Lovingkindness is not simply about being gentle, pleasant, or nice. Through personal stories and reflections on the Buddha’s teachings, this talk explores the fierce, protective power of mettā—a love that stands up to harm, stays present through difficulty, and becomes a courageous commitment to ourselves and the world.

Teachings and Guided Practice on practicing loving-kindness for oneself.

This guided session teaches the basics of self-compassion: mindfulness for judgmental thoughts, kindness towards self, and recognition of shared humanity. The guided meditation focuses on sending kindness to self.

In a Sunday Dhamma talk at Parayana Vihara, Ayya Anandabodhi talks about the power of metta (loving-kindness) to transform difficulties and heal relationships.

In the insight teachings, the Buddha offers radical ways of reducing suffering by relaxing the perceptions that give rise to and sustain it. Bringing these perspectives together with mettā practice offers a powerful complementarity, allowing both insight and loving-kindness to deepen and support one another.

Mettā practice involves and supports our whole being, including the full range of what may be alive in our hearts. In this talk, we explore ways of relating skilfully and wholeheartedly to our emotional life, developing greater sensitivity, understanding, and capacity to work with the movements of the heart. Like the retreat as a whole, this talk draws on suggestions offered by Rob Burbea in his 2011 retreat, “The Lovingkindness Retreat”.

Intro to Brahmaviharas and guided metta for self

Radiating loving kindness - the ocean behind the heart

In the talk Gullu introduces a simple accesible loving kindness practice to cultivate an attidude of friendliness, benevolence and good will for a beloved being, self and all beings.