Metta Meditation by Trishna Patnaik

The origin of Metta meditation 

Metta meditation was taught by the Buddha 2600 years ago and is still practised in many traditional Buddhist communities to this day, just as he taught it. Many communities recite parts of a famous discourse about cultivating loving kindness in which the Buddha says, “Wishing: In gladness and in safety, may all beings be at ease. Whatever living beings there may be; whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, the great or the mighty, medium, short or small, the seen and the unseen, those living near and far away, those born and to-be-born—May all beings be at ease.” 

This form of well-wishing has become quite popular in the west where it has been adapted to suit a variety of practices and faith traditions. One way to integrate it into a regular sitting meditation practice is to begin or end the practice with a period of Metta. 

The practice of Metta meditation is a beautiful support to other awareness practices. One recites specific words and phrases evoking a "boundless warm-hearted feeling." The strength of this feeling is not limited to or by family, religion or social class. We begin with our self and gradually extend the wish for well-being happiness to all beings. 

Metta is an active form of meditation where instead of focusing on the breath, we focus on sending benevolent thoughts and wishes out into the world and we imagine that the people—or animals—in our minds are touched by our goodwill. In some forms of this meditation, we go a step further and imagine that whoever the object of our Metta may be (and this includes ourselves) is relieved of their particular form of discomfort, unease or pain as they are touched by the power of our goodwill. 

Getting started with Metta meditation 

Sit with your back straight in your regular meditation posture. Take a moment to set aside your busy-ness and tune into being present, right here, right now. 

Connect with your breathing and spend a few minutes focusing on the movement of the breath. Notice the physical sensations that accompany this movement, especially at the level of your heart. 

When ready, imagine someone you care about, someone you’re grateful for and simply wish them well with these words (you can adapt the phrases as you see fit), either spoken out loud or in your mind: 

May you be safe 

May you be happy 

May you be healthy 

May your mind be at ease 

Some teachers recommend that you begin with yourself: 

May I be safe 

May I be happy 

May I be healthy 

May my mind be at ease 

Take the time to visualise the object of your meditation and feel the outpouring of goodwill. 

At this point you might choose to extend your goodwill a bit further, imagining someone you don’t particularly feel one way or the other about. Keeping that person in mind, send them your benevolence/ kindness/goodwill. 

The next step is to imagine someone you really don’t appreciate and do the same thing. It could be someone you know personally (the malevolent/malicious colleague), someone—or a group—you know through the media or even the yappy little dog next door that tends to bark for hours on end. 

Finally, extend your well-wishes to the world. 

Notice any feelings that arise during the practice but don’t invite or reject them. You might have very strong feelings if you imagine someone you care about who is in distress or someone you dislike intensely or a situation you have no personal contact with but which touches your heart. Let the feelings come and go naturally without clinging to or judging them or judging yourself for having them. Allow yourself to feel the warm-heartedness that accompanies Metta meditation. Relax into it. 

It’s as simple as that. 

Benefits of Metta meditation 

Science is confirming what meditators who fold Metta into their practice have known for centuries: it increases well-being. From enhanced feelings of empathy to improved relationships to better resilience to helping with PTSD and other trauma-based conditions, regular loving kindness meditation has been linked to a host of benefits, much like mindfulness and awareness practices. 

You'll discover; how to work with your mind and appreciate every moment, how meditation enriches your life and how to integrate meditation into your daily routine.

And hey, you may even develop compassion.

Letting Go 

The only way you can let go with grace and ease is when you begin to understand that the distraction, whatever it may be. You then don’t have to fight or fear it. In the moment of letting go – without any intended development of wisdom – you find wisdom. Ultimately, of course, the most powerful insight that comes from Metta practice is the sense of no separateness. That insight comes through opening one’s heart and from being inclusive rather than exclusive. 

During Metta meditation, people are amazed to find out that they have a capacity for loving kindness, both for themselves and for others. Due to our past conditioning, many of us do not trust our capacity to love. Metta involves a tremendous opening and purifying of our fields of intention. We discover that we can indeed love and that everything comes back to love. 

Visualising kindness 

When meditating, different visualisation techniques tend to be used in order to cultivate loving-kindness. 

The Loving Kindness Technique 

The most common visualisation is, naturally, called “loving kindness” — bringing to mind the image of different people: people we know, people we don’t; people we like, people we don’t.  

The intention is to extend kind thoughts to them. In doing so, unconditionally focusing on their happiness, we learn to let go of any unhappiness we’re feeling. 

The Sunlight Visualisation 

Another technique is the “sunlight visualisation” in which we imagine liquid sunlight streaming into the body. The benefit of this technique is that it makes us feel lighter and warmer and provides more spaciousness in the mind when meditating. 

The Skillful Compassion Visualisation 

Finally, there is the “skillful compassion visualisation” in which we place the happiness of others before our own. We breathe in the difficulties of others, then we breathe out all the good stuff that we’ve experienced. In this exchange — in radiating kindness outward — we begin to foster a feeling of happiness in our own mind. 

Meditation increases compassion 

At its most basic, Metta meditation is the simple practice of sending well-wishes toward yourself and other people. It asks you to first develop love and compassion for yourself—as you must love yourself in order to share that love with others—then to spread those benevolent/loving feelings toward those you love, those who have done you wrong and, eventually, all sentient beings and humanity. 

About the author

Trishna Patnaik, a BSc (in Life Sciences) and MBA (in Marketing) by qualification but an artist by choice. A self-taught artist based in Mumbai, Trishna has been practising art for over 14 years. After she had a professional stint in various reputed corporates, she realised that she wanted to do something more meaningful. She found her true calling in her passion that is painting. Trishna is now a full-time professional painter pursuing her passion to create and explore to the fullest. She says, "It’s a road less travelled but a journey that I look forward to everyday." Trishna also conducts painting workshops across Mumbai and other metropolitan cities of India. Trishna is an art therapist and healer. She works with clients on a one on one basis in Mumbai.

Trishna fancies the art of creative writing and is dappling her hands in that too, to soak in the experience and have an engagement with readers, wanderers and thinkers.