Practice Unconditional Love Through Metta Meditation
Metta meditation is an ancient Buddhist spiritual practice.
With the objective of developing unconditional inner positivity, Metta meditation can take many forms but all pursue the same goal: to soften our emotions and make us happier.
Contents :
Discover this meditation in video format
What is the principle of Metta?
The effects of this meditation
Discover this meditation in video format
What is the principle of Metta?
Metta meditation is a form of active meditation where, instead of focusing our attention on our breath, our physical sensations, or an external object, we focus on sending benevolent vibrations and intentions into the world.
In this sense, Metta meditation is a gift, a present that we give but which, as we will see, brings to us too. Indeed, the practice of Metta consists of saying positive and kind things to yourself, such as “I love you. I accept you ". The idea behind this is simple: on the one hand we work on our capacity to love, on the other hand we learn how pleasant it is to be loved (and will therefore naturally seek to share this feeling).
To be realized, Metta will sometimes require the visualization of a person, a place or simply an object towards which our mind will move. Some also like to imagine animals or, why not, particular scenes that they have experienced.
This meditation itself was taught by the Buddha several millennia ago. Despite its great antiquity, it is still practiced today in Buddhist communities according to the principle once stated by this great sage:
“ All beings must be comfortable. Whoever they may be, whether weak or strong, omit none, whether great or powerful, medium or small, whether visible or invisible, whether near or far, whether born or unborn, may all beings receive your love. »
Originally, “Metta” is a Pali word (an ancient Indian language) which could be translated as “benevolence, kindness and friendship”. Truly, there is real goodness behind this concept!
In fact, the Buddhist tradition of India divides love into four main principles:
- Consideration, or Karuna
- Kindness, or Metta
- Serenity, or Upekkha
- Joy, or Mudita
Thus, Metta meditation aims to effectively put into practice one of the areas of love. Just that. In fact, here we better understand the many nicknames for this form of active meditation: “unconditional love meditation”, “loving-kindness meditation”, etc.
Calm down, relax
thanks to meditation and its tools
The effects of this meditation
Metta meditation will therefore allow you to put love and kindness into practice.
From the development of these two essential qualities will come a whole host of others that you can apply to others, but also to yourself.
More compassion
Learning to send more love to the world will inevitably be the site of a profound spiritual transformation.
Love has many facets. Compassion is undoubtedly one of the most important in the sense that it heals. Applied to others, it allows us to provide support and help to those who need it. Applied to yourself, it allows you not to judge yourself and to accept your mistakes. Truly, compassion will make you a better person, and a happier person.
In short, practicing Metta will help you develop authentic kindness and transform you into a good being for the world. When we know how much the universe always returns the positivity we send it, it's easy to understand how much all of this will bring us. Law of the boomerang, karma, cosmic balance: call this phenomenon what you want, but the fact is that it exists and that Metta meditation will make us benefit from it.
Strengthening social ties
Not too surprisingly, Metta meditation can also strengthen social relationships. You will see it for yourself, but reciting positive sentences to ourselves will quickly no longer be enough for us and we will naturally want to put Metta into practice in our daily lives, with our loved ones and our friends.
Additionally, by developing self-love, you will be less likely to view yourself negatively and pass poor judgment on yourself. However, all psychologists agree on this point: a poor self-image, complexes or repressed emotions are the source of many ills. By learning to love ourselves, we sweep away many of these harmful roots and make room in our minds for love. It then becomes easier to accept others and cultivate caring social bonds.
More positive emotions every day
If you understand what true love is, you will understand that Metta meditation will make your everyday emotions more positive. However, this goes far beyond the scope of “simple” spirituality!
Recent studies have demonstrated how the regular practice of Metta and loving-kindness increases the production of certain hormones (such as serotonin or oxytocin) or activates the parasympathetic nervous system (which makes us calm and serene, in opposition to the friendly which wakes us up and stresses us out).
Also in terms of felt well-being, Metta has broad effects. Elements such as greater positivity, a feeling of happiness, lightness or greater vitality have been noted by "skeptics" after practicing such meditations daily for several weeks.
Greater longevity
A large number of studies speak of the positive impact of Metta mediation on brain aging. Concretely. Practicing Metta meditation would help preserve cognitive abilities and reduce the risk of certain age-related diseases.
Many theories exist regarding this effect of Metta, but one in particular is interesting: that of telomeres.
Telomeres are DNA structures located at the end of each chromosome. To put it simply, we could say that they serve to protect our genetic code. As we age, our telomeres shorten. Other factors can accelerate this process, such as drug use or chronic stress, but aging remains a central factor.
In summary, Metta meditation would have a positive impact on the degeneration of telomeres, and therefore on the longevity of our brain.
Preparing for Metta meditation
The practice of Metta simply consists of reciting a few sentences, kind thoughts that will cultivate our positivity.
Much easier to perform than others, this meditation requires no special preparation.
Whether you're at home, on the bus or even at work, you just need to have around twenty minutes to spare. Nothing else is requested.
This moment will be divided into two parts: the guided meditation and the personal reflection that you will have on it, which will also take you a few minutes.
Yes, after each Metta meditation session, it is essential to spend a little time to fully understand what you have just experienced. I advise you to prepare a small notebook which will serve as a logbook, and which you will fill out after each of your guided meditations.
That being said, sit back, straighten up and take a few moments to leave your other activities aside.
We can now begin.
The different steps
These different stages are actually supposed to follow each other harmoniously, rather than being cut into separate parts.
After all, this guided meditation forms a whole constructed as a single work, a single tool capable of functioning in its uniqueness.
In video and audio, no distinction is made.
The following breakdown therefore has the sole purpose of helping you, a posteriori, to understand the modes of action implemented within the framework of this meditation.
Step #0: Visualization of kindness personified
Without forcing or concentrating, relax and simply follow the few instructions that I will give you.
Close your eyes.
Think of someone you love. It could be a loved one, a parent, a friend, a guide. Try to imagine this person in front of you. This person loves you and sends you their love. She wishes your well-being, your fulfillment and your happiness.
This person invites you to open your heart and cultivate love with them.
Step #1: Recitation of the four sentences of Metta
You will now say four sentences. Out loud or in your head, do whatever you want. I will say a sentence, then you give time to repeat it, and so on for all four. Let's get started.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
Let me be safe.
May I be at peace.
As you recite these phrases, be aware of their meaning. Take the time to say them slowly, and weigh each word.
May… I… be happy…
May… I… be in good health…
That… I… am safe…
May… I… be appeased…
Step #2: Awareness of benevolence personified
Continue to visualize this person from the beginning of the exercise. More than a simple being, she personifies kindness and benevolence... a bit as if these emotions were visible, present with you.
Notice how this image soothes, calms and makes you happy.
Recite the four sentences again.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
Let me be safe.
May I be at peace.
Step #3: Cultivating love at all times
Now that this kindness and love is yours, we can move on to the next part of the meditation.
You will now imagine a situation or a person that is unpleasant to you. It could be an unpleasant co-worker, dog poop you step in, or anything downright irritating.
Think about it and fix this image in your head.
It is time to recite the four sentences.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
Let me be safe.
May I be at peace.
Enjoy the effect of these words. Feel how it animates your love and kindness, how they warm your heart.
This unpleasant image that you have in your head is no match for them, and the negativity that emanated from it is no longer even perceptible.
Recite the sentences again.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
Let me be safe.
May I be at peace.
Step #4: Send compassion to the world
You have learned to cultivate real kindness, which remains strong no matter what. Now is the time to share this precious treasure with the world.
You will now visualize as many people, things, animals, living beings as possible. A bit like if you zoom out of the image, the crowd gradually gets bigger. This large crowd is made up of sad or happy people, birds, even plants. Dozens and dozens, hundreds, thousands. A crowd so big you wouldn't know how to describe a particular individual in it. Which grows, again and again.
Without trying to visualize one in particular, simply having awareness of all these beings, of their great number.
Recite the four phrases again.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
Let me be safe.
May I be at peace.
See how you send this love not only to yourself, but also to the world in its entirety.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
Let me be safe.
May I be at peace.
Step #5: End of meditation
Metta meditation is now complete. You can offer the eyes.
Take some time to think about the meaning of what just happened. Notice what you felt, what you experienced, and what you shared with the world.
Other guided meditations in our series
Among the many objects that we offer to our community, we have notably collected some meditation tools.
Here is the collection in question, made up of objects from cultures from the four corners of the world but sharing the same goal: to help the practice of meditation or, quite simply, relaxation and relaxation.
In short, you will find singing bowls, various musical instruments, flags and decorations, reiki pendulums and even certain ingredients and crystals.
Here is also a collection of free books that may help you in your life. Between healthy eating, self-hypnosis, prayers and self-confidence, many themes are covered in our library which, once again, has been entirely open to you.
If you would like to discover our other meditations, here is the section of our blog which brings them all together.
Here too, we wanted to deal with the most varied themes possible (within the limits of our knowledge, of course).
If, however, you do not find what you are looking for there, do not hesitate to tell us by leaving a comment in the section at the end of one of the meditations: we will read it and try to take it into account in our future work. !
