This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video An Afternoon with the Metta Sutta with Kim Allen. It likely contains inaccuracies.
The following talk was given by Kim Allen at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.
Welcome to our program today, an afternoon with the Metta Sutta.[^1] This is a Sati Center event being held at IMC. Sometimes people aren’t aware that those are different entities, even though many of the teachers overlap. This is a Sati Center event; it’s a kind of study and practice way of really connecting ourselves to the suttas and also using the Buddha’s teachings directly in our lives. The Sati Center has this daily life component also.
The Buddha taught metta in various ways in the Pali Canon.[^2] He didn’t teach it only one way. It’s also woven through his teachings in many different aspects. This formal text that we’ll be looking at today, called the Metta Sutta or the Karaniya Metta Sutta, is quite rich and it includes many dimensions that are beyond, for example, wishing well-being for others in a specific way like you may have done in formal metta practice.
There are also many, many different translations of this sutta because it’s a well-loved sutta. It’s very popular; people find it meaningful. Leigh Brasington has, I believe, 19 or more translations on his website just of this one sutta. So in order not to get overwhelmed or spend too much time comparing word to word of different suttas, we’re going to be working with the Amaravati or Abhayagiri translation. The reason I chose it is not because of some vast superiority, but because it’s one that people know. If you’ve ever learned the chant of the Metta Sutta, which we’re going to do today, it’s usually this translation.
This text appears in the Sutta Nipata,[^3] which is part of the Khuddaka Nikāya. The Sutta Nipata is actually a very slim text. The book I have here looks huge, but most of it is commentary—other people talking about the text.
It’s important to understand the background of suttas, and that’s one of the things that the commentaries do. Each sutta has a story that goes with it about how it is that the Buddha came to teach that teaching. In the case of the Metta Sutta, the story is interesting.
What happened, according to this, is that a group of monks practicing with the Buddha went off to do the rains retreat, which is a three-month period of more intensive practice. They found an amazing place to practice: a beautiful forest, clear clean water, and a nearby town with supportive townspeople. When the monks arrived, the people said, “Please stay. We would love to have you be here and practice in our forest.” The monks could get alms every day, and they thought, “This is the best, the ideal retreat center.”
So they set up camp and were practicing well. However, there happened to be tree deities living in this forest. Because the monks were set up there around the trees, the deities came down out of the trees with their children. At first, they were happy to let the monks be there and to kind of move out of the way. But then they got the idea, “Wait a minute, they’re here for the rains retreat. They’re going to be here a long time. We’re not going to be able to reasonably move around our forest for several months. That’s not okay.”
So the tree deities decided to make loud sounds, scary apparitions, and bad smells. They did all this stuff to the monks, and of course, the monks lost their concentration. They weren’t that experienced, and they got scared. They couldn’t concentrate, they lost mindfulness, and they started to think maybe this wasn’t so ideal. So they packed up and went back to the Buddha. They said, “We couldn’t practice there. It was too hard. There were these bad smells and bad sounds and we were scared.”
The Buddha, it is said, surveyed the whole world with his dharma eye and he determined that there was actually no other place that those monks could practice. There was just no other suitable place for them. So he gave them the tough love and he said, “You got to go back. There’s nowhere else you can practice, and you have to practice for the rains retreat. You’re not allowed to wander around. That’s one of the rules. So, you go back, but I’m going to give you a protective teaching that you can carry with you.” And that is the Metta Sutta.
He taught them to carry loving-kindness in their heart. As we’ll see in the sutta, it’s not just about sitting and wishing for well-being like we do in formal metta practice. It actually includes uprightness of heart, right view, and all kinds of other attitudes and practices along with it. He told the monks they had to practice this a couple of times a day along with their other practices.
So the monks followed his orders. They went back, chanted the Metta Sutta twice a day, and did their other practices. This created enough harmony in the forest that the tree deities welcomed them back and found a way to live with them in harmony. It’s a somewhat idealized story, but worth reflecting on. If we carry metta in our heart and follow the other instructions in the sutta about living in an upright way—being calm, undemanding, easily satisfied, having right view, not being attached to sensual pleasures—if we were to live in that way, would it be more harmonious with some of the people we have difficulty with? Yes, that’s the short answer.
That’s also why the Metta Sutta is one of a series of chants, when it’s done in a chant form, that are called Paritta chants. Paritta chants are the protective chants of Buddhism. As it came to be more of a formally practiced system, more of a religion, there came to be a set of texts—the Metta Sutta, the Mangala Sutta, some of the praises of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha—that are now kind of done as a set. If you go to Asia, you can hear Paritta chanting often done at ceremonies or on full moon days. The Metta Sutta is included among these so-called protective chants that are intended to create a field or a bubble of goodness, of well-being, of well-wishing that has an effect on beings even if they’re not quite conscious of it.
You may be interested to know that the common practice of imagining people in various categories—a benefactor, a friend, a neutral person, a difficult person, and then all beings—is not taught by the Buddha in the Pali Canon. The earliest texts that we have do not teach that practice. That is from a later commentarial text. It is a Theravadan practice, but it’s from a non-canonical text. Even there, the phrases are not the well-known phrases like, “May you be safe, may you be healthy.” Those ones were made up in modern times, and that’s okay. There’s a lot of creativity in this practice. The four standard ones you might hear from Spirit Rock or something—”May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be happy. May you live with ease”—were invented at Spirit Rock as far as I know. But they imitate the original phrases that were used in this later commentarial text, which are: “May you be free from enmity, may you be free from mental suffering, may you be free from physical suffering, and may you take care of yourself with ease.”
So what did the Buddha teach in terms of metta practice in the earliest teachings we have from the Pali Canon? That is a practice called radiation. Radiation of metta. The main teacher who’s been promoting this in the last eight or nine years is Bhikkhu Analayo.
Radiation of metta is a different form where we evoke metta in the heart through something—an image, a phrase, or maybe just a felt sense of some situation that brings up metta for you. Then, letting that ignite in the heart, like lighting a lamp, and allowing that illumination to radiate, to shine forth. The way it’s done is not through categories of beings but through directions—the cardinal directions. The idea is that any being that is encountered through that radiation would be touched by the metta. It is similarly boundless, but just done through this imagination of radiation. You may find if you’ve never done this that it has a different feeling to it than imagining beings in categories.
Find a meditation posture. It’s important to be comfortable in doing this practice, so you’re welcome to sit or stand or lie down if that’s more comfortable for you. Somewhere where your body will generally feel at ease.
First, as a preliminary, bring attention to the posture that you’re in, having a sense of balance in your posture. If you’re sitting, make sure that you’re well balanced on your sit bones. If you have your feet against the floor, have a stable tripod. If you’re sitting in a chair, feel your feet on the floor and your seat against the chair. If you’re lying down, be in a simple, straightish posture, somewhere where your back is well supported, legs and arms symmetric in some way.
On your next out-breath, soften the body into the posture that you’re in. You’ll find it most comfortable for the long run not to just collapse, but to have a balance between being soft and being alert, having attention and having tranquility.
Bring the attention inward now to feeling your body from the inside. If you have a habit of imagining the body the way you see it in the mirror, let that go and feel the body from the inside: the contact points that you’re sitting on, the breath perhaps coming in and out gently.
Gently softening. Softening the eyes and the eye sockets. Softening the jaw and the face. Softening the shoulders, letting them sink downward. Softening down through the heart area—front, back, sides of the rib cage. Releasing the belly and softening the arms and legs.
Brighten the attention. Although the body is soft and perhaps relaxed, the mind now has more capacity to be present and bright.
From our sense of alert, bright presence, evoke a feeling of goodwill, friendliness. You may bring up an image of a being whom you can easily care about. A pet is often suggested, an animal of some kind, or a baby. Or for some, it’s yourself. It doesn’t matter so much, but an easy, simple being that we feel warm upon seeing. You can say a phrase if that’s more common for you. Seeing this being, we might think, “May you be well?” Or we could simplify and just have a sense of being in the presence of a being that we care about. What’s it like to sit with your best friend, even if you’re not saying anything?
Feel that feeling in you. Feel in your heart or your belly or your whole body a simple sense of wishing well, goodwill. This is the most basic understanding of metta.
As you breathe in, allow that feeling to kindle and brighten. The way when you very gently blow on a candle, it gets brighter. Breathing in, the metta brightens. And breathing out, imagine that that feeling shines. As you breathe in, the candle gets a little brighter. As you breathe out, you notice the shining of the candle. Gently strengthening the metta. Gently radiating it.
We make a subtle shift now from a deliberate action of evoking the metta and the radiation of it to simply being that. However that works for you. Can you simply be this feeling in the body, this brightness in the heart? As we do so, we can release the being who we used to evoke initially and just transfer to the feeling, the felt sense of metta, of care and goodwill that has been established in the body and the heart.
You can literally imagine a lamp if you like, or a candle in the chest area. I like to imagine a star.
Breathing in, gathering together our sense of care, friendliness, well-being, love. Breathing out, letting it shine out as far as it will go. Lamps do not push out their light; they just shine. Maybe it goes only to your skin. Maybe it goes farther. It doesn’t matter. Sensing the light and warmth. Breathing in. Breathing out.
It’s possible that there is still a little bit of a barrier in the way of our shine. We can gently remove any remaining barriers through a little imagination. Imagine that you have a curtain around you, around the heart perhaps. And now imagine that as you’re shining this goodwill, you draw the curtain aside from the front. And now the metta spills forth unhindered in the forward direction. It shines out however far.
And gently now drawing the curtain aside to the right. So now the metta shines unhindered to the front and to the right.
And gently drawing aside the curtain to the back. So the goodwill is open to the front, the right, the back. We don’t always think about our back, but there’s no hindrance in radiating to the back. See if you can imagine that.
And drawing the curtain aside now to the left, letting the metta spill forth from our lamp or our star. Front, the right, the back, the left, unhindered, unbounded. When we’re not placing any boundaries on our love, it is boundless, unbounded, regardless of how far it goes.
And including now the upward direction above, and down below. Solid objects like floors and the earth are not solid to metta. It spreads down easily below us.
Continuing to breathe and sensing what’s it like to just be radiating a sense of friendliness and care naturally. If the mind wanders away, it’s no problem. You may just start again from feeling the radiation of the lamp. You may need to go through the four directions, above and below again. Or if you completely lose it, you can start again with the being—dog or cat or friend—and just start again.
See if you can find a way of resting with the metta pervading the body and outward. Very little effort. Just resting and shining.
Allowing the gentle light to soften the body. Softening tense muscles. Softening areas of resistance. What if you let the gentle light simply melt its way through your body?
As we continue to rest this way for a little bit longer, I invite you to notice that you are the first recipient of radiating metta. It must pass through every cell of your body to shine out. Feel that.
You’re welcome to continue radiating if that feels easeful. Or if you’re ready, and whenever you’re ready, you can let go of the intention to radiate and just rest in simple presence, in mindfulness. Either way, we’ll continue on a bit longer, resting.
Notice in that way of practicing the emphasis on the felt sense of the metta, of the goodwill. This is really important. The danger of using phrases is that it can stay in the head. It can be a thought or an idea, and then you can get very concentrated on that concept, but it’s not as integrative as feeling it through the body, through the heart, through the direct sensations. That’s not to say it’s always the case; some people can say the phrases and very deeply feel them at the same time. But I have seen it happen that people remain somewhat unintegrated with metta if they’ve only done phrase practice over time.
Of course, there are disadvantages of doing radiation practice also. The primary one being that you can leave beings out. You can get into just a nice feeling of metta and believe that you have metta for all beings, but in fact, you’ve left some out. The categories, where you actually have to wish metta for a difficult being, can make you be a little bit more inclusive and not just be lost in, “Oh yeah, I’m radiating this to all beings,” but I’ve left out that relative that’s especially difficult or that politician who’s especially difficult. So be aware of what strengths and weaknesses there are in different kinds of metta practice.
By switching at the end back to just mindfulness, one effect for me is to really understand how close metta and mindfulness are. They’re not that different in terms of the relationship that you have to experience. Being mindful in a way that is right mindfulness, sammā-sati, is not so different from the stance one has in metta of having a general caring, open, available attitude to experience or to another person. It can help purify both the mindfulness and the metta.
(At this point, Kim Allen opens the floor for questions. The following is a summary of the Q&A session.)
On the power of metta: A participant asked about the power of metta, comparing it to Christian prayer where there’s a belief that prayer can literally help another person. Kim explained that the primary function of metta is more karmic—purifying our own being of ill will, hatred, and disdain. This purification pervades so many levels of our being that we probably don’t know all the impacts it can have. When we purify our own heart, our way of showing up in the world can actually influence relationships, as in the story of the monks and the tree deities. However, the idea of magically changing another person’s karma would be questionable in early Buddhist understanding, as we each make and carry our own karma. But she wouldn’t discount the ways we can’t see everything that’s going on with the practice.
On resistance to metta for difficult people: A participant shared their resistance to extending metta to certain politicians, as it felt like condoning their actions. Kim acknowledged this is a very common and important question, which she planned to address more fully later in the session. She explained that metta is deeper and more powerful than just a “warm fuzzy” feeling. It’s a mature quality of the heart that has a quiet strength. The transformation that happens through deep metta practice will make it not incompatible with sending it to even our least favorite politician.
On different Buddhist traditions: A participant asked about the difference between Theravada purification practices and those in Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana). Kim noted that while she wasn’t an expert on the specific Vajrayana practice mentioned, the Theravada versions came first historically. She highlighted a key difference in approach to the Brahma Viharas:[^4] in Vajrayana, equanimity is often seen as the foundational practice, whereas in Theravada, metta is typically the foundation from which compassion, appreciative joy, and finally equanimity are developed.
On metta for the deceased: A participant asked about practicing metta for her mother who had long since passed away. Kim affirmed the value of doing practices to reconcile unfinished feelings. Since the feelings and ideas about her mother exist in the participant’s own mind, she has total access to them, and they can be purified. While it might not be literal metta in the classical sense (which is for living beings), practices of radiating good feelings, gratitude, or merit can be very harmonizing and integrating for those leftover feelings.
On general resistance to the practice: A participant admitted to feeling a general resistance to metta practice, even while feeling like a “good Buddhist” should do it. Kim reassured her that there are many ways to purify the heart of aversion and ill will. If formal cushion practice isn’t working, there are other options. The key is to discover for oneself that harboring aversion is a limitation, a “poison” that harms oneself first. When that is realized, the motivation to find a way to free the heart arises. She encouraged the participant to stay open and see what lands for her as they explore the sutta further.
Let’s take a look now at the sutta itself, the Karaniya Metta Sutta.[^5] Karaniya means “should be done.” So this is the metta that should be done.
I’m going to read it through the first time.
This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness and who knows the path of peace: Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech, humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied, unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways, peaceful and calm and wise and skillful, not proud and demanding in nature. Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove.
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.
Let none deceive another or despise any being in any state. Let none through anger or ill will wish harm upon another.
Even as a parent protects with their life, their child, their only child, so with a boundless heart, should one cherish all living beings, radiating kindness over the entire world, spreading upwards