Metta Meditation

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
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Jechbi
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Does metta-bhavana literally impact others?

Post by Jechbi »

Rain soddens what is kept wrapped up,
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.
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Cittasanto
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by Cittasanto »

bump
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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mirco
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by mirco »

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Cittasanto
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by Cittasanto »

mirco wrote:
Manapa wrote:what method, or formula do you use?
A practical, bare-bones guide to Loving-Kindness Meditation

Dhamma Sukha Talks on Metta

:smile:
how have you found this practice from others out there?
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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cooran
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by cooran »

Hello all,

You may be interested in this audio of a talk by Ajahn Sujato on
A practical step by step way to metta meditation
http://my.thanhsiang.org/av/english/ssangha.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
Sanghamitta
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by Sanghamitta »

:twothumbsup:
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Bhikku Bodhi.
Shonin
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by Shonin »

Thank you for sharing. Metta meditation is powerful and wonderful. And usually it's not given much attention. It's great that Ajahn Sujato is teaching this practice with the intensity, time and detail that it deserves.

:anjali:
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Ytrog
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Re: Metta Meditation

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:thanks: Will look into it. Metta meditation is one of the most difficult meditations for me to do. :(
Suffering is asking from life what it can never give you.
mindfulness, bliss and beyond (page 8) wrote:Do not linger on the past. Do not keep carrying around coffins full of dead moments
If you see any unskillful speech (or other action) from me let me know, so I can learn from it.
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Jechbi
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by Jechbi »

bump
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cooran
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by cooran »

Hello all,

Bhante Sujato's Retreat on Metta Meditation held recently in Western Australia:


Retreat taught by Ajahn Sujato at Jhana Grove focusing on Metta (Loving Kindness) Meditation
http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/downloads/ ... -2011.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Cittasanto
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by Cittasanto »

Thought I would bump this thread?
Cittasanto wrote:what method, or formula do you use?
and for those in the know what are the principle Suttas on this topic?
allot of the methods I have seen seam to be mainly governed by the commentaries, but what is the Buddhas formula for metta meditation?

With Metta
Manapa
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
daverupa
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by daverupa »

what is the Buddhas formula for metta meditation?
It would seem that one "pervades [all] direction[s] with thoughts of" the brahmaviharas "in all circumstances, for all purposes", thoughts which are "grown great and measureless without ill will and anger."
MN 127 wrote:Householder, what is the limitless release of mind? Here, the bhikkhu pervades one direction with thoughts of loving kindness. Also the second, the third, the fourth, above, below and across, in all circumstances, for all purposes, pervades the whole world with thoughts of loving kindness, extensive, grown great and measureless without ill will and anger. The bhikkhu pervades one direction with thoughts of compassion,...re....intrinsic joy,...re.... equanimity. Also the second, the third, the fourth, above, below and across, in all circumstances, for all purposes, pervades the whole world with equanimity, extensive, grown great and measureless without ill will and anger. Householder, this is the limitless release of mind.
Are we able to understand
MN 118 wrote:...He trains himself, 'I will breathe in releasing the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out releasing the mind.'
as a method in this case?
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
befriend
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by befriend »

after a an hour or so of metta i will have incredibly pleasant dreams. it takes me about 4 minutes to fall asleep. i wake up and the morning is the best part of my day because my energy is so enthusiastic and bright from metta. it is an incredibly pleasant abiding. i also smile slightly all day, which makes my mind bright and happy.
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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Eko Care
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by Eko Care »

befriend wrote: Sat Jan 14, 2012 6:39 pm after a an hour or so of metta i will have incredibly pleasant dreams. it takes me about 4 minutes to fall asleep. i wake up and the morning is the best part of my day because my energy is so enthusiastic and bright from metta. it is an incredibly pleasant abiding. i also smile slightly all day, which makes my mind bright and happy.
:anjali:
Ytrog wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:53 pm Will look into it. Metta meditation is one of the most difficult meditations for me to do.
I have heard this from many. And about Mudita as well.
:cry:
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retrofuturist
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Re: Metta Meditation

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Eko Care & Ytrog (a decade later),
Ytrog wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:53 pm Will look into it. Metta meditation is one of the most difficult meditations for me to do.
Eko Care wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 12:03 am I have heard this from many. And about Mudita as well.
:cry:
It is not, if done as taught by the Buddha.

:buddha2:

The Buddha says that one should develop mettā towards all beings with the self-abnegating love of a mother to her only son. But Venerable Buddhaghosa recommends a practice of mettā, which goes against the spirit of the Buddha word. What sort of Deliverance of the Heart can that kind of approach lead to? In pervading the directions with thoughts of mettā one has to be aware of one’s position only as a peg in the center with which to survey the world as above, below and all around. Apart from that, the Buddha has never sanctioned a selfish attitude of developing mettā to oneself. The object of mettā is not a group of persons discriminated as one’s dear, not dear or neutral but the totality of living beings which the Buddha has presented as five universals.

The Five Universal Categories:
‘….. ye keci pāṇabhūtatthi
‘….. whatever beings there are
1. tasā vā thāvarā vā anavasesā
whether feeble or stable - without exception
2. dīghā vā ye mahantā vā majjhimā rassakāṇukathūlā
whether long or large, middling, short, minute or massive
3. diṭtḥā vā ye va addiṭtḥā
whether seen or unseen
4. ye ca dūre vasanti avidūre
whether they live far or near
5. bhūtā vā sambhavesī vā
whether already come into being or seeking birth
sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā
May all beings be happy at heart.

So one should not get incarcerated within the narrow confines of oneself, one’s dear, neutral and hostile marked out by a selfish standpoint but pervade or radiate the six directions with mettā, towards the above five universal categories. In pervading the directions, the method followed at present is to include names of the directions in the chant in an unrealistic and imaginary way, as for instance “May all beings in the Eastern direction be well and happy! May all beings in the Western direction be well and happy!” and so on. However, in the discourses we never find any such mention of directions by name when it comes to this particular meditation technique. On the other hand, the method of developing mettā cetovimutti recommended there is the pervasion of one direction (ékaṁ disaṁ), the second direction (dutiyaṁ disaṁ), the third direction (tatiyaṁ disaṁ), the fourth direction (catutthiṁ disaṁ), above (uddhaṁ) and below (adho) with thoughts of mettā. The implication is that it should be a realistic and experiential taking.

My personal favourite sutta instruction for combining metta and insight is AN 4.126. It also addressses mudita, which you mentioned struggling with. I shall share here the words of the Tathagata for your benefit.
"Monks, there are these four types of individuals to be found existing in the world. Which four?

"There is the case where an individual keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with good will. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around, everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with good will: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will. He regards whatever phenomena there that are connected with form, feeling, perception, fabrications, & consciousness, as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a disintegration, an emptiness, not-self. At the break-up of the body, after death, he reappears in conjunction with the devas of the Pure Abodes. This rebirth is not in common with run-of-the-mill people.

"Again, there is the case where an individual keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with compassion... appreciation... equanimity. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around, everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with equanimity: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will. He regards whatever phenomena there that are connected with form, feeling, perception, fabrications, & consciousness, as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a disintegration, an emptiness, not-self. At the break-up of the body, after death, he reappears in conjunction with the devas of the Pure Abodes. This rebirth is not in common with run-of-the-mill people.

"These are four types of individuals to be found existing in the world."
Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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