Guided Mettā | Ajahn Brahm

Ajahn Brahm guided us gently into a meditation on loving-kindness (mettā). Ajahn starts the feeling of loving-kindness with an easy subject like a little kitten and gradually extends it to more and more beings. And he ends the meditation with a short blessing chant. This guided meditation is part of an online retreat with the famous teacher Ajahn Brahm organized by the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project.

Transcript

Okay,

So if you can close your eyes,

And with my loving-kindness meditation,

The way I developed it,

I did realize that when you light a fire,

You have to start with something which is easy to light,

Like a piece of paper,

And then after you have the piece of paper,

Then you can put on some kindling,

Some thin sticks,

And the thin sticks are bigger sticks,

And the bigger sticks are even larger logs,

And the larger logs,

Then you can put on even the wet logs,

Ones which are really damp,

And the fire is so hot by that time,

It can evaporate all the moisture,

And even the difficult logs to burn can take the fire,

And that's just like the beings which spread loving-kindness towards.

At first,

You put something simple to develop the emotion,

The feeling,

The thing which we know as loving-kindness,

And once that's developed,

Then we can put on more difficult things,

And then more difficult things,

And then the really difficult things in the end,

And sometimes it's amazing that people sometimes think I can't love that person.

Oh,

It has caused me so much misery and trouble.

You find you can.

You start with easy things,

And you work your way up.

So anyway,

So sitting down,

If you can't be kind enough to your body,

To sit in a comfortable position,

Then where are you starting loving-kindness from?

This is not an intellectual exercise,

This is the practice.

Be kind to your body.

So how does it feel right now?

If you need to move the body,

To adjust it,

To scratch it,

Adjust the clothing,

Fidget,

Please do so.

The fidget,

The scratch is loving-kindness.

You're being gentle and compassionate to your own body.

So I'm going to be fidgeting a little bit to get my body as comfortable as it can be,

Just out of loving-kindness to my own 70-year-old body.

Making sure my legs are comfortable,

My butt is comfortable,

My back is comfortable.

Actually it's not,

So I can move it.

Making sure that my arms are comfortable,

Just simple kindness.

If you've had a child you've looked after,

You tuck it into bed at night,

Maybe read it a story,

Stroke its hair,

Wish it goodnight,

It feels safe,

It feels comfortable,

It feels loved.

Very easy to make it relax and fall asleep.

If you look at that little kid in bed and say,

Fall asleep or else!

Of course the kid's never going to fall asleep.

Might pretend to never fall asleep when there's no safety,

Love or fear.

So give safety and love to your body.

You care for it.

Take your attention away from your body and do a visualisation exercise.

Imagination if you like,

But a visualisation,

Instead of visualising you're like a Buddha under the Bodhi tree like we did a couple of days ago.

Now you visualise that you're walking down a part of the town in which you live,

Or you're visiting somebody in another place,

You're walking outside,

And you hear the sound of some animal in distress.

Now usually imagine a little kitten.

I don't know,

I like kittens.

Imagine a puppy dog or a little baby.

Imagine if you don't like animals or human beings,

You can imagine like a bird.

You can imagine even like one lady did a pot plant on her balcony in a small apartment in Sydney.

Something which you feel a connection towards,

Something which you care about.

I used a little kitten.

Abandoned.

Don't know where the mother went.

The poor little kitten is alone.

You can hear it.

You don't need to read its mind to know that those sounds are sounds of fear,

But also sounds of desperation and even hope,

A tiny bit of hope there.

It sees someone walking by,

And maybe,

Just maybe,

That being may be able to give it some love and care.

I see that little kitten.

I see its eyes.

I can see it first.

It's hiding in some dark corner or recess.

I maintain eye contact.

With a lot of kindness,

Dear little kitten,

The door of my heart is open to you.

I will never ever harm you or hurt you.

It is my privilege if I can be of service and help you.

Giving is not a sacrifice.

Giving is bringing joy to my practice.

Please give me the opportunity to serve you,

Little kitten.

These aren't just words.

I mean them and I feel them.

And imagining I'm really looking at an abandoned kitten.

It's as if I can see those eyes in that kitten,

Soften,

And its head emerge slowly out of the darkness in this little place where it hides away for safety.

As it comes out,

I continue looking at its eyes.

Giving as much loving kindness and care and compassion I can possibly muster.

It's a tiny kitten.

As it comes out,

I know that sometimes some animals,

Cats especially,

They really look after their hygiene.

Their fur is always clean,

Well washed,

Licked.

It hasn't got a mother.

This little kitten's fur is all tangled.

As it comes further out,

It's as if I can see clots of blood on its fur.

That poor kitten,

Like many people,

Trust.

I don't know who to trust.

Sometimes they trust the wrong people,

The wrong animals.

They get bitten and chased away.

Imagine how difficult it is when you haven't got a bigger animal,

Like a mother or a father,

To look after you.

To teach you how to survive and how to be safe and how to get food and how to have love.

That little kitten is so afraid.

It knows it has to trust someone.

Otherwise it will die a lonely,

Cold death.

So still keeping eye contact and spreading as much loving kindness as I can generate from my heart into that little imaginary being.

I extend my arm out,

My hand.

And of course that little kitten doesn't know why I'm extending a hand out.

Maybe it's to hurt that little kitten.

I do it very slowly until that kitten allows me to touch her.

It doesn't hurt.

It's a hand of kindness.

It allows me to put my hand underneath its belly.

I feel all the cut marks,

The scabs of blood.

That little kitten has been abused,

Beaten so many times.

I very gently lift it up,

Still giving it this beautiful golden rays of loving kindness coming out from my own heart as much as I can.

And I lift it up so softly and gently.

All I can feel is the bones protruding through its skin and fur.

I don't know when that little kitten has ever eaten.

You can feel just what a terrible first few days of life it's had.

That it survived is a miracle.

That it trusts is amazing.

It allows me to pick it up so softly and bring it to my own chest.

And warm this little damaged,

Lonely,

Abandoned kitten with my own warmth.

I hold it so softly because it could jump out at any time.

You feel the tension in this body.

Is this a being who would really look after it?

Or is this just another trick which will hurt it so much?

When I'm holding it to the chest,

The reason I place that little kitten there,

It's not just for the physical warmth.

It's just right over my own physical heart.

This is,

For me anyway,

This is my loving kindness,

Seems to have its source in my chest.

And I don't just warm it with my own physical warmth.

I imagine these rays of golden light coming out of my heart,

Through my skin of my chest,

And into this imaginary being.

Warming it with kindness.

Spreading love into it.

Metta,

Little kitten,

The door of my heart is always open to you.

Let me look after you,

Clean you,

Give you a safe place where you can rest,

Give you food,

Whatever food you need to eat.

I care for you.

When you give those feelings of loving kindness towards any being,

It's very easy with an imaginary being.

You've done this many times in real life.

You can feel the skin and the muscles of that little kitten.

Relax.

Make it all loose.

And you can notice the little kitten even closes its eyes.

It can rest.

I don't know if it's resting,

But I always imagine I hear it purring,

Maybe for the first time in its life.

Because it has someone who will look after it,

Protect it.

The pain in its body,

This hunger,

Is not as important as knowing it's loved and cared for,

And the future is safe.

Hold that kitten so softly.

And you just bathe it in loving kindness.

And as I'm bathing it in loving kindness,

I can feel the skin above my heart,

In my chest,

Start to tingle.

Those rays of loving kindness seem to be getting stronger.

I spread this golden light,

This warmth,

This feeling,

This expression of kindness and love all over this cat's body,

Down to the end of its tail,

To its little paws,

Right to its body,

Up to its head,

To its ears,

And its whiskers,

And its little nose.

I spread it everywhere there.

This little kitten falls asleep.

Maybe the first time it's rested,

It knows it's safe.

When I give out these feelings of loving kindness,

They get stronger.

And I feel more joy.

Now,

It's like you flip your vision of a little kitten to someone you know,

Maybe your best friend,

Maybe your lover,

Your child.

If you're alone,

It may be just a dinner,

An animal you're so,

So close to.

Imagine them right in front of you.

As if they suddenly manifested and come to visit you.

When you look at them,

They are just the same as a little animal,

A little kitten.

Even your best friend,

Your lover,

Your closest associate,

Even they get hurt so many times by life.

Life can be so cruel,

Disappointing,

Especially when you're by yourself.

Now you have this being in front of you,

The real being this time,

Not with you physically.

You can almost see them.

Now you give your loving kindness to them.

My dear brother,

Sister,

Friend,

Parents,

I care for you too.

Imagine these rays of loving kindness going into them.

Right inside of them,

Up to their heads and their ears,

Their nose and their hair,

Down their arms,

Their fingertips,

Down their body,

To their toes.

Every part of them you bathe with loving kindness.

They need it.

Everybody always benefits from receiving metta.

You're not asking anything back in return,

You're just giving,

Giving beautiful loving kindness.

The more you give,

The more powerful these rays are.

Beautiful insight here,

The more you give,

The more you have to give.

You're building up the power of selfless loving kindness.

Beautiful golden light,

Up and down,

In and out of your best friend.

And now,

Move that image away.

Now you imagine all the people listening to this right now,

All the people who joined in this retreat with you,

Who have all gone through the same inspirations and desperations that you have been through.

Aches,

Pains,

Sicknesses,

Disappointments.

You can see how we share,

How much we share with the little abandoned kitten.

So often you feel that you're abandoned too,

Lonely,

Don't know how to cope,

Hurting.

Many people you trusted hurt you,

But you have so much in common with that little kitten.

Each one of you,

Now get those beautiful feelings of loving kindness,

And spread them to everybody who's on this retreat.

How does this work?

Does it go through the internet,

Over Zoom?

No way.

Many things in this world,

Especially spiritual things,

Distance has no meaning.

Sometimes time doesn't have meaning.

Just by thinking about all the people you've seen,

Maybe watched the gallery view of the people on this retreat,

People actually you know,

Give as much loving kindness to them as you possibly can.

This golden ray spreading to everybody on this retreat.

And you're also receiving it as well,

How do you feel?

All these people,

Your friends,

Associates,

Maybe people you've never met before,

They're listening to the same words,

Hopefully feeling the same golden energy,

Transcending the distances,

And the space,

The planet Earth.

Allow the golden light of other people to come into your heart.

As it comes in,

It stays there,

Grows,

And goes out to the other people on this retreat.

Warming,

Healing,

Knowing you're loved,

You're cared for by people who don't want anything back in return.

It's a privilege to give,

To care and to serve you.

How does that feel?

Now extend it further.

Once it's strong enough,

Don't go too fast.

Once it's strong enough,

Send it to your other relatives and friends,

Wherever they are in this world,

Your associates,

People you've met who are not here on this retreat,

May all these beings,

All the pain and difficulties and disappointment of life,

All the pains of sickness,

Emotional pains,

Even depression,

Or even people dying in pain,

Give them huge amounts of your loving kindness,

Specific people you love,

May all these beings receive our beautiful golden light of loving kindness,

Not yours anymore.

Mine goes into you,

Yours goes into mine,

We join it all together,

This golden light spreading,

Spreading wider and wider.

Here in Perth it's spreading over the monastery right now,

Bodhinyana Monastery in Chanakya.

Here it's Rayachanda spreading over Gloucestershire.

All the people you've met there,

Those in Germany,

United States,

Imagine it spreading around you.

The more it grows,

The stronger it gets.

All these people you've known and met,

May you all receive this beautiful,

Healing,

Welcoming,

Safe loving kindness.

You care for one another,

Not just the human beings,

Even animals as well.

Insects,

The insects which crawl in the ground,

Kangaroos out here in Bodhinyana Monastery right now,

Little joeys,

The birds in the sky,

Even little flies,

It's the fly season here in Perth.

Hundreds of little flies buzzing around all over the place.

May all of you be happy and well,

Free from fear,

Free from pain,

Doing what you have to do in life,

And spread that loving kindness so far,

So strong,

It covers the whole planet Earth.

Just like you would love to feel an intense loving kindness.

Many beings in our world,

Even the leaders,

People who work in governments and military,

They make some terrible decisions sometimes,

The best way to help and heal them,

Is to give them this kindness.

May all the beings in this world receive my love,

My kindness,

It may be people you married before,

Or just ended disastrously,

It may be people who hurt you,

People who made decisions which really caused you so much more difficulties.

May all beings in this world,

You need it,

Be happy and well.

May you feel this peace,

This joy,

This freedom,

So you don't need anything,

You don't need to exploit others,

You realise the greatest happiness comes through sharing,

Giving,

Not through taking and hurting.

May all beings in this world be at peace.

Can you feel that?

How does it feel?

With one being you've missed out,

Imagine it now,

You're looking in a full length body mirror,

At yourself,

This being who bears your name,

This being who is vulnerable,

Who makes mistakes,

Look at yourself,

And say me,

With all my faults and defects,

I'm trying the best I can,

I do really care for others,

Now I care for myself.

May I receive this love and kindness.

I feel that golden energy going into my body,

Up to my head,

To my toes,

To my fingertips,

All over.

Bathe and drench yourself in the golden energy of love and kindness.

You deserve it.

You deserve to be healthy.

You deserve to be at peace.

You deserve to feel joy.

You deserve to feel the respect which other people give you.

You feel that.

May it grow inside of you.

Imagine all this beautiful golden light,

Which you have shared over the whole world,

Imagine drawing it back inside yourself,

Leaving a warmth out there,

Allowing the light to recede inside of you,

Like a seed to be used in another time.

Imagine your heart,

Like a white lotus,

Fully open,

This beautiful golden light,

Coming in and in and in,

Just like a golden ball,

Intense,

But soft,

Just hovering over this open white lotus,

Which represents your heart,

Inside of you,

These very soft,

Gentle leaves,

Closing in,

Guarding,

Enveloping,

Guarding,

This seed of love and kindness,

To use in another time,

Another place.

At this point,

I always do this,

Let's give a little chant for you all,

A blessing chant for me,

For the happiness and well-being of you all.

Na ti me saranam anyam Udo me saranam urang E te na sa chok wa je na su ti te ho tu sab da Na ti me saranam anyam Udo me saranam urang E te na sa chok wa je na su ti te ho tu sab da Na ti me saranam anyam Sangho me saranam urang E te na sa chok wa je na su ti te ho tu sab da

Reviews

Such a beautiful way to do the Metta Bhavana. Much love, thank you 🙏

A beautiful meditation. Thank you.

A beautiful meditation by an amazing teacher. Thank you 🙏

Love 💕

ThankyouandBless

Love and kindness make the world go round! Wonderful meditation. Thank you. ☮️☮️🙏🖖