Mettā in Depth: Toward a Lasting Practice

Narā sabho anekesu bhavesu tiṃsa pāramī
Namāmi sirasā niccaṃ puretvā āgato varaṃ
Mokkhaṃ nātho abhijanto dhavayaṃ hitvā saratdakaṃ
Moṭhaṃ vanesa vadhukāraṃ namāmi sira sādaraṃ

The Bull among Men, who possesses the thirty perfections,
through lives and births beyond counting, has come well.
I bow down and pay homage to the Bull among Men,
that excellent one, with my head, always…
I bow to the Dhamma too…
I bow to all the noble Saṅgha too,
with a respectful and devoted heart…

Words of Rejoicing

In the spirit of Mettā in Depth: Toward a Lasting Practice, it is our wish that all who read this book may reach a state of mettā (loving-kindness) that is deep and immersive, with hearts gentle and soft, full of love and care, both for themselves and for others, truly.

This book will be of benefit if you read it slowly, think it over slowly, reflect on it, and train in it and practice it, applying it in every activity of your life. Making mettā arise must begin with loving yourself rightly, a true love that touches the heart, free of taṇhā (craving), māna (conceit) and diṭṭhi (views), and then spreading it out to all beings without measure, able to break down the boundaries without choosing whether someone is dear, neutral, or even an enemy. Once mettā has arisen strongly, it develops into karuṇā (compassion), muditā (sympathetic joy) and upekkhā (equanimity), in their proper order, so that one can go “in depth into mettā” toward “a lasting practice”: raising the mind so that it develops and grows, becomes steady and firmly established, until it reaches the level of absorption, and becomes the foundation for developing vipassanā (insight) knowledge, for seeing things as they truly are, and the way to realizing the path, the fruit, and nibbāna in the end.

We rejoice with all of you who have made the effort and joined hands and hearts to bring this book to completion, passing on the teachings of the Perfectly Self-Awakened Buddha for the benefit of others. This honors the virtues of the Triple Gem, both by offerings of material things and by offerings of practice.

May the virtues of the Triple Gem and the goodness born of your wholesome intentions lead the stream of your lives along the path of the Victorious One, with dhammānudhamma-paṭipatti, that is, practicing the Dhamma in a way fitting the supramundane Dhamma: taking the Three Refuges and training in the threefold training of sīla (virtue), samatha (calm) and vipassanā, to attain the path and fruit of arahantship and reach anupādā-parinibbāna, final release without clinging, the end of defilement and the mass of suffering, for every one of us.

October 2022

Preface

We have all long been familiar with the word “mettā.” We were taught to be good people with mettā from the time we were children, without ever knowing what true mettā is. As we grew up, took on responsibilities and had to deal with many people, we began to feel the happiness in our hearts shrinking, little by little. Life became rushed, and we were more easily stressed, troubled and suffering over all kinds of things.

We do not have mettā even for ourselves. We say “mettā,” but our hearts have never been mettā…

When the talks on mettā that our teacher, Phra Ajahn, gave at the mettā meditation course in Phetchaburi Province came to an end, my view of myself and of this world had changed completely. I had come to know true love, which is mettā, in its refined and profound dimensions, deep and subtle, unfolding in stages. The Dhamma of the Perfectly Self-Awakened Buddha, passed on by Phra Ajahn, is beautiful, and it serves to help beings out of suffering.

At that time I saw the benefit this could bring to a great many more people, so I set my heart on summarizing the Dhamma and making a book, to pass it on so that people might have the chance to reach mettā, to know mettā, to practice it rightly, and to find happiness.

The book Mettā in Depth: Toward a Lasting Practice can truly be said to have been driven by wholesome minds, beginning with the sound of the true Dhamma voiced with a mind of mettā. Every letter typed with care and every illustration arose from the Dhamma of the Perfectly Self-Awakened Buddha moving in the life-streams of everyone involved with this book.

So this is a book in which you can feel the power of goodness, a book that teaches the development of mettā and truly radiates love and mettā.

On behalf of every life-stream involved, I take this book as the principal offering and humbly offer it to the Buddha-jewel, the Dhamma-jewel and the Saṅgha-jewel.

I humbly offer every pair of eyes that has had a part in making this book, and every pair of eyes that will read it, in honor of the immeasurable virtues of the Triple Gem.

I humbly offer every pair of hands that has had a part in making this book, and every pair of hands that will touch it, in honor of the immeasurable virtues of the Triple Gem.

I humbly offer every wholesome state of mind that arises because of this book: wholesome minds in all three times, those that have arisen, those arising now and those that will arise in the future; wholesome minds in the human realm, the deva realms and the brahma realms, together with all the associated states that arise with them. I gather them all and humbly offer them in honor of the immeasurable virtues of the Triple Gem.

By the merit of honoring those worthy of honor, may we all be firm in the Triple Gem. May the Triple Gem protect our life-streams for as long as we still wander in saṃsāra (the round of rebirth). May we all have right view, meet good spiritual friends, and meet the true Dhamma, excellent, genuine, pure and complete.

And by the merit of this gift of Dhamma, may it be a condition, a strong support, a cause well accomplished, for all of us to reach the path, the fruit and nibbāna, the supreme Dhamma, in due time.

We bow in deep gratitude to Phra Ajahn, who has given of himself so fully to teach his disciples the meaning of the word “mettā”: a pure love, “true love,” not “false love.”

By the great power of mettā, the team wishes everyone happiness of body, happiness of mind, and safety.

The Dhammasomthob team
October 2022