Metta, Loving kindness

17 June 2025

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxeries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” His Holinesss the Dalai Lama XIV

May you be happy,
May you be well,
May you be loved,
May you be free from suffering.

Metta is the Pali word for loving kindness (Maïtri in Sanskrit). It originated over 2,500 years ago within the Buddhist tradition. It is the practice of deep compassion and love.

Loving kindness is the quality of feeling loved, and being kind towards ourselves and others.

When we practice Metta meditation, we send out loving kindness energy to ourselves, to loved ones, to people who are neutral to us, to people with whom we may be struggling and to all sentient beings in the universe.

It is the practice of wishing one self and others to be happy, at ease, loved and free from pain. It is about how we connect emotionally with the words, removing all barriers.

We all have the capacity for compassion (the feeling that arises when you are faced with another persons suffering and you desire to alleviate this suffering and provide support) and kindness. This practice can transform our relationships with ourselves and with others. It also improves our capacity for empathy (the ability to feel and understand the feelings of another person).

“Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love.” The Buddha

Metta practice can be challenging with people with whom we have difficulties. However, overcoming hatred with compassion does not mean forgiving or saying it is okay.

It is freeing ourselves, it is cultivating inner peace and liberating ourselves from the impact on our emotionnal state.

We can get caught in our own suffering, and as much as we wish to be free from it, we can wish this for others.

Practicing Metta meditation gives us the ability to overcome resentment, to tune in to our capacity for kindness and to see humanity in others.

From a Buddhist perspective, it is breaking the cycle of hatred and violence. Holding onto anger just makes it bigger, hate will increase hate and this cycle can leave us feeling depleted.

“Beneath hate, beneath a broken heart, beneath guilt and sorrow, there is softness.” Pema Chodron

The research behind Metta:

Key studies and researches have shown when practicing Metta: a reduction in self-criticism and depressive symptoms, an improvement in self compassion and positive emotions.(Shahar et al. 2014 )

A study found that even a short session of Loving Kindness meditation could increase feelings of social connection and positivity towards strangers. (Hutcherson, Seppala, and Gross 2008)

Carson et al, 2005 undertook an 8 week loving kindness program for people with chronic lower back pain. The studies shows that by practicing Metta meditation the patients experienced improvements in pain and psychological distress.

Further studies using brain imaging techniques have shown that Metta meditation could increase activation of parts of the brain associated with empathy, emotional processing and modulate brain-heart connection.

Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu.

May all beings everywhere be happy and free.