Friendliness and loving kindness even to those who hate and would wish you harm? That's metta! - that's what Jesus taught!

Have you ever run across the word 'metta' perhaps in Buddhist writing? Buddhists use the word 'metta' to describe something that was also at the heart of Jesus' teachings: the heartfelt wish for our well-being and the well-being of everyone, even those who would harm us. That's true loving-kindness, the friendliness of an open heart. It's one of the most important practices in Buddhism, and it can be one of the most important practices in your JesusSangha.

Metta is Loving Kindness... Love Your Neighbor

You have heard people say, "Love your neighbors and hate your enemies" But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your heavenly parent... God makes the sun rise on the good and the bad, and sends rain on those who do right and those who do wrong. If you love only those who love you, how are you any better than the worst? Even tax collectors love their friends. If you greet only your friends, what's so great about that? Matt 5:43

Jesus' one commandment was to love one another, and to love without exception. Check out our page on LOVE for how to grow in love, loving kindness, and compassionate awareness.

• Metta practice cultivates our capacity for loving-kindness. Cultivating a friendly, open-hearted compassionate well-wishing for self and others.
• Metta practice waters the seeds of our good intentions in the gardens of our souls, and we can't expect something to grow unless we tend it
• Metta practice supports prayerful mindfulness practice, because Metta practice "encourages an attitude of friendliness towards our experience regardless of how difficult it may be." ¹

On the right hand side of this page, we've included two Metta prayers you might want to experiment with in your sangha. You'll probably want to also incorporate one or the other into your daily practice in some form. Try using photos, imagining pets, co-workers, individual people you really dislike... or if you're feeling daring, try the enemies within. If you can make peace with your own shadow, those things which you know stand in your own way (we're our own worst enemies, after all), and you may be surprised at the compassion that can begin to flow for others. But don't worry if opposite feelings come up... you can always go back to the refuge chant. Always remember in any practice: if feelings come up that are too difficult, you can always go back to mindful prayer techniques - no one practice is superior to another. It's really true that it's all good!

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¹Fronsdal, Gil. The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice. 2001. 83.