The Karaniya Metta Sutta

by Gabriel Da Silva

Yesterday, Jayne gave a step by step introduction to the Metta Bhavana meditation practice.

There is an account of this teaching in the Buddhist scriptures. Here is Ratnaprabha's wonderful translation from the pali.

The path of unlimited friendliness

If you know what is truly good for you and you understand the possibility of reaching a state of perfect peace, then this is how you need to live.

Start as a capable person, who is upright - really upright - gently spoken, flexible, and not conceited. Then become contented and happy, with few worries and an uncomplicated life. Make sure your sense experience is calm and controlled, be duly respectful, and don't hanker after families and groups. And avoid doing anything unworthy, that wiser people would criticise.

Then meditate like this: May all beings be happy and secure. May all beings become happy in their heart of hearts!

And think of every being without exception: the weak and the strong, from the smallest to the largest, whether you can see them or not, living nearby or far away, beings living now or yet to arise - may all beings become happy in their heart of hearts!

May no one deceive or look down on anyone anywhere, for any reason. Whether through feeling angry or through reacting to someone else, may no one want another to suffer. As strongly as a mother, perhaps risking her life, cherishes her child, her only child, develop an unlimited heart for all beings.

Develop an unlimited heart of friendliness for the entire universe, sending metta above, below, and all around, beyond all narrowness, beyond all rivalry, beyond all hatred. Whether you are staying in one place or travelling, sitting down or in bed, in all your waking hours rest in this mindfulness, which is known as like living in heaven right here and now!

In this way, you will come to let go of views, be spontaneously ethical, and have perfect insight. And leaving behind craving for sense pleasures, from the rounds of rebirth you will finally be completely free!

Dharmachari Ratnaprabha 1990

How to Meditate: Cultivation of Kindness (Metta Bhavana)

by Jayne Summersby

In this series I give a very simple step-by-step guide to three different meditation methods:
1. The Mindfulness of Breathing
2. The Metta Bhavana (sometimes known as Kindly Awareness)
3. Body Awareness

The Cultivation of Kindness (Metta Bhavana)

I love this meditation. It fills me with positivity. It can be challenging at times and often brings some strong emotions to the surface. But I have found that the transformation and peace that follows has always proved worth it.

What does this method do?

• brings calm to your mind and body


• trains your mind to respond to life's challenges with positivity
  cultivates feelings of loving kindness to our fellow beings


• provides a sense of well-being

Step By Step

1. Prepare for the sit in the normal way. In addtion, you will also need to choose three people who you will visualise during the meditaiton. Ideally, these people should all be real people who are living and to whom you are not related or sexually attracted. The first person should be a good friend. Second, choose someone you don't know well, like the postman or someone you see on the bus. The third person should be someone with whom you have difficulty.

2. Stage1 Bring to mind an image of yourself. Befriend yourself. Often we are mucher harder on ourselves than we would ever be on others - now is the time to see yourself from the outside. Just like other people, you want to be loved and cared for. Just like other people you try your best in life. Just like other people, you sometimes succeed, and sometimes fail. You want to be a good person. You want to be loved. Bringing yourself to mind in this compassionate, forgiving way, bring to mind the phrase: "May I be well. May I be happy."

3. Stage 2 Bring to mind the first person you have chosen - the good friend. Be aware of your emotional response towards them, looking to cultivate any feelings of love or warmth you may experience. Remember that your good friend is like you - they experience hope and loss, happiness and sadness, joy and fear. They hav dreams. They experience pleasure and pain, just as you do. Bringing the person to mind in this compassionate, forgiving way, bring to mind the phrase: "May you be well. May you be happy."

4. Stage 3 Bring to mind the second person - the person you don't know very well. Although you don't know them well, you do know that you share the same humanity. Like you, they want to be loved. Like you, they try their best - sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they fail. Bringing them to mind in this compassionate, forgiving way, bring to mind the phrase: "May you be well. May you be happy."

5. Stage 4 Bring to mind the third person - the person you don't get on with. Although you don't get on with them, and they may evoke difficult emotions, just reflect that they too share their basic human experince with you. Like you, they want to be loved. Like you, they try their best - sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they fail. Bringing them to mind in this compassionate, forgiving way, bring to mind the phrase: "May you be well. May you be happy."

6. Stage 5 Finally, imagine that all the people you have chosen are sitting there with you. Envelope the whole group in a bubble of love and positivity. Unite the group with your common experience of humanity. Like you, they want to be loved. Like you, they try their best - sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they fail. And broaden your imagination out to all people, all beings, in your neighbourhood, in your country, in the whole world. Bringing them to mind in this compassionate, forgiving way, bring to mind the phrase: "May we be well. May we be happy."

7. End the meditation by gently broadening out your attention to the whole of your body, then opening your eyes.

Things to watch for

• You will find that your mind sometimes wanders away from the breath. When it does, don't be hard on yourself - this is normal - just gently bring the mind back to its task with kindness, as if it were a small child.


• Sometimes you may find that difficult, negative or painful emotions arise. Don't fight them. Just respond to those emotions with acceptance and kindness. As the Buddha said: Hatred cannot be conquered by hatred - only by love.


• If you find that your body becomes full of excited joyful energy, just relax (and enjoy it!)

Photo by freefoto.com

How to Meditate: Mindfulness of Breathing

by Jayne Summersby

In this series I give a very simple step-by-step guide to three different meditation methods:

1. The Mindfulness of Breathing
2. The Metta Bhavana (sometimes known as Kindly Awareness)
3. Body Awareness

The Mindfulness of Breathing

Learn this one first! This meditation method provides the basis of many other methods.

It's very simple to learn.

What does this method do?

- brings calm to your mind and body
- trains your mind to be able to concentrate better
- provides a sense of well-being

Step By Step

1. Prepare for the sit in the normal way.

2. Stage1 Pay attention to the breath and how it feels in the body. Watch the breath rise and fall. Don't try to interfere with the breath - to try and slow it down or calm it. Just watch it and let it do what it wants to do. At the end of the first out-breath silently count 1. After the next count 2. And so on until you get to 10. After ten, start back at one and repeat the cycle until it is time to move on to Stage 2.

3. Stage 2 Continue to watch the breath in the same way, but make a subtle change to the counting. Instead of counting at the end of the out-breath, now count and the start of the in-breath. You might wonder what the difference is, but it will become clear that there is indeed a subtle difference.

4. Stage 3 Now continue to watch the breath but stop counting. Just watch the rise and fall of your breath and give it your full attention.

5. Stage 4 Identify the point at which you feel the breath enter the body. This might be the tip of the nose or in the throat or elsewhere. Where you first feel it? Now, try to remain focussed on that point. Be aware of the changing sensations. Give it your full attention.

6. End the meditation by gently broadening out your attention to the whole of your body, then opening your eyes.

Things to watch for

- You will find that your mind sometimes wanders away from the breath. When it does, don't be hard on yourself - this is normal - just gently bring the mind back to its task with kindness, as if it were a small child.

- If you lose count or find yourself absent-mindedly counting past ten, then just start again at one

- If you find that your body becomes full of excited joyful energy, just relax (and enjoy it!)

Photo by Joachim Bär

Preparation for a good Meditation

By Gabriel Da Silva

Some people have a habit of charging headlong into their meditation practice.

One minute they are multi-tasking - getting the kids ready for school whilst mentally rehearsing a presentation for the office whilst sorting out the laundry - and the next minute they plonk themselves down on the cushion, close their eyes and expect to enter a deep and tranquil meditation. They then spend the next 40 minutes with a million thoughts and worries racing around their head and feel bad that they can't meditate.

So I guess the lesson is this - give yourself a few minutes to prepare.

Here are some tips on preparation for meditation.

1. Have a dedicated space that you only use for meditation. It doesn't have to be a big space - it might be a very small corner of a room. But it helps to train your mind to know that when you are in that space, you are there to meditate and only to meditate.

2. Decide beforehand exactly how long you are going to meditate for and which meditation method you are going to use.

3. Create a peaceful atmosphere. Shut out noise as much as possible. Some people find burning incense useful.

4. Make sure your posture is comfortable. For more information on getting the right posture for you, see Jayne’s posts.

5. Spend a few minutes before the sit getting into your body. Just bring awareness to each area of your body one by one and be aware of how your body feels.

6. Remind yourself that for this next short period, you don't have to do or think anything - you only have to meditate.

Thanks to freefoto.com for the image.

Meditation Posture - How to sit comfortably (Part 1 - using a chair)

By Jayne Summersby

I can't stress enough how important it is to get your meditation posture right. If it's not right, your meditation can become a test endurance as you grit your teeth and try to ignore the pain.

I'm going to talk about 3 different methods of sitting in three separate posts. In this one, I'm going to go for the simplest - using a chair.

There is nothing wrong with using a chair. Some people seem to think that it is more "spiritual" to sit on the floor like Buddhist monks. But, let's face it, how many people over the age of 16 can do the full lotus? Not many. And not me.

If you want to sit comfortable in a chair to meditate, here's what you do:

1. Find a straight-backed chair like a dining chair. (Don't use an armchair or anything to soft as you will probably fall asleep!)

2. Place a mat or blanket under the back two legs of the chair so that the seat is tilted slightly forward.

3. Sit on the chair with your back upright but not touching the back of the chair. This should be made much easier because the chair is tilted slightly forward.

4. If your feet don't rest comfortably, flat down on the floor, place a cushion underneath them - don't have dangly feet or just your toes on the floor.

5. Place another cushion on your lap and rest your hands on it, palms upwards. This should support the weight of your arms.

Adjust as necessary until you feel that you are able to sit comfortably with:
- your back and head upright
- the weight of you arms supported by the cushion in your lap
- your feet planted flat on the floor (or cushion)
- most of your weight supported by your bottom on the seat.

Next post: Kneeling posture

Meditation for parents of small children

by Gabriel Da Silva

When you have small children it can be hard to find time and space to meditate. Young kids just don't understand why anyone would voluntarily sit still for more than five seconds unless there is something really good on TV.

I remember when my daughter, Sophie, was three years old. We had just moved house and the place was full of boxes and packaging. I managed to clear a space in one of the rooms and started to meditate.

Then I heard Sophie wander into the room and it wasn't long before she started to try and get my attention. She called my name. She tapped me on the shoulder. She tugged my clothes.

I had already explained many times that people need to be left alone when they are meditating. But I would have been crazy if I thought she was going to take this lying down. She wanted to push the boundaries - to see how far she could go before I cracked. So it was important that I stayed still and didn't react to her attempts to distract me.

I sat perfectly still. And, after a few minutes, I heard her heave a sigh and wander out of the room. Yes! I thought, she's got the message. Maybe now she will let me meditate in peace.

At the end of the sit, I opened my eyes and stood up. As I did so, a thousand tiny white balls of polystyrene fell from my head. I realised that I was absolutely covered in the stuff. While I had been meditating, Sophie had wrought vengeance upon me by silently crumbling some polystyrene packaging over my head. I had sat there, deep in meditation, for forty minutes, completely unaware that I looked like some kind of weird hippy snowman.

Once I had managed to stop laughing, I went and had breakfast with Sophie. I didn't mention the incident at all. After that she got bored with the whole thing, and never interrupted my meditation again.

I had made my point. And I guess she had made hers too.

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