Welcome.
Today I'll be sharing some background information and the story behind metta meditation.
The original name of this practice is metta bhavana,
Which comes from the Pali language.
Metta means love,
Friendliness,
Or kindness,
Hence loving kindness for short.
It's an emotion,
Something you feel in your heart.
Bhavana means development or cultivation.
It's said that the Buddha first taught metta to a group of 500 monks who went into a particular and seemingly very pleasant forest for their three-month rainy season retreat.
This forest was adjacent to a village of strong supporters who offered to build 500 huts for the monks to stay in during this rainy retreat.
They were also very happy to keep the monks' alms-bombs filled during their practice period.
And so the monks moved in and began practicing insight vipassana meditation.
It's said that in this forest there were unseen beings,
Forest spirits who lived there,
And they became fearful of the monks and actually felt quite put out of their home when they saw the monks weren't just visiting the forest for a day or two.
And so these forest dwellings began to create frightening sounds and sights and emit some very distasteful odors,
Hoping that all of this would make the monks leave what they considered to be their forest.
And soon enough the monks became quite terrified,
Which broke their concentration and disrupted their meditation.
Some even developed fever and pain and dizziness in conjunction with the fear that they were experiencing.
And all of a sudden it felt impossible to continue practicing where they were.
So they went to the Buddha where he was staying and related their tale to which the Buddha responded,
My beloved monks,
Go back to exactly the same forest and practice your meditation there.
The monks responded to the Buddha's words by pleading that they not be sent back to that forest again,
Saying it was impossible to practice there.
The Buddha's response to this was,
Dear monks,
Because you went there to practice meditation without a weapon of protection,
You have encouraged many distractions and difficulties.
This time,
However,
I will give you a true weapon of protection.
It's said that at this point,
The Buddha offered them the metta teaching and practice.
Out of their great respect for the Buddha,
The monks didn't dare to contradict his wishes.
And so armed with that metta teaching and practice,
They went back to the forest.
Of course,
For a while they continued to experience feelings of fear and anxiety.
But at the same time,
They diligently and virtuously practiced metta.
Soon enough,
There were no more fearful sights or sounds.
The spirits anger and resentment disappeared when they began to feel the monks metta.
And in fact,
Feelings of respect,
Welcome,
And even reverence began to be their experience,
Along with the sense of being connected,
Like with family.
This brought an environment of safety to protect the monks from particular dangers that might be lurking in the forest,
So that they could practice meditation peacefully.
After recovering,
Strengthening and deepening their concentration and open-hearted presence through practicing metta,
It's said that all 500 monks began practicing vipassana meditation again with metta as their foundation.
And it's said that because they were able to practice meditation calmly and peacefully,
They all became fully enlightened beings during that retreat.
This is the story of metta bhavana.
This story comes from a 5th century Theravada Buddhist scholar,
Who received it from an unbroken line of elders going back to the days of Buddha himself.
This story is told by guiding teacher Marsha Rose in her Dharma talk,
Metta,
The Heart's Release.
