Metta meditation is also known as loving-kindness meditation. The practice aims to foster a mental state of kindness, love, and compassion.The practice of lovingkindness has its roots in the earliest Buddhist teachings. In the Pali Canon—the oldest surviving collection of the Buddha’s discourses—we find the Karaniya Metta Sutta, the Buddha’s discourse on lovingkindness. In it, the Buddha describes the quality of metta as a mother’s love for her only child: boundless, all-encompassing, radiating in every direction without limit.
Metta is a concentration and mindfulness practice that invites the practitioner into a more loving, connected state of mind. This loving-kindness practice can be practiced anywhere, anytime, be it on a meditation cushion, walking on a secluded path among the trees, or quietly sitting at your residence.
The word metta comes from the Pali word for friendliness or benevolence. It is not romantic love or sentimental attachment. Metta is a steady, unconditional wish for the happiness and well-being of all beings—including ourselves. It is one of the four brahmaviharas, or “divine abodes,” alongside compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha).
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