Mettā

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Buddhist Perfections   10 pāramī dāna sīla nekkhamma paññā viriya khanti sacca adhiṭṭhāna mettā upekkhā      6 pāramitā  dāna sīla kṣānti vīrya dhyāna prajñā   Colored items are in both lists.

Mettā (Pāli) or maitrī (Sanskrit) has been translated as "loving-kindness,"^[1][2] "friendliness,"^[3][4][5] "benevolence,"^[4][2] "amity,"^[3] "friendship,"^[4] "good will,"^[4] "kindness,"^[6] "love,"^[3] "sympathy,"^[3] and "active interest in others."^[3] It is one of the ten pāramitās of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four Brahmavihāras. The mettā bhāvanā ("cultivation of mettā") is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism.

The object of mettā meditation is loving kindness (love without attachment). Traditionally, the practice begins with the meditator cultivating loving kindness towards themselves,^[7] then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, enemies, and finally towards all sentient beings.

Buddhists believe that those who cultivate mettā will be at ease because they see no need to harbour ill will or hostility. Buddhist teachers may even recommend meditation on mettā as an antidote to insomnia and nightmares. It is generally felt that those around a mettā-ful person will feel more comfortable and happy too. Radiating mettā is thought to contribute to a world of love, peace and happiness.

Mettā meditation is considered a good way to calm down a distraught mind by people who consider it to be an antidote to anger. According to them, someone who has cultivated mettā will not be easily angered and can quickly subdue anger that arises, being more caring, more loving, and more likely to love unconditionally.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Mettā meditation: the practice of loving-kindness 2 Visuddhimagga method: Six stages 3 Pali Canon texts 3.1 Basic intention and verse 3.2 Basic radiating formula 3.3 Kakacupama Sutta (MN 21) 3.4 Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8) 3.5 Patisambhidamagga Mettakatha (Ps. 2.4) 3.6 Abhidhammic descriptor (Dhs. 189) 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Sources 7 External links

[edit] Mettā meditation: the practice of loving-kindness

Mettā signifies friendship and non-violence as well as "a strong wish for the happiness of others", but also less obvious or direct qualities such as showing patience, receptivity, and appreciation. Though it refers to many seemingly disparate ideas, Mettā is in fact a very specific form of love – a caring for another independent of all self-interest – and thus is likened to one's love for one's child or parent. Understandably, this energy is often difficult to describe in words; however, in the practice of Mettā meditation, one recites specific words and phrases in order to evoke this "boundless warm-hearted feeling." The strength of this feeling is not limited to or by family, religion, or social class. Indeed, Mettā is a tool that permits one's generosity and kindness to be applied to all beings and, as a consequence, one finds true happiness in another person's happiness, no matter who the individual is.

[edit] Visuddhimagga method: Six stages

Contemporary metta practice is often based on a method traditionally associated with the 5^th c. CE Pali exegetical text, the Visuddhimagga.^[8] The full instructions for the theory and practice of mettā bhāvanā is available in the Visuddhimagga ("The path to purity"), Chapter IX, of the Buddhist scriptures.^[9]

The six stages of mettā bhāvanā meditation which are most commonly found involve cultivating loving-kindness towards:

1. Yourself^[10]
2. A good friend
3. A 'neutral' person
4. A difficult person^[11]
5. All four
6. and then gradually the entire universe^[12]

For #2 avoid choosing someone to whom you feel sexually attracted, or that is much younger or much older than yourself, or who is dead. For #3 choose someone that you might come in contact with every day, but who does not give rise to strong positive nor strong negative emotions. For #4 traditionally choose "an enemy", but avoid choosing a person who has just wrecked your life, unless you are very well grounded in awareness. For #5 treat them as equals, equally deserving of loving-kindness.

[edit] Pali Canon texts

In the Pali Canon, statements regarding the use of metta traditionally employ one or more of the following devices, often using a stock formula:

• mental purification
• a verse for wishing others well
• pervading all directions and all beings with loving-kindness.

The well-known Kakacupama Sutta and Karaniya Metta Sutta use striking metaphors to give these traditional devices vitality. Other canonical material, such as in the Paṭisambhidāmagga, elaborate on these basic devices in a manner that is perpetuated by the later traditional commentaries. Other canonical sources, such as the Abhidhamma, underline the key role of metta in the development of wholesome karma.

[edit] Basic intention and verse

May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease! —Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta[13]

In Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta ("To Cunda the Silversmith," AN 10.176), the Buddha explains that mental or intentional purity (manasā soceyyaṃ) is threefold: non-greed, non-ill-will and non-delusion. Regarding the manifestation of non-ill-will the discourse describes a virtuous person in the following manner (in English and Pali):

He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. [He thinks,] 'May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!'[13]

Avyāpannacitto hoti appaduṭṭhamanasaṃkappo, 'ime sattā averā avyāpajjā anīghā sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu'ti.[14]

This basic statement of intention and verse can also be found in several other canonical discourses.^[15]

[edit] Basic radiating formula

In over a dozen discourses, the following description (in English and Pali) is provided for radiating metta in six directions:^[16]

"He abides, having suffused with a mind of loving-kindness one direction of the world, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth, and so above, below, around and everywhere, and to all as to himself; he abides suffusing the entire universe with loving-kindness, with a mind grown great, lofty, boundless and free from enmity and ill will."[17]

So mettāsahagatena cetasā ekaṃ disaṃ pharitvā viharati. Tathā dutiyaṃ. Tathā tatiyaṃ. Tathā catutthiṃ. Iti uddhamadho tiriyaṃ sabbadhi sabbattatāya sabbāvantaṃ lokaṃ mettāsahagatena cetasā vipulena mahaggatena appamāṇena averena abyāpajjena pharitvā viharati.[18]

In the Canon, this basic formula is expanded upon in a variety of ways. For instance, a couple of discourses^[19] provide the following description of "the path to the company of Brahmā" (brahmānaṃ sahavyatāya maggo) along with a memorable metaphor:

"What ... is the path to the company of Brahmā? Here a bhikkhu abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the forth; so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, and without ill well. When the deliverence of mind by loving-kindness is developed in this way, no limiting action remains there, none persists there.

"Just as a vigorous trumpeter could make himself heard without difficulty in the four quarters, so too, when the deliverence of mind by loving-kindness is developed in this way, no limiting action remains there, none persists there. This is the path to the company of Brahmā."^[20][21]

[edit] Kakacupama Sutta (MN 21)

Incorporating facets of the above textual methods in a series of increasingly vivid similes, the Kakacupama Sutta ("Parable of the Saw Discourse," MN 21) provides the following culminating scenario:

"Monks, even if bandits were to savagely sever you, limb by limb, with a double-handled saw, even then, whoever of you harbors ill will at heart would not be upholding my Teaching. Monks, even in such a situation you should train yourselves thus: 'Neither shall our minds be affected by this, nor for this matter shall we give vent to evil words, but we shall remain full of concern and pity, with a mind of love, and we shall not give in to hatred. On the contrary, we shall live projecting thoughts of universal love to those very persons, making them as well as the whole world the object of our thoughts of universal love — thoughts that have grown great, exalted and measureless. We shall dwell radiating these thoughts which are void of hostility and ill will.' It is in this way, monks, that you should train yourselves."^[22]

[edit] Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8)

In gladness and in safety, May all beings be at ease. —Suttanipata 1.8[23]

Even as a mother      protects with her life Her child, her only child, So with a boundless heart Should one cherish      all living beings. —Suttanipata 1.8[23]

The Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8) combines both the interpersonal and radiant aspects of canonical expressions of metta.

This is what should be done By one who is skilled in goodness, And who knows the path of peace: ... Wishing: In gladness and in safety, May all beings be at ease.	Karaṇīyam- atthakusalena yaṃ taṃ santaṃ padaṃ abhisamecca ... Sukhino vā khemino hontu sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā
Whatever living beings there may be; Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,	Ye keci pāṇa bhūtatthi tasā vā thāvarā vā anavasesā Dīghā vā ye mahantā vā majjhamā rassakāṇukathūlā
The seen and the unseen, Those living near and far away, Those born and to-be-born — May all beings be at ease!	Diṭṭhā vā yeva addiṭṭhā ye ca dūre vasanti avidūre Bhūtā vā sambhavesī vā sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā
Let none deceive another, Or despise any being in any state. Let none through anger or ill-will Wish harm upon another.	Na paro paraṃ nikubbetha nātimaññetha katthaci naṃ kañci Byārosanā paṭighasaññā nāññamaññassa dukkhamiccheyya
Even as a mother protects with her life Her child, her only child, So with a boundless heart Should one cherish all living beings;	Mātā yathā niyaṃ puttaṃ āyusā ekaputtamanurakkhe Evampi sabbabhūtesū mānasaṃ bhāvaye aparimānaṃ
Radiating kindness over the entire world Spreading upwards to the skies, And downwards to the depths; Outwards and unbounded, Freed from hatred and ill-will.	Mettaṃ ca sabbalokasmiṃ mānasaṃ bhāvaye aparimānaṃ Uddhaṃ adho ca tiriyañca asambādhaṃ averaṃ asapattaṃ
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down Free from drowsiness, One should sustain this recollection. This is said to be the sublime abiding....[23]	Tiṭṭhaṃ caraṃ nisinno vā sayāno vā yāvatassa vigatamiddho Etaṃ satiṃ adhiṭṭheyya brahmametaṃ vihāraṃ idhamāhu....[24]

According to the Pali commentaries, the Buddha originally gave this instruction (of Loving-Kindness meditation) to Monks who were being harassed by the Tree Spirits of a forest in which the Monks were trying to meditate. After doing this meditation in the forest it is said that the Spirits were so affected by the power of Loving-Kindness that they allowed the Monks to stay in the forest for the duration of the rainy season.

[edit] Patisambhidamagga Mettakatha (Ps. 2.4)

May all beings be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily. —Mettākathā (Ps. 2.4)[25]

In the Khuddaka Nikaya's Paṭisambhidāmagga, traditionally ascribed to Ven. Sariputta, is a section entitled Mettākathā (Ps. 2.4, "Metta Instruction").^[26] In this instruction, a general formula (below, in English and Pali), essentially identical to the aforementioned Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta verse (especially evident in the Pali), is provided for radiating metta:

"May all beings be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily."[25]

Sabbe sattā averā abyāpajjā anīghā sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu.[27]

In addition, this instruction categorizes twenty-two ways in which "the mind-deliverence of lovingkindness" (mettācetovimutti) can be radiated as follows:

• five ways of "unspecified pervasion" (anodhiso pharaṇā):

1. all beings (sabbe sattā )
2. all breathing things (sabbe pāṇā bhāvapariyāpannā)
3. all creatures (sabbe bhūtā bhāvapariyāpannā)
4. all persons (sabbe puggalā bhāvapariyāpannā)
5. all with a personality (sabbe attabhāvapariyāpannā)

• seven ways of "specified pervasion" (anodhiso pharaṇā):

1. all women (sabbā itthiyo)
2. all men (sabbe purisā)
3. all Noble Ones (sabbe ariyā)
4. all non-Noble Ones (sabbe anariyā)
5. all deities (sabbe devā)
6. all humans (sabbe manussā)
7. all born in lower realms (sabbe vinipātikā)

• ten ways of "directional pervasion" (disā-pharaṇā):

1. of the eastern direction (puratthimāya disāya)
2. of the western direction (pacchimāya disāya)
3. of the northern direction (uttarā disāya)
4. of the southern direction (dakkhīṇāya disāya)
5. of the eastern intermediate direction (puratthimāya anudisāya)^[28]
6. of the western intermediate direction (pacchimāya anudisāya)
7. of the northern intermediate direction (uttarā anudisāya)
8. of the southern intermediate direction (dakkhīṇāya anudisāya)
9. of the downward direction (heṭṭhimāya disāya)
10. of the upward direction (uparimāya disāya).

Moreover, the directional pervasions can then be applied to each of the unspecific and specific pervasions. For instance, after radiating metta to all beings in the east (Sabbe puratthimāya disāya sattā ...), one radiates metta to all beings in the west and then north and then south, etc.; then, one radiates metta to all breathing things in this fashion (Sabbe puratthimāya disāya pāṇā ...), then all creatures, persons, and so forth until such is extended for all those born in the lower realms.

[edit] Abhidhammic descriptor (Dhs. 189)

What are the three causes of good karma? The absence of lust, hate and dulness. —Dhs. 188[29]

In the Abhidhamma's Dhammasangani, the causes of "good" or "wholesome" (kusala) and "bad" or "unwholesome" (akusala) karmic states (dhammā) are described (Dhs. 188ff.). The three causes of wholesome karma are stated to be the non-greed, non-hate and non-delusion (alobho adoso amoho). Non-hate is then defined in the following manner:

"The absence of hate, hating, hatred; love, loving, loving disposition; tender care, forbearance, considerateness; seeking the general good, compassion; the absence of malice, of malignity; that absence of hate which is the root of good (karma)."[29]

Yo adoso adussanā adussitattaṃ metti mettāyanā mettāyitattaṃ anuddayā anuddayanā anuddayitattaṃ hitesitā anukampā avyāpādo avyāpajjho adoso kusalamūlaṃ, ayaṃ vuccati adoso.[30]

[edit] See also

• Ahimsa
• Brahma-viharas
• Love
• Happiness
• Kammatthana

[edit] Notes

[edit] Sources

• Acharya Buddharakkhita (trans.) (1987/2006). "Kakacupama Sutta: The Parable of the Saw (excerpt)" from Positive Response: How to Meet Evil With Good (Bodhi Leaves No. 109). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society (1987). Retrieved from "Access to Insight" (2006) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.021x.budd.html.

• Amaravati Sangha (trans.) (1994, 2004). "Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness" from Chanting Book: Morning and Evening Puja and Reflections (1994). Hemel Hempstead: Amaravati Publications. Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" (2004) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.08.amar.html.

• Bodhi, Bhikkhu (2005). In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-491-1.

• Buddhaghosa, Bhadantacariya & Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (trans.) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.

• Gethin, Rupert (1998). The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-289223-1.

• Gombrich, Richard (1988; reprinted 2002). Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge: London. ISBN 0-415-07585-8.

• Harvey, Peter (2007). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31333-3.

• Kamalashila (1996). Meditation: The Buddhist Art of Tranquility and Insight. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications. ISBN 1899579052. Retrieveable from the author's personal web site at http://kamalashila.co.uk/Meditation_Web/index.htm.

• La Trobe University (n.d.), "Pali Canon Online Database," online search engine of Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project's (SLTP) Pali Canon. Retrieved 2007-11-25 at http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/dcd/pali.htm.

• Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. Retrieved 2008-04-29 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf.

• Ñanamoli Thera (ed., trans.) (1987/1994). The Practice of Loving-Kindness (Metta): As Taught by the Buddha in the Pali Canon (The Wheel No. 7). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society (1987). Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" (1994 transcription) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel007.html.

• Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.

• Ñanamoli Thera (trans.) & Bhikkhu Khantipalo (ed.) (1993/1994). Saleyyaka Sutta: The Brahmans of Sala (MN 41). Retrieved 2007-12-23 from "Access to Insight" (1994 transcription) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.041.nymo.html.

• Nyanaponika Thera (trans.) (1988/1998). "Vatthupama Sutta: The Simile of the Cloth" (MN 7) from The Simile of the Cloth & the Discourse on Effacement (Wheel No. 61). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society (1988). Retrieved 2007-12-03 from "Access to Insight" (1998) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.007.nypo.html.

• Rhys Davids, Caroline A. F. ([1900], 2003). Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, now made for the First Time, from the Original Pāli, of the First Book of the Abhidhamma-Piṭaka, entitled Dhamma-Sangaṇi (Compendium of States or Phenomena). Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-4702-9.

• Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. Retrieved 2008-04-29 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.

• Salzberg, Sharon (1995). Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-57062-176-4.

• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994). Raja Sutta: The King (Ud. 5.1). Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.5.01.than.html.

• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta: To Cunda the Silversmith (AN 10.176). Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.176.than.html.

• Upatissa, Arahant, N.R.M. Ehara (trans.), Soma Thera (trans.) and Kheminda Thera (trans.) (1995). The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0054-6.

• Walshe, Maurice (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.

• Warder, A.K. (1970; reprinted 2004). Indian Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass: Delhi. ISBN: 81-208-1741-9.

[edit] External links

• Brahmavihara Dhamma by Mahasi Sayadaw
• An essay on metta by Acharya Buddharakkhita
• The Metta Sutta
• Unconditional Love
• Dharma Dictionary - RangjungYesheWiki - Byams Pa / Maitri
• Facets of Metta by Sharon Salzberg
• Online Metta Contemplation