Friendliness (metta) is always the answer

Ven. Jayasara, Ayya Vimalanyani (Buddhist Insights); Dhr. Seven, Ananda (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Buddhist Insights, streamed live on May 25, 2022) Metta ("boundless benevolence, limitless goodwill, universal altruistic love, agape, loving kindness," Sanskrit maitri) is always the answer.

Kwan Yin Goddess of Compassion

Western Buddhist monk Bhante Jayasara guides a metta meditation session and shares words of Dhamma on how to apply metta in everyday life. To learn more about Buddhist Insights:  linktr.ee/buddhistinsights. Live from Empty Cloud Monastery, New Jersey (buddhistinsights.org)

• [EDITOR'S NOTE: Real metta, that is, consummated metta to have its 11 benefits and provide a direct benefit to others, as it is always beneficial to us, requires absorption (jhana). This is not clear to most, but meditative absorption entered through metta practice is felt by others, calms others, can put others into or near absorption. It becomes a force field like the Buddha generated, bringing an enraged elephant to heel, making being harmed by fire, weapons, venoms, and poisons impossible. Metta will be good karma for the generator, but when it is friendliness with absorption, it is magical, a spiritual power, a disarming ability that defies explanation. Until absorption through metta everything said about metta will sound like a gross exaggeration.]

(May 24, 2022) Western Buddhist nun Ayya Vimalanyani on metta

11 Benefits of Metta

The Pali canon says that there are eleven benefits that come from practicing metta meditation. One:

1. sleeps easily and wakes easily
2. dreams no evil dreams
3. is dear to human beings and non-human beings
4. is protected by devas
5. is unharmed by fire
6. is unharmed by poison
7. is unharmed by weapons
8. gains mental concentration (samadhi) quickly
9. has a bright complexion
10. dies unconfused and 
11. is reborn in brahma worlds or higher. More

• [Again, these will all accrue as a result of meditative absorption, or jhana, rather than merely making the effort to practice friendliness. The range of a mind/heart attained to jhana is one of Four Imponderables. It is so much more powerful than we can contemplate. Otherwise, our efforts in the direction of universal friendliness will be faulty and cannot expect all of these eleven benefits. Indeed, people find the flow and effortless of jhana too hard to "do," but that is no reason to denigrate it.]