Acharya Buddharakkhita on “Metta : The Philosophy & Practice of Universal Love”

A reflection on practice by Other Teachers & Folks We Value

The Pali word metta is a multi-significant term meaning loving-kindness, friendliness, goodwill, benevolence, fellowship, amity, concord, inoffensiveness & non-violence. The Pali commentators define metta as the strong wish for the welfare & happiness of others (parahita-parasukha-kamana). Essentially metta is an altruistic attitude of love & friendliness as distinguished from mere amiability based on self-interest. Through metta one refuses to be offensive & renounces bitterness, resentment & animosity of every kind, developing instead a mind of friendliness, accommodativeness & benevolence which seeks the well-being & happiness of others. True metta is devoid of self-interest. It evokes within a warm-hearted feeling of fellowship, sympathy & love, which grows boundless with practice & overcomes all social, religious, racial, political & economic barriers. Metta is indeed a universal, unselfish & all-embracing love.

Metta makes one a pure font of well-being & safety for others. Just as a mother gives her own life to protect her child, so metta only gives & never wants anything in return. To promote one’s own interest is a primordial motivation of human nature. When this urge is transformed into the desire to promote the interest & happiness of others, not only is the basic urge of self-seeking overcome, but the mind becomes universal by identifying its own interest with the interest of all. By making this change one also promotes one’s own well-being in the best possible manner.

Metta is the protective & immensely patient attitude of a mother who forbears all difficulties for the sake of her child & ever protects it despite its misbehavior. Metta is also the attitude of a friend who wants to give one the best to further one’s well-being. If these qualities of metta are sufficiently cultivated through metta-bhavana — the meditation on universal love — the result is the acquisition of a tremendous inner power which preserves, protects & heals both oneself & others.

Apart from its higher implications, today metta is a pragmatic necessity. In a world menaced by all kinds of destructiveness, metta in deed, word & thought is the only constructive means to bring concord, peace & mutual understanding. Indeed, metta is the supreme means, for it forms the fundamental tenet of all the higher religions as well as the basis for all benevolent activities intended to promote human well-being.

Acharya Buddharakkhita (1922-2013) was an Indian Buddhist monk & prolific writer who established the Maha Bodhi Society of Bengaluru. with the main objective of reviving teachings of Buddha in the land of its origin, India. For those intererested, the above is an introduction to an in-depth exploration of various facets of metta, both in theory & in practice. This extended piece from 1995 is presented on the website Access to Insight, which is an invaluable resource for readings in Theravada Buddhism.