How to do Mettā Meditation Correctly - Detailed Instructions (Loving-Kindness)

Mettā meditation, also referred to as meditating on loving-kindness, is easy to do incorrectly or incompletely.

If you aren't using your heart, you are doing Mettā meditation wrong.

​In this teaching you will find a detailed explanation, complete instructions, and a rich example recitation script of the equalising Mettā Meditation on Loving-Kindness and Compassion.  Plus, a bonus sutta that can be used to close your meditation session.

---

WHY MEDITATE ON LOVING-KINDNESS?

Before we begin, it's important to understand the difference between compassion and loving-kindness.  Compassion is the desire for others to be free of pain and suffering, and loving-kindness is the desire for others to be happy.  Without cultivating these fundamental limitless qualities within ourselves, progress toward awakening, streamentry, or enlightenment will forever be out of reach.

Mettā meditation, or more colloquially, meditating on loving-kindness, is a core Buddhist practice that is practiced within all three of the main Buddhist traditions.  It is so effective, that is has even made its way into the secular mainstream mindfulness movement. At its core, Mettā meditation is a necessary practice for cultivating the proper motivation and views that make progress along the Buddhist path toward enlightenment possible.  Without this practice, and practices like this, it becomes too difficult to generate pure compassion and unbiased loving-kindness for ourselves and for others, especially given the angst-filled world in which we find ourselves living today.

The purpose of meditating on loving-kindness (mettā) is two-fold:

First, it serves to start the processes of softening our heart and chipping away at that hard outer-shell that has slowly developed around it from the cumulative effects of all of our past experiences of pain, betrayal, hurt, and loss.

Second, it serves to cultivate a form of compassion that goes beyond just ourselves, one that can be applied without resistance toward all people.  This is important, because compassion is best-felt universally, for everyone without exception, it flows more freely that way; and when we can cultivate that kind of openness in our hearts, not only does compassion begin to flow more freely, but so too does our sense of peace and well-being.

Softening our hardened hearts and cultivating free-flowing compassion are the foundations of developing a peaceful mind and for cultivating the foundations for more stable states of happiness, and this is the power of meditating diligently and frequently on loving-kindness.  It is why Mettā meditation has been a core Buddhist practice for over 2500 years and why this practice has "gone mainstream."

MEDITATION INSTRUCTIONS

(Time to complete: about 30 minutes.)
see related 10-minute audio guide on how to do mettā effectively

It may be worth mentioning that this is my own personal mettā recitation that I put together from various sources and developed for my own practice.

During your time with the recitation below, fill in the blanks (i.e., _____) with the following subjects, and in this order:

• "I"
• a named loved one (such as a friend or family member)
• someone I feel neutral about
• a named foe or someone I dislike
• "all sentient beings in front of me"
• "all sentient beings to my right"
• "all sentient beings behind me"
• "all sentient beings to my left"
• "all sentient beings above me"
• "all sentient beings below me"
• "all sentient beings everywhere"

This is unabridged, so you should feel welcome to use as many, or as few, of the stanzas below to suit your personal practice and the specific needs of your meditation at any given time.

When properly recited with thought, feeling, and consideration, the complete recitation of this Mettā meditation should take around 40 minutes to complete, don't worry if it takes longer; the more time you spend cultivating these motivations, the more powerful and transformative they become to your practice and to your experience of the world around you.  Do not rush through this, if you do, you will only be wasting your time on the cushion.  If you find yourself beginning to recite it robotically or if it becomes rote, slow it down and re-double your concentration to deeply take into account the feelings of genuine and deep compassion and loving-kindness that you are striving so hard to generate within yourself.

RELATED: EASY AUDIO GUIDE
Mettā Meditation
​How to Do It Effectively
​- with bonus -
Explanation, Instruction, Transcript

MEDITATION TEMPLATE SCRIPT

(Note: I have included parenthetical pronoun replacements where appropriate within the template below for your ease and convenience.)

May _____ be happy, healthy, and safe.
May _____ be peaceful and well.
May _____ be free of mental and physical suffering.

May _____ abstain from killing; abstain from stealing; abstain from sensual misconduct; abstain from speaking falsely or harshly; abstain from misusing intoxicants.

May _____ be free from fear, tension, anxiety, and worry.
May _____ be filled with contentment.
May _____ be at ease.

May (my/his/her/their) heart(s) become soft.
May (my/his/her/their) words be supportive and beneficial to others.
May (my/his/her/their) mind(s) be filled with thoughts of loving-kindness, selfless compassion, altruistic joy, and unbiased equanimity.

​May _____ be generous.
May _____ be gentle.
May _____ be grateful.

May _____ have the patience, courage, understanding, and determination to meet and overcome the inevitable difficulties, problems, and failures in life.
May _____ always rise above them with integrity, compassion, forgiveness, and wisdom.

May no harm come to (me/him/her/them).
May no difficulties come to (me/him/her/them).
May no problems come to (me/him/her/them).

May everything that _____ see(s), smell(s), hear(s), taste(s), touch(es), and think(s) help (me/him/her/them) to cultivate peace, patience, positivity, generosity, and gentleness for (myself/himself/herself/themselves) and for all others.

May (my/his/her/their) behaviour be friendly and (my/his/her/their) loving-kindness be a source of peace and safety for (myself/himself/herself/themselves) and for those around (me/him/her/them).

Wherever _____ go in the world, may _____ greet people with happiness, peace, and compassion in (my/his/her/their) mind.

May _____ be protected in all directions from greed, anger, jealousy, and fear.

May _____ come to understand the true nature of happiness and suffering.
May _____ come to meet with spiritual success as soon as possible.
May _____ come to experience complete spiritual enlightenment.

(see the related 10-minute audio guide on how to do mettā effectively)

ENDING YOUR SESSION

What follows is an excerpt from the Karaṇīyamettā Sutta (Sn 1.8), one of the Buddha's teaching on loving-kindness. When you are done with the meditation on loving-kindness above, you may choose to recite the following to close your Mettā meditation session and continue on with the rest of your day, skilfully, mindfully, and compassionately.

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 distractions and frugal in their ways.
    May they be peaceful and calm and wise and skilful,
        Not proud nor demanding in conduct.
    Let them not do the slightest thing
        That the wise would admonish.
    Let none deceive another,
        Or despise anyone anywhere.
    Let none through anger or ill-will
        Wish harm upon another.
    Radiating kindness over the entire world:
        Spreading upwards to the skies,
        And downwards to the depths;
        Outwards and unbounded,
        Freed from hostility and hate.
    Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
        Free from drowsiness,
        One should sustain this recollection.
    Wishing in gladness and in safety,
        May all beings be at ease.
    Whatever beings there may be,
        Weak or strong, without exception,
        Tall or large,
        Middling or short,
        Subtle or blatant,
        Seen or unseen,
        Near or far,
        Born or soon-to-be-born,
        May all beings be at ease!