What are you referring to as "Buddhaghosa's method"? Interestingly, Visuddhimagga IX-88 ... doesn't mention the "beings are owners of their kamma..." approach.retrofuturist wrote: Accordingly, I think Patrick Kearney's method is far more satisfactory than Buddhaghosa's.
In fact, since he discusses it in the context of concentration, he states that one should already have cultivated the first three jhana in the other three divine abidings. One then recognises that the joy cultivated in those jhanas is gross and needs to be abandoned to go further.
The instructions include to "...arouse equanimity by looking on with equanimity at a person who is normally neutral, then a dear person, ..., then through the neutral one he should break down the barriers in each case between the three people, that is, the dear person, then the boon companion, and then the hostile one, and lastly himself..."
Mike