When I woke up this morning, I found my that my breath “anchor” came to mind within just a minute or two, with no conscious impulse to do so. This progress feels like a carryover of last night’s sitting meditation, right before I went to bed, which itself, seemed to be quite a lot of […]
Continue reading
Tag Archives: Metta
How Practice and Creativity Can Open Up Your Metta
2013/03/20 
7 Comments
It was an honor to join millions around the world in giving metta, loving-kindness meditation, to my fellow beings on World Day of Metta! Although, like most Buddhists, I do “formal” metta every day, as well as “metta in the moment,” it felt good to set aside a special time to give metta with so many […]
Continue reading Celebrate World Day of Metta!
2013/03/20 2 Comments
Today, March 20, 2013, the organizers of the World Day of Metta are asking people all around the world to open their hearts and from 12 PM to 2 PM, local time, to meditate on and offer the following metta to all beings of the world: THE METTA May all beings have fresh clean water […]
Continue reading Metta Phrases for Dealing with Self-Hatred and Self-judgment
2011/09/06 9 Comments
I invite new and regular visitors to take a look at my updated and expanded Metta Instruction page. There you will find many helpful articles you can read online or download—articles such as these: Ajahn Brahmavmso Teaches Loving-kindness Metta—The Healing Power of Visualizing and Radiating Love Toward Others Bringing Metta to Daily Life—A Talk by […]
Continue reading Desire-our “most precious possession” or the root of all suffering?
2011/07/06 0 Comments
The Buddha’s Second Noble Truth is that craving—desire, attachment, clinging—is the cause of suffering, unsatisfactoriness, stress. Anyone who has looked into the cause of suffering can affirm this great truth for oneself. From this insight, one might conclude that the way to end suffering and find lasting happiness is to kill all desires. From that […]
Continue reading How long will it take to bring our Narcissus off the cross?
2011/03/14 0 Comments
As I promised in my previous post, I am going to share passages from Stephen Levine’s spiritual autobiography, Turning Toward the Mystery. See: Everyone is Just Trying to Get Born Before They Die I found these passages very helpful in understanding how we identify with our pain and suffering and how letting go liberates our hearts. […]
Continue reading Am I Pleasing Others to Make Myself Feel Loved and Good?
2011/02/19 5 Comments
The path of awakening, of liberation, always includes self-observation and self-inquiry. Without them, we tend to repeat the same unskillful ways of thinking and acting over and over again. That’s what is called samsara in Buddhism. In this essay I’m sharing my thoughts and observations on something I’ve struggled with much of my life: a […]
Continue reading Choose life! Choose love! Choose to live!
2011/02/11 9 Comments
“Most people can look back over the years and identify a time and place at which their lives changed significantly. Whether by accident or design, these are the moments when, because of a readiness within us and a collaboration with events occurring around us, we are forced to seriously reappraise ourselves and the conditions under […]
Continue reading Metta-the Healing Power of Visualizing and Radiating Love Toward Others
2010/11/23 4 Comments
Here is a unique teaching on metta, or loving-kindness meditation, by Acharya Buddharakkhita from “Mettá: The Philosophy and Practice of Universal Love.” In this teaching, Buddharakkhita focuses specifically on how to use visualization and thought-radiation to embrace others in universal love and goodwill. This teaching presents the classic sequence of beginning with loving oneself, and […]
Continue reading Thich Nhat Hanh on Loving Ourselves by Looking Deeply into Ourselves
2010/10/25 9 Comments
SELF-LOVE From Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh “Until we are able to love and take care of ourselves, we cannot be of much help to others.” We begin practicing this love meditation on ourselves May I be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit. May I be safe and free from injury. […]
Continue reading Ways to work with fear rather than avoiding it
2010/09/24 2 Comments
One of the great dharma resources in the Boston area is the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center: The CIMC Guiding Teachers and Teachers are (left to right) Larry Rosenberg, Narayan Liebenson Grady, and Michael Liebenson Grady: Below are some excerpts from a summary of a 1997 talk by Michael Liebenson Grady on how to deal skillfully […]
Continue reading A Buddhist prayer for the well-being and happiness of all beings
2010/09/23 7 Comments
I recently came across this beautiful metta, or loving-kindness meditation by the dhamma teacher Venerable Visuddhàcàra One could certainly call it a prayer, although in Buddhist prayer there is no appeal to a supreme being. Rather, it’s a deep and earnest aspiration and wish for happiness from one being’s heart to the hearts of all […]
Continue reading How to accept our faults without falling into self-condemnation or inaction
2010/09/13 4 Comments
Here are some more great teachings from Buddhist teacher Ayya Khema. If you, like me, often have to deal with self-condemnation and self-hatred because of continual personal failings, this article should be a big help in balancing seeing what needs to change in us and accepting everything in us without self-condemnation. Accepting Oneself Ayya Khema […]
Continue reading Why Loving-kindness Doesn’t Have to Be Lovey-dovey
2010/08/20 8 Comments
One of my favorite things each day is getting my daily e-mail for Tricyle Magazine. There’s always an inspiring dharma teaching or quotation from an article at the website that I almost always want to go and read. Given that this blog is all about metta practice, and since Gil Fronsdal is a teacher I’ve […]
Continue reading The Karaniya Metta Sutta and Healing Through Loving-kindness (with Music)
2010/08/07 14 Comments
Over the years, I have collected many wonderful translation of the Metta Sutta, the Buddha’s sutta (sutra) on loving-kindness. But of all of them, I believe this one, from the Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, is my favorite. I have it printed out and taped to my wall, and I often turn to it for inspiration. I […]
Continue reading How to Deal Skillfully and Compassionately with Memories
2010/07/17 1 Comment
We all have things we’ve done in the past that we regret, and memories of these mistakes can often arise in meditation. Here is a helpful teaching from Thanissaro Bhikkhu that explains what the Buddha said we could do when we are haunted by memories. How to Deal Skillfully and Compassionately with Memories “As for […]
Continue reading Prayer and Metta for all beings affected by the BP Gulf oil disaster
2010/07/14 10 Comments
Like millions of others in the United States, and around the world, I’ve been keeping a close watch on the tragic situation with the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. I don’t live in the Gulf area, but I’ve tried to help by various forms of advocacy and by getting good, solid scientific and technical information […]
Continue reading An Overview of Loving-kindness Meditation
2010/05/29 8 Comments
May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness! May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! May all beings never be separated from the supreme joy that is beyond all sorrow! May all beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion! Going through the Buddhadharma teachings I’ve collected […]
Continue readingZen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on Nourishing Happiness
2010/05/14 4 Comments
This excerpt is from Thich Nhat Hanh’s wonderful book “Teachings on Love.” In it, Thây gives three exercises that are a kind of metta meditation—aspiration for our own happiness and the happiness of others. As is usual in metta, the first verse aspiration is for our own happiness. The second verse is for a friend, […]
Continue reading Bringing Metta to Daily Life-A Talk by Bhante Vimalaramsi
2010/04/24 7 Comments
You will find no finer or deeper teaching on Loving-Kindness than that of Ven. Bhante Vimalaramsi. I hope this short excerpt from a talk he gave on bringing loving-kindness to daily life will send you to his website to read the whole article. (Link below) Metta in Daily Life Ven.Bhante Vimalaramsi What we need to […]
Continue readingMay All Beings Be Happy
- Looking at the Ninth Zen Precept-I Do Not Indulge In Anger
- True God, True Buddha
- The Difference Between Compassion and “Idiot Compassion”
- Ajahn Brahmavamso teaches Loving-kindness Meditation
- Now-and-Zen-Are you still carrying her?
- A Buddhist Mantra based on the Prayer of St. Francis
- Mindfulness of Breathing-The Anapanasati Sutta
- Buddhist Forgiveness-When We Have Hurt Another-Part 3
- Practicing the Middle Way-not too much, not too little
- Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing
- Look at the Three Characteristics in Terms of Actions
- Thich Nhat Hanh – Healing Through Resting in the Breath
- How Metta Can Help You When Meditation is Hindered by Overwhelming Feelings
- The Importance of Taking the “Should” out of Spiritual Practice
- Can We “Choose” to Be Happy? No—and Yes!
- Ken Mcleod on how to use Thich Nhat Hanh’s Five-Step Method of Emotional Releasing
- Non-resistance and the Art of Resisting without Resisting!
- Don’t be fooled! There is a Way and We Can Walk It!
- The Importance of Compassion in Assessing Our Dharma Progress
- Jesus and the Buddha on Good Friday
Metta Refuge 