoreThe Buddha’s Teaching on Loving-Kindness: A Mature Path to Awakening
In much contemporary Buddhist teachings, the paths of the heart are often relegated to second place behind the primacy of Wisdom on the path to awakening. In the earliest texts, however, the Buddha appears to consider the cultivation of kindness and compassion as a fully viable and equal path to awakening, to enlightenment, to Nibbana.…
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