Search results for: metta

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  2. Protective Meditations
     … contemplation of the unattractiveness of the body, and mindfulness of death. It sounds like a rather random collection and, in the sense that they focus on different defilements, they are diverse. Metta is usually used as the antidote to anger; contemplation of the body as an antidote to lust; recollection of the Buddha as an antidote to discouragement and nihilism; and recollection of death … 
  3. Wilderness Wealth
     … For lay people, when you’re here in the relative wilderness of Metta as opposed to your homes, that reflection gets you started in the right direction. You see that the problem of suffering is not anything “out there.” It’s largely in the way you perceive things, the way you fabricate things. And the process of meditation is a progressively refined understanding of … 
  4. In Heedfulness We Trust
     … When I came back to Wat Metta after all those years in Thailand, it was hard to get used to this, because over there, this is the time of evening when the mosquitoes are out. And it’s not just a matter of not liking the feel of the mosquito bite—the mosquitoes that carry malaria come out at this time of day, too … 
  5. Your Goodness is Your Protection
     … That’s a huge misunderstanding that comes from the passage in the Karaniya Metta Sutta about developing an unlimited mind of unlimited goodwill for the world in the same way you a mother would protect her only child. This doesn’t mean that you try to protect the entire world as a mother would protect her child. There’s no way you can do … 
  6. Volunteer Spirit
     … I’ve told you the story about the person who once complained about the first line in the Metta Sutta, “This is what should be done by those who want to aim at a state of peace.” He said, “Wait a minute. What’s this ‘should’ in here? I thought Buddhism didn’t have any shoulds.” The “should” there is conditional. If you want … 
  7. A Promise to Yourself
     … There’s that passage in the beginning of the Karaniya Metta Sutta, “This is what should be done by those who appreciate the state of peace.” I once sat in on a class being taught by someone else on that sutta, taking it apart line by line. As he got to the first line, a hand shot up, “I thought there were no shoulds … 
  8. Goodwill as Right View
     … Sometimes we think of metta as kind of weak and namby-pamby. It’s not. It’s a power. This is the power that the Buddha depended on in order to gain awakening, to teach his teachings. After all, the four noble truths: What are they but an expression of goodwill? Taking everybody’s suffering as the big issue and showing how we can … 
  9. Duties
     … There’s that first line in Karaniya Metta Sutta, Karaniyam-attha-kusalena yantam santam padam abhisamecca: This is to be done by one skilled in aims, breaking through to the state of peace. No one is forcing you to aim at the state of peace. The Buddha never set himself up as a god. But, he says, if you look at the world the … 
  10. Page search result icon Tough Goodwill for a Tough World
     … Which is why that sutta we chant every now and then, the Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta, talks about how to live in a way that’s actually in harmony with universal goodwill. You’re easy to instruct. You don’t have lots of activities going around that involve taking advantage of other people. Your senses are under control. There’s a whole list at the … 
  11. Honesty
     … Ajaan Suwat, when he was here toward the last year or two of this time at Wat Metta: Up to that point we’d been doing the chanting in Pali with Thai translations. He turned to me one day and said, “It’s about time we started doing it in English around here.” So he had me do the English translations we chanted just … 
  12. Right View as Tool
    There’s a line toward the end of the Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta that describes the ideal meditator as “not attached to fixed views, but consummate in vision.” That’s how it’s often translated. It turns out, though, that the word “fixed” is not in the original. In other words, “not attached to views but consummate in vision”: That’s what the line actually … 
  13. A Friend to the World, A Friend to Yourself
    Metta, the word for goodwill, comes from mitta, which means friend. When you spread thoughts of goodwill, you’re spreading friendly thoughts. You’re trying to be a friend to yourself, a friend to the world. And it’s good to think about what that means—because it’s not just a quality of the thoughts. As the Buddha said, there are ways of … 
  14. Goodness & Goodwill
     … The word metta, goodwill, is described by the Buddha as a form of restraint, which is an interesting idea because it’s also an unlimited attitude. So what’s the restraint on something unlimited? Well, the unlimited part is that you have goodwill for all beings without exception. The limitation of the restraint is on your actions. In other words, simply thinking thoughts of … 
  15. The Thoroughbred Horse
     … Years back, I was sitting in on a class when someone was explaining the Karaniya Metta Sutta. He came to the first line, “This is what should be done by one who aims at a state of peace.” There was a hand. Someone said, “Wait a minute. I thought Buddhism didn’t have any shoulds.” The teacher spent the whole morning trying to explain … 
  16. The Resolve to Let Go
     … It would seem to be redundant with the resolve for non-ill will, but the texts say that non-ill will correlates to metta or goodwill, and harmlessness correlates to compassion. In other words, when you see that somebody is suffering, you don’t want to go and add a little bit more on. You’d prefer to see the end of suffering. This … 
  17. Why It’s Good to Know Why
     … Remember that line toward the end of the Karaniya Metta Sutta: “to be determined on this mindfulness.” After all, goodwill is not necessarily the natural state of the mind. Goodwill is easy in some cases and not easy in others. Ill will can be just as easy in some cases and not in others. Your mind can go either way. So you have to … 
  18. Passion for Dispassion
     … You don’t have to look anywhere else, just look at the kitchen in Wat Metta. Everybody’s commenting on everybody else—and everybody’s causing themselves to suffer. So we have to look at the things that we’re clinging to, and to see that they’re not worth it. Our passion for these things is what makes us suffer. Now, the Buddha … 
  19. Hedgehog Knowledge
     … Sometimes, you find you need to work with the 32 parts of the body, or you need metta meditation, or contemplation of death for specific problems that come up in the mind. But the home base here is the breath. After all, it’s where the Buddha found awakening. The breath is something that’s always there and always immediately relevant to whatever is … 
  20. No One Size Fits All
     … Ajaan Mun, they say, would do some metta meditation every morning right after he woke up, every afternoon right after he woke up from his afternoon nap, and then every evening before he went to bed. You can do this by reciting different phrases of goodwill or just stopping to think: What does it mean to have goodwill? What kind of happiness are you … 
  21. The Brahmaviharas on the Path
     … In the Metta Sutta in the Sutta Nipata , where the Buddha talks about how to express a thought of goodwill, he doesn’t simply say, “May all beings be happy.” That’s part of what he has to say, but not all. He goes through all the various categories of beings: long, middling and short; seen, unseen; big and small. But he also says … 
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