… The way the Buddha expresses this, in what might be called his
metta phrases, always includes the fact that people are going to be
happy not because you wish them happiness, but because they behave in
ways that avoid harm. There’s one metta phrase that says, “May no one
despise anyone or cause anyone any harm.” And another one that says,
“May all …
… Basic Instructions
In Shape to Meditate
Maintaining Goodwill
Metta Meditation
Goodwill & Heedfulness
Gather ’Round the Breath
Allowing the Breath to Spread
Brahmaviharas at the Breath
Turn Off the Automatic Pilot
Choiceful Awareness
Artillery All Around
Views, Virtue, & Mindfulness
Ekaggata
Training Your Minds
Equanimity
A Mirror for the Mind
Centered in the Body
Mindful Judgment
Part II : Common Problems
Pain Is Not the Enemy
Pleasure …
… I read a while back someone saying that
even the word loving-kindness is too weak a translation for metta,
that the Buddha would want to have you have love, love, love for
everybody because, of course, everybody loves love. Well, the Buddha
didn’t teach anything just because people liked to hear it. The
attitude he taught is goodwill: “May these people be …
Metta Through Samvega
September 29, 2017
There’s a passage where the Buddha tells of an image that appeared to him before he left home to go out into the wilderness. He saw the whole world as a bunch of fish in a small dwindling puddle, fighting one another over that last gulp of water before they were all going to die. Everywhere he …
… The popular idea of goodwill, metta, tends to be something
softer, but here Ajaan Lee was talking about it as a strength, a
fighting strength. And it’s important that we keep that in mind.
We live in troubled times, with a lot of injustice going on around us,
a lot of danger, a lot of really misguided people. And we have to
remember …
… are five in all: physical form, feeling, perception, thought-fabrications, and consciousness. Sanskrit form: skandha.
Luang Pu (Thai): Venerable Grandfather. A term of respect for a very senior and elderly monk.
Metta: Goodwill; benevolence. See brahma-vihara.
Nibbana: Literally, the “unbinding” of the mind from passion, aversion, and delusion, and from the entire round of death and rebirth. As this term also denotes the …
… piece of cloth that they make into a robe before dawn of the next day.
Luang Pu (Thai): Venerable Grandfather. A term of respect for a very senior and elderly monk.
Metta: Goodwill; benevolence. See brahma-vihara.
Nibbana: Literally, the “unbinding” of the mind from passion, aversion, and delusion, and from the entire round of death and rebirth. As this term also denotes the …
… It’s a phrase from the Metta
Sutta. It sounds nice, but it’s not easy. Look at the way the world
has been behaving. Pretty venial. And yet still we have to have
goodwill for everybody. It’s not necessarily because they deserve it,
but we need it. Regardless of what other people do, our actions are
what will determine our future and …
… are five in all: physical form, feeling, perception, thought-fabrications, and consciousness. Sanskrit form: skandha.
Luang Puu (Thai): Venerable Grandfather. A term of respect for a very senior and elderly monk.
Metta: Goodwill; kindness; benevolence; friendliness.
Nibbana: Literally, the “unbinding” of the mind from passion, aversion, and delusion, and from the entire round of death and rebirth. As this term also denotes the extinguishing …
… So the fact that we have this opportunity here at Wat Metta depends a
lot on the fact that Rama IX was able to keep the country together. He
understood that if the country was going to be strong, prosperity had
to be spread around. It was under his influence that the whole country
got electricity. He himself would go out to
areas where …
The Limits of the Unlimited Attitudes
The Brahmaviharas on the Path to Awakening
The first meditation instructions given to a child raised in a Theravada Buddhist family usually focus on the practice of mettā, or goodwill. The parents teach the child to spread thoughts of goodwill—a wish for happiness—to all living beings every night before going to sleep.
As the child grows …
… We usually translate citta as “mind,”
which gives one sense of what the word means, but it’s only one sense,
because the word citta can also mean “heart.” When we talk about a
citta of metta—metta-cittena—it’s not just thinking thoughts of
goodwill, it’s feeling thoughts of goodwill and willing thoughts
of goodwill. So what we’re training here …
… for clinging, craving, and their objects.
Jhana: Mental absorption. A state of strong concentration focused on a single sensation or mental notion. Sanskrit form: dhyana.
Kamma: Intentional act. Sanskrit form: kamma.
Metta: Goodwill; benevolence. See brahmavihara.
Nibbana: Literally, the “unbinding” of the mind from passion, aversion, and delusion, and from the entire round of death and rebirth. As this term also denotes the extinguishing …
… a single sensation or mental notion. Sanskrit form: dhyana.
Kamma: Intentional act. Sanskrit form: karma.
Luang Pu (Thai): Venerable Grandfather. A term of respect for a very senior and elderly monk.
Metta: Goodwill; benevolence. See brahma-vihara.
Naga: (1) A serpent with magical powers. (2) (Thai) A candidate for the monkhood. The Vinaya tells of a naga (1) who wanted to become a monk …
… You might resist his shoulds with the thought, “Who is he to tell me what to do?”
Years back I was sitting in on a course on the Metta Sutta. The first line in the Metta Sutta starts: “This is what should be done by one who aims at a state of peace.” As the teacher started out with that line, a hand immediately …
… A short Pali formula for those who have trouble memorizing is:
“Mettā” (goodwill and benevolence, hoping for your own welfare and that of all other living beings.)
“Karuṇā” (compassion for yourself and others.)
“Muditā” (empathetic joy, taking delight in your own goodness and that of others.)
“Upekkhā” (equanimity in the face of things that should be let be.)
Metta Meditation
September 2, 2005
“May I be happy. May all living beings be happy.” We chant that every night before we meditate. We’re advised to think thoughts of goodwill like that at the end of the meditation, too. We chant them beforehand for two reasons. One is to remind ourselves of why we’re meditating. The chant on happiness is accompanied by …
… But as I got to know his teachings better, I realized that the word metta is not loving-kindness. It’s goodwill. The word for love, pema, is something else again.
The Buddha didn’t have much positive to say about pema, or love. There was a time when a group of Brahmans who had suddenly gotten faith in the Buddha came early one …
… of his knowledge of the four noble truths,
dasa-bala-ñāṇ’ānubhāvena
through the power of his knowledge of the ten strengths,
sabbaññuta-ñāṇ’ānubhāvena
through the power of his omniscience,
mettā-karuṇā-muditā-upekkh’ānubhāvena
through the power of his goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, & equanimity,
sabba-paritt’ānubhāvena
through the power of all protective chants,
ratanattaya-saraṇ’ānubhāvena
through the power of refuge …
… In a few cases he advocates developing metta for people who are harming you, but more generally he cites all four Sublime Attitudes as antidotes to anger. In other words, the antidote includes metta but not just metta. You want to develop the other Sublime Attitudes, too. And the attitude the Buddha recommends most is equanimity: equanimity in the sense of stepping back from …
| Gather ’Round the Breath
… Basic Instructions In Shape to Meditate Maintaining Goodwill Metta Meditation Goodwill & Heedfulness Gather ’Round the Breath Allowing the Breath to Spread Brahmaviharas at the Breath Turn Off the Automatic Pilot Choiceful Awareness Artillery All Around Views, Virtue, & Mindfulness Ekaggata Training Your Minds Equanimity A Mirror for the Mind Centered in the Body Mindful Judgment Part II : Common Problems Pain Is Not the Enemy Pleasure …
