Metta: Loving Kindness

Metta: Loving kindness. Meditation Technique: Satipatthana Vipassana (Mahasi Sayadaw Style) and other techniques taught by the Buddha.

Transcript

Yeah, Okay, Today we try to do a bit of Metta meditation. Metta means loving-kindness. We try to feel, Try to develop loving-kindness in the heart. That is also a very important part on the way to enlightenment. But first we start again with a bit of concentration training. So, Find a comfortable posture. Try to have a straight back, Straight neck. You can pull up the shoulders one or two times and let them fall down. Then you usually come in a natural straight posture. And then gently close your eyes. And try to see yourself in this sitting posture. From your head, Know your head, Your neck, Both shoulders, Both arms, Hands. Know you hold right hand on top of your left hand, On your left. You know your straight back and your crossed legs. Know you sit there like a Buddha statue. And know yourself in that posture from within yourself. Relax the body, Relax the mind. Make clear that you try to develop mindfulness, Concentration now. You try to let go of all worries, Of all problems, Of all thoughts. Whenever thoughts arise, We do just see them as an object of our meditation. We make mental note. When thoughts arise, We note thinking, Thinking. And let them go. They are all not important now. However wise, However good these thoughts may be, We do not cling to them. We do not hold on to them. We know them and let them go. And our main attention is on the abdomen, About two fingers above your navel. Concentrate on that point and see how the abdomen is rising and falling when you're breathing. When you breathe in, You see the abdomen is rising. When you breathe out, You see the abdomen is falling. Be with the movement of the abdomen and make a mental note. When you see the abdomen starts to rise, Then you make your note. Rising, When you see it's falling, Then note. Falling, Rising, Falling. Follow the movement with your note. You don't use the note as an order. You don't say rising and then the abdomen is rising. You don't say falling and then the abdomen is falling. That would not be correct. Try to see the movement, See when the rising starts, And then make your note. Rising, When the falling starts, Note. Falling. If thoughts come, Just note them as sinking, Sinking two or three times and let them go. Don't cling to them. Don't worry about them. Don't get upset with yourself because you're sinking. Just know they're sinking. Let go and bring the attention back to the abdomen. Always check again where's the mind now. Are you sinking? If you sink, Note it, Let it go and come back to the main object. Do that again and again. With patience and endurance. And slowly thoughts will reduce. With patience and endurance. And slowly thoughts will reduce. Know if the breath is deep. Know if it is shallow. Know if the breath is long or short. Just know. Try to be relaxed by body and mind. If you feel tension, Note it and relax. Relax. Today we want to practice metta. Metta meditation is very important. If you have no loving kindness, We won't make much progress on our way. It's one important thing we have to develop. Usually you do your metta meditation after you practice concentration already. You share your merit. You give loving kindness to others. But today we really try to develop that loving kindness. We try to really feel that loving kindness. You can say you give loving kindness, But if you do not have it, Then what do you want to give? First you really have to develop it. And first you really have to develop it with yourself. You have to be kind to yourself. So we start now by repeating the sentence of giving metta to ourselves. Think in your mind, May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. Use these three sentences and repeat them in your mind over and over again. You repeat these sentences, But you also think of the meaning of it and really wish for yourself. May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. Repeat these sentences again and again and really wish that for yourself. For some people it's difficult to wish these things for oneself, Because they think they are not worthy yet. But this is not correct, It's not true. You have to have this kindness towards yourself, Otherwise if you do not develop it for yourself, Then you won't be able to give it to others. So really sincerely wish this for yourself. May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. Try to have a smile for yourself. Try to have a smile for yourself, A smile in your heart and a smile on your face. Really wish for yourself. May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. Metta is energy. It's a very positive, Soft and warm feeling. If you really develop it, Then it's very powerful. You can feel it for yourself and once you are able to feel it for yourself, You can know what others can experience when you give them metta, When you send that warm energy of metta to them. These are not just words, It's the real energy that we develop. May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. Think that with every breath you breathe in this warm feeling of metta, Of loving kindness. Your body and mind fills up with that metta. Then we start to share this energy and we continue by thinking, May I and all beings in that hall be happy. May I and all beings in this hall be peaceful. May I and all beings in this hall be free from suffering. Repeat these three sentences. You can feel how the energy of metta is now streaming from yourself up to all the beings that are close to you here in that hall. May I and all beings in that hall be happy. May I and all beings in this hall be peaceful. May I and all beings in this hall be free from suffering. Feel how your mind gets wider now. The metta energy streams to all beings in this hall. May I and all beings in this hall be peaceful. If we share our energy of metta like that, It doesn't reduce, It just gets more. It's getting wider and stronger. May I and all beings in this hall be happy. May I and all beings in this hall be peaceful. May I and all beings in this hall be free from suffering. Sincerely wish that and spread out that energy of metta. Be relaxed by body and mind. What we do now is not hard work, It's really something very nice. It's a pleasant feeling, Developing this metta and giving it to others. If there is tension, Breathe in deep, Relax. If you have tension, Then it's not easy to give that feeling of metta. So relax, Sit comfortable and try to keep a comfortable mind. Then we continue to spread it more far and we sink in the mind. May I and all beings in this temple be happy. May I and all beings in this temple be peaceful. May I and all beings in this temple be free from suffering. Now our spreading of the metta energy is going further, It's going far out, Reaches out to the whole area of this temple. We include all beings on this temple grounds. If it's monks or nuns, Lay people, Animals, Beings we cannot see like devas, We spread to all beings. We really sincerely wish, May I and all beings in this temple be happy. May I and all beings in this temple be peaceful. May I and all beings in this temple be free from suffering. Don't forget yourself. Then when you say may I, Then also really think that you want to be happy and then include all and all beings in this temple be happy. May I and all beings in this temple be peaceful. May I and all beings in this temple be free from suffering. Your mind is including all, It's getting wider. Continue and think, May I and all beings in this village be happy. May I and all beings in this village be peaceful. May I and all beings in this village be free from suffering. You include the whole area of this village now. So the circle of matter is growing wider and wider. May I and all beings in this village be happy. May I and all beings in this village be peaceful. May I and all beings in this village be free from suffering. The matter is not just streaming out in front of you but all around you. It's like a circle around you that is growing wider and wider. The circle is full of kindness, Peace and it is free from suffering. The center of this energy is within your heart. May I and all beings in this village be happy. May I and all beings in this village be peaceful. May I and all beings in this village be free from suffering. Then we continue and think, May I and all beings in this sub-district be happy. May I and all beings in this sub-district be peaceful. May I and all beings in this sub-district be free from suffering. The area of this matter is growing even further now. Then continue with the thought, May I and all beings in this district be happy. May I and all beings in this district be peaceful. May I and all beings in this district be free from suffering. Your energy is growing, The cycle of the matter energy is growing further and further. It covers the whole district. You don't know the names of the people, You don't know their faces, But that doesn't matter. You cover the whole area with the energy of matter, Of loving-kindness. And you include all beings which are living in this area, If you know them or not. You wish them all happiness, Peace and freedom from suffering. Then continue and think, May I and all beings in this province be happy. May I and all beings in this province be peaceful. May I and all beings in this province be free from suffering. You feel the matter inside yourself, In your heart and body. And you feel how it's streaming out, Covering the area of the whole province, Including all beings. The matter feeling is soft and gentle, It's warm. There's no tension, It's relaxed, The body and mind. Then we go even further and think, May I and all beings in this part of the country be happy. May I and all beings in this part of the country be peaceful. May I and all beings in this part of the country be free from suffering. Feel how the circle of your matter is growing, It covers the whole part of this country. What you give, What you spread there is happiness, Peace and freedom from suffering. That is what all sentient beings wish. They all want to be happy, They all want to be peaceful and they all want to be free from suffering. Then you think, May I and all beings in this country be happy. May I and all beings in this country be peaceful. May I and all beings in this country be free from suffering. You include all sentient beings in this country in your loving kindness. Feel how the energy of matter is spraying up through the whole country. Then you think, May I and all beings in this continent be happy. May I and all beings in this continent be peaceful. May I and all beings on this continent be free from suffering. The matter is getting really wide now, It spreads out to the whole continent. You sincerely wish that all beings in this continent may be happy. That you and all beings in this continent may be peaceful. That you and all beings on this continent may be free from suffering. Then you continue and think, May I and all beings in this world be happy. May I and all beings in this world be peaceful. May I and all beings in this world be free from suffering. Your matter is spreading out to the whole world now. You include all sentient beings that are in this world. You spread out your matter in all dimensions. You spread out your matter in all directions. Include all beings in this world. You go even further and think, May I and all beings in this solar system be happy. May I and all beings in this solar system be peaceful. May I and all beings in this solar system be free from suffering. Then you continue and think, May I and all beings in this universe be happy. May I and all beings in the universe be peaceful. May I and all beings in the universe be free from suffering. Now your loving kindness becomes borderless. It spreads out in all directions, In front of you, In the back, Right side, Left side, Above, Underneath, To all directions, Without any border. You include all sentient beings. Your mind becomes really wide and includes all beings. Wherever they may be, If you know them or not, If they are seen or unseen, Big or small, Include all sentient beings. Try to stay with that feeling that you have now in your mind. The feeling of kindness and of wideness, The mind is really wide, Including all sentient beings. The feeling of borderless wideness and still it is all within you, Within your heart. Then think, May all beings in this solar system be happy. May I and all beings in this solar system be peaceful. May I and all beings in this solar system be free from suffering. Then continue thinking, May I and all beings in this world be happy. May I and all beings in this world be peaceful. May I and all beings in this world be free from suffering. Then continue thinking, May I and all beings in this part of the world be happy. May I and all beings in this part of the world be peaceful. May I and all beings in this part of the world be free from suffering. Continue, May I and all beings in this continent be happy. May I and all beings in this continent be peaceful. May I and all beings in this continent be free from suffering. Then continue, Think, May I and all beings in this country be happy. May I and all beings in this country be peaceful. May I and all beings in this country be free from suffering. Continue, May I and all beings in this part of the country be happy. May I and all beings in this part of the country be peaceful. May I and all beings in this part of the country be free from suffering. See how the circles of matter come again closer to yourself. Continue, May I and all beings in this province be happy. May I and all beings in this province be peaceful. May I and all beings in this province be free from suffering. Continue, May I and all beings in this district be happy. May I and all beings in this district be peaceful. May I and all beings in this district be free from suffering. Then continue, May I and all beings in this sub-district be happy. May I and all beings in this sub-district be peaceful. May I and all beings in this sub-district be free from suffering. Then think, May I and all beings in this village be happy. May I and all beings in this village be peaceful. May I and all beings in this village be free from suffering. Then continue, May I and all beings in this temple be happy. May I and all beings in this temple be peaceful. May I and all beings in this temple be free from suffering. Then come back to this hall and think, May I and all beings in this hall be happy. May I and all beings in this hall be peaceful. May I and all beings in this hall be free from suffering. Think for yourself, May I be happy, May I be peaceful, May I be free from suffering. Really wish that, Feel that. Stay within yourself now and watch that feeling. See with that feeling of loving kindness for yourself. Feel how your body and mind is filled up with loving kindness, With a soft and gentle energy. Just stay relaxed with that feeling. You know you breathe in and breathe out. When you breathe in, You breathe in happiness. When you breathe out, You breathe out happiness. You're happy when breathing in and you're happy when breathing out. This happiness you breathe in is energy, It's like light. It removes all the darkness within your body and mind, All the pain, All the problems and worries, All the defilements and dark sides, They have no more space within us, Because body and mind is filled up with metta. Then know yourself again. You know you're sitting meditation. You know in which posture you sit, What clothes you wear, What color your clothes are. You know you have developed metta, Loving kindness. Look in your mind and know how it feels like, What kind of feeling you have there. Keep that in your memory. Then slowly move your right hand to the right knee, Place it on the right knee. Your mindfulness follows the movement. Place the left hand on your left knee. Lift both hands, Fold them in front of your heart. And you give that metta that you have developed now in your heart, Especially individual to beings, First always to those beings that are important in your life, Like teachers or parents, Those beings that did a lot of good, Helped you on your path. Those you love, Your friends, Family. And to those that you have a neutral relationship. You know them, But there's no special relationship you have towards them. And then to those beings that you don't like, Or who do not like you, Beings that make problems for you. We also wish it for them. And in the end we share it again to all beings. Wish one more time, May all beings be happy, May all beings be peaceful, And may all beings be free from suffering. Then make wishes for yourself, Determinations you have, Things you want to reach in your life, Progress in meditation, Whatever you want to reach, Do that now. Make wishes with that powerful energy you have in your mind now. And when you finish, Come out of concentration.

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Thank you🙏 This Meta was not what I expected .
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I am incorporating it into my daily routine, like a beautiful Mantra, until I practice it into my daily living. Thank you

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It is good that I listened to this meditation, good has come from the listening.

A beautifully guided universal metta meditation.
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I have added to my review from last year, that this has become a wonderful daily practice for me.