03-04-2010, 12:00 AM
Mettā (Pāli: मेत्ता) or maitrī (Sanskrit) has been translated as "loving-kindness,"[1][2] "friendliness,"[3][4][5] "benevolence,"[2][4] "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 Upādāna, that is, 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. Commonly, it can be used as a greeting or closing to a letter or note.
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-full 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. Recent neurological studies have shown that compassion meditation can increase one's capabilities for empathy by changing activity in brain areas such as the temporal parietal juncture and the insula, and increase the subject's ability to understand the mental and emotional states of others[8] as well as deal more effectively with external stressors.[9]
Contents [hide]
1 Mettā meditation: the practice of loving-kindness2 Visuddhimagga method: Six stages3 Pali Canon texts3.1 Basic intention and verse3.2 Basic radiating formula3.3 Kakacupama Sutta (MN 21)3.4 Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.3.5 Patisambhidamagga Mettakatha (Ps. 2.4)3.6 Abhidhammic descriptor (Dhs. 189)4 See also5 Notes6 Sources7 External links[edit]Mettā meditation: the practice of loving-kindnessMettā 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 stagesContemporary metta practice is often based on a method traditionally associated with the 5th c. CE Pali exegetical text, the Visuddhimagga.[10] 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.[11]
The six stages of mettā bhāvanā meditation which are most commonly found involve cultivating loving-kindness towards:
Yourself[12]A good friendA 'neutral' personA difficult person[13]All fourand then gradually the entire Universe[14]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 textsIn the Pāli Canon, statements regarding the use of metta traditionally employ one or more of the following devices, often using a stock formula:
mental purificationa verse for wishing others wellpervading 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 mettain the development of wholesome karma.
[edit]Basic intention and verseMay these beings be
free from animosity,
free from oppression,
free from trouble,
and may they look after
themselves with ease!
—Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta[15]
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!'[15]
Avyāpannacitto hoti appaduṭṭhamanasaṃkappo,
'ime sattā averā
avyāpajjā anīghā
sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu'ti.[16]
This basic statement of intention and verse can also be found in several other canonical discourses.[17]
[edit]Basic radiating formulaIn over a dozen discourses, the following description (in English and Pali) is provided for radiating metta in six directions:[18]
"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."[19]
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.[20]
In the Canon, this basic formula is expanded upon in a variety of ways. For instance, a couple of discourses[21] 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 will. When the deliverance 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 deliverance 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."[22][23]
The object of mettā meditation is loving kindness (love without Upādāna, that is, 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. Commonly, it can be used as a greeting or closing to a letter or note.
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-full 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. Recent neurological studies have shown that compassion meditation can increase one's capabilities for empathy by changing activity in brain areas such as the temporal parietal juncture and the insula, and increase the subject's ability to understand the mental and emotional states of others[8] as well as deal more effectively with external stressors.[9]
Contents [hide]
1 Mettā meditation: the practice of loving-kindness2 Visuddhimagga method: Six stages3 Pali Canon texts3.1 Basic intention and verse3.2 Basic radiating formula3.3 Kakacupama Sutta (MN 21)3.4 Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.3.5 Patisambhidamagga Mettakatha (Ps. 2.4)3.6 Abhidhammic descriptor (Dhs. 189)4 See also5 Notes6 Sources7 External links[edit]Mettā meditation: the practice of loving-kindnessMettā 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 stagesContemporary metta practice is often based on a method traditionally associated with the 5th c. CE Pali exegetical text, the Visuddhimagga.[10] 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.[11]
The six stages of mettā bhāvanā meditation which are most commonly found involve cultivating loving-kindness towards:
Yourself[12]A good friendA 'neutral' personA difficult person[13]All fourand then gradually the entire Universe[14]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 textsIn the Pāli Canon, statements regarding the use of metta traditionally employ one or more of the following devices, often using a stock formula:
mental purificationa verse for wishing others wellpervading 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 mettain the development of wholesome karma.
[edit]Basic intention and verseMay these beings be
free from animosity,
free from oppression,
free from trouble,
and may they look after
themselves with ease!
—Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta[15]
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!'[15]
Avyāpannacitto hoti appaduṭṭhamanasaṃkappo,
'ime sattā averā
avyāpajjā anīghā
sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu'ti.[16]
This basic statement of intention and verse can also be found in several other canonical discourses.[17]
[edit]Basic radiating formulaIn over a dozen discourses, the following description (in English and Pali) is provided for radiating metta in six directions:[18]
"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."[19]
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.[20]
In the Canon, this basic formula is expanded upon in a variety of ways. For instance, a couple of discourses[21] 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 will. When the deliverance 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 deliverance 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."[22][23]