Loving Kindness or Metta Meditation perfectly balances mindfulness and insight meditation practices, while helping the practitioners cultivate the heart’s loving, caring qualities(1).

Introduction

Loving Kindness Meditation is an ancient practice that enables you to direct the love and kindness in your heart to yourself(2). It also helps you extend the purest intentions of your heart to your loved ones and every living being in the world. This practice focuses on the effects our thoughts, emotions and actions have on our surroundings. Therefore, through Loving Kindness Meditation, we are consciously extending loving thoughts and prayers to others.(2). 

History/Origins

‘Loving Kindness’ is the most commonly used translation of the Pali word Metta(3). Loving Kindness is one of the primary Buddhist meditation practices which has transcended religious boundaries and become popular globally. The word Metta comes from Mitta, which translates to “friend.”(3)

According to a legend, Lord Buddha used to lead a teaching retreat every year during India’s rainy season, and monks from all over the country used to gather before him to learn. Once, he asked a group of monks to visit a forest to meditate there. However, the spirits living in the forest did not appreciate their lives being interrupted, and scared the monks away(3).

When Buddha heard what happened in the forest, he offered them his teaching of Metta Sutta (Discourse on Loving-Kindness). He encouraged them to go back to the forest and recite the Metta Sutta. The practice transformed the spirits and they became friendlier and protective of the monks. This is the origin of Loving Kindness Meditation(3).

Benefits

A research article(5) suggests that practicing Loving Kindness Meditation has the ability to increase feelings of positivity and social connection toward others. Feeling socially connected is essential for maintaining a healthy body and mind. According to another study(6), regular practice of this meditation can reduce pain, psychological distress and anger in people suffering from chronic low back pain. Therefore, it can be included in the treatment care of such patients. 

 

References

  1. Lion’s Roar | The Essential Guide to How to Meditate | Loving-Kindness by JoAnna Hardy | Page 44
  2. Bantam | Meditation for Beginners: Six Guided Meditations for Insight, Inner Clarity, and Cultivating a Compassionate Heart by Jack Kornfield | Page 63
  3. Wisdom Publications | Loving-Kindness in Plain English: The Practice of Metta by Henepola Gunaratana | Page 1
  4. Wiley Online Library | Appendix I: Meditation Scripts by Inna Z. Khazan | Page 297
  5. American Psychological Association | Emotion Journal | 2008 | Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness by Cendri A Hutcherson, Emma M Seppala and James J Gross
  6. Journal of Holistic Nursing | 2005 | Loving-Kindness Meditation for Chronic Low Back Pain: Results From a Pilot Trial by James W. Carson, Francis J. Keefe, Thomas R. Lynch, Kimberly M. Carson, Veeraindar Goli, Anne Marie Fras and Steven R. Thorp