We start with a short period of metta or some other heart practice, noticing how mindfulness brings us back to the practice when we are distracted. Then there is a longer period of mindfulness, hopefully infused some with metta, in the spirit of Sylvia Boorstein's wonderful invitation: “May I meet this moment fully. May I meet this moment as a friend.” We then have a second sequence of relatively brief metta practice followed by a longer period of mindfulness practice. The last part of the session is a guided practice of radiating metta, moving toward an integration of metta and a boundless awareness. b. Let it infuse mindfulness: Sylvia’s phrase. See how this is. c. Check periodically. Maybe do 2-3 minutes of metta. d. Radiating metta exploring a loving awareness.

From an online retreat at Wat Marp Jan | Day-3 Afternoon All questions précised 34:28 Q1 Regarding metta, do we keep repeating and radiating out the metta until we achieve concentration? 36:29 Q2 When your mind is not pure, how effective is that loving kindness to others? How pure do we have to be to spread metta? 38:48 Q3 When I meet difficult persons, it seems very difficult to generate loving kindness Online questions read out: 43:03 Q4 How can I know if I have really forgiven myself? 44:34 Q5 Can you please elaborate on using gestures to forgive ourselves 46:28 Q6 In metta practice, may we include teachers who have passed away, as well as beings in nibanna? 47:40 Q7 Is it OK to meditate using metta for a little while and then anapanasati for 40-45 minutes and finish with Buddha anussati? 48:08 Q8 I am a busy wife and mother and I feel angry with myself when I cannot find the time to cultivate. How can I find the balance?

Receptive, guided meditation with loving kindness

Every moment of mindfulness we are weakening the forces of greed, hatred & delusion (roots of suffering) and strengthening the forces of non-greed (letting go & generosity), non-hatred (loving-kindness) and non-delusion (wisdom). This talk explains how that works.

Kevin Griffin explores the Metta Sutta, the Buddha's words on Loving-Kindness. How can we actually live this teaching in an embodied way? Kevin's new book is Living Kindness: Metta Practice for the Whole of Our Lives. From Publisher’s Weekly: “The lucid analysis of Buddhist texts and the jargon-free examination of metta make this an ideal primer on a core element of Buddhist thought and practice."

The ‘liberation of the heart by loving kindness’ is a temporary liberation from greed and hatred

In this second talk on Metta (lovingkindness) practice, we first review the foundational nature of the practice and its connection with the cultivation of wisdom and bring our practice into our lives and action in the world, with a reading of a poem from one of the early Buddhist nuns. We examine in some depth some of the challenges to Metta practice, what makes it challenging to manifest kindness and love, and point to some of the way to practice Metta in daily life.

We start with a short overview of practicing metta practice with phrases, followed by about 8-9 minutes of settling with mindfulness practice. Then we practice metta with phrases with beings with whom the metta flows most easily. This is followed by a period of guided practice of radiating metta.

The aim of our practice is to develop wisdom, love, and skillful action in our lives. We commonly cultivate these capacities separately and then integrate them. In this session, we first explore the nature of Metta, its etymology in words suggesting "friendliness" and "friendship," and the ancient vocation, found in multiple spiritual traditions of cultivating Metta or love or kindness. We then look at the multiple ways of developing Metta, both in formal practice and in daily life, and examine briefly some of the challenges in cultivating Metta. Then we have a guided meditation the last 15 minutes exploring "Radiating Metta," a way of practicing likely closer to how the Buddha taught Metta. We follow this with discussion.

We start with a short introduction to Metta (Lovingkindness) Practice, working with phrases that tend to evoke Metta, kindness, good will, etc. Then there's a 10-minute period of settling (with mindfulness practice), followed by about 20 minutes of Metta Practice, with beings with whom Metta flows well.