Love Meditation

Love Meditation
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s commentary on
the Mettā Sutta to expand our love
to be all-inclusive and all-embracing
The Buddha offered many meditations on love.
When a group of monks told him that the spirits
living near their forest monastery were causing
others to suffer, the Buddha taught the Mettā
Sutta, also known as the Discourse on Love:
He who wants to attain peace should
practice being upright, humble, and
capable of using loving speech. He will
know how to live simply and happily, with
senses calmed, without being covetous
and carried away by the emotions of the
majority. Let him not do anything that will
be disapproved of by the wise ones. And
this is what he contemplates:
“May everyone be happy and safe, and
may their hearts be filled with joy.
“May all living beings live in security and
peace, beings who are frail or strong, tall
or short, big or small, visible or not visible,
near or far away, already born or yet to
be born. May all of them dwell in perfect
tranquility.
“Let no one do harm to anyone. Let no one
put the life of anyone in danger. Let no
one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone
any harm.
“Just as a mother loves and protects her
only child at the risk of her own life, we
should cultivate boundless love to offer to
all living beings in the entire cosmos.
“Let our boundless love pervade the whole
universe, above, below, and across. Our
love will know no obstacles, our heart will
be absolutely free from hatred and enmity.
Whether standing or walking, sitting or
lying, as long as we are awake, we should
maintain this mindfulness of love in our
own heart. This is the noblest way of
living.
“Free from wrong views, greed, and sensual desires, living in beauty and realizing
perfect understanding, those who practice
boundless love will certainly transcend
birth and death.”
After several months of reciting and practicing the Mettā Sutta, the monks came to
understand the sufferings of the troubled
spirits. As a result, the spirits began to
practice, also. They became filled with the
energy of love, and the whole forest was
peaceful.1
• • • • •

The Buddha also offered many specific exercises
to help his disciples practice and realize the Four
Immeasurable Minds:
When your mind is filled with love, send
it in one direction, then a second, a third,
and a fourth, then above, and then below.
Identify with everything, without hatred,
resentment, anger, or enmity. This mind of
love is very wide. It grows immeasurably
and eventually is able to embrace the
whole world. Practice the same way with
your mind filled with compassion, then
joy, then equanimity.2
With his mind filled with love, the monk
permeates one direction, and then a second, a third, a fourth, above, below, and
all around, everywhere identifying himself
with all. He permeates the whole world
with his mind filled with love, wide, far, developed, unbound, free from hatred and ill
will. He does the same with his mind filled
with compassion, joy, and equanimity.3
When the energy of love is strong in us, we can
send it to beings in all directions. We may imagine
our love as being like waves of sound or light, or
like a pure white cloud that forms slowly and gradually spreads out to envelop the whole world. But
the love meditation is not only an act of imagination. A true cloud produces rain. Sound and light
penetrate everywhere, and our love must do the
same. We have to observe whether our mind of
love is present in our actual contact with others.
Practicing love meditation in the sitting position is
only the beginning.
Love meditation is an important beginning.
We sit quietly and look deeply into ourselves. With
practice, our love will increase naturally, becoming
all-inclusive and all-embracing. As we learn to see
with the eyes of love, we empty our mind of anger
and hatred. As long as these negative mental formations are present in us, our love is incomplete.
We may think we understand and accept others,
but we are not yet able to love them fully. Nāgārjuna
says, “At the time you practice the Immeasurable
Mind of Love, you must look deeply in order to face
your anger and hatred.”4
In the introduction to Nāgārjuna’s Mahāprajñāpāramitā Shastra, Étienne Lamotte, the
translator, wrote, “The Four Immeasurable Minds
are just platonic ideals,” mere ideas, not something
that can be realized. Although Professor Lamotte
was an excellent translator, he was not actually familiar with Buddhist practice. The moment we give
rise to the desire for all beings to be happy and at
peace, the energy of love arises in our mind, and all
our feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and
consciousness are permeated by love; in fact, they
become love. This is no mere “ideal.” Nāgārjuna
addresses this directly:
When we want beings in all directions to
be happy, there arises in us the intention
to love. This desire to love enters our feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and
consciousness; and it becomes manifested in all our actions, speech, and other
mental activities. Events that are neither
mental nor physical arising after that are
Practicing love
meditation is like
digging deep into the
ground until we reach
the purest water.
We look deeply into
ourselves until insight
arises and our love
flows to the surface.

in accord with love and can in themselves
be called love, as love is their root. These
events determine our future actions, and
they are directed by our will, which is now
suffused with love. Will is the energy that
drives our actions and speech. The same is
true with regard to the arising of compassion, joy, and equanimity.5
Mindfulness is the energy that allows us to
look deeply at our body, feelings, perceptions,
mental formations, and consciousness and see
clearly what our real needs are, so we will not
drown in the sea of suffering. Eventually love fills
our mind and our will, and all our actions from that
time on manifest love. Speech and actions are the
fruits of will, so when our will is permeated by love,
our speech and actions are also suffused with love.
We speak only loving and constructive words and
act only in ways that bring happiness and relieve
suffering.
Yet in another passage of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Shastra, Nāgārjuna also says that the
Four Immeasurable Minds are mere aspirations,
that they exist only in our mind. This is much the
same as Professor Lamotte’s platonic ideals. It
was Nāgārjuna who provided the words for
Lamotte! It helps us understand if we remember that Nāgārjuna wanted to advance the views
of the newly emerging Mahāyāna Buddhism, so
he wrote, “Followers of Hīnayāna practice the
Four Immeasurable Minds, but the Immeasurable
Minds they practice are only in the form of aspirations. The Immeasurable Minds, when joined
with the pāramitās of the Mahāyāna,6 are the
Immeasurable Minds of the bodhisattva that can
transform the world.” In his efforts to promote the
Mahāyāna, Nāgārjuna erred in saying that the Four
Immeasurable Minds of the Hīnayāna are merely
internal, without external manifestation. This contradicts his previous words, that when the mind of
love arises, it manifests in our words and our
actions. To say that love, compassion, joy, and
equanimity are only aspirations that exist in the
mind is not correct. We practice not only to give
rise to the Four Immeasurables in our mind, but
also to bring them into the world through our
words and actions. When we practice love meditation, we don’t merely visualize our love spreading into space. We touch the deep sources of love
that are already in us, and then, in the midst of our
daily lives, in our actual contact with others, we express and share our love. We practice until we see
the concrete effects of our love on others, until we
are able to offer peace and happiness to everyone,
even those who have acted toward us in ways that
are most unlovable.
Buddhaghosa, author of The Path of Purification, tells us that when our meditation begins
to bear fruit, we will recognize in ourselves these
signs of a loving mind: (1) our sleep is more relaxed, (2) we do not have nightmares, (3) our
waking state is more at ease, (4) we are not anxious
or depressed, and (5) we are loved and protected
by everyone and everything around us.7
In the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha mentions
eleven advantages of practicing love meditation.
The Buddha speaks in these terms—of what is
advantageous and what is disadvantageous—
because doing so encourages people to practice.
We may imagine our
love as being like
waves of sound or
light, or like a pure
white cloud that
forms slowly and
gradually spreads
out to envelop the
whole world.

The practitioner sleeps well.
2.
Upon waking, she feels well and light in
her heart.
3.
He does not have unpleasant dreams.
4.
She is well-liked by many people. She
feels at ease with everyone. Others,
especially children, like to be near her.
5.
He is dear to the nonhuman species:
birds, fish, elephants, squirrels. Species
that are visible and invisible like to be
near him.
6.
She is supported and protected by gods
and goddesses.
7.
He is protected from fire, poison, and
the sword. He does not need to make
any special effort to avoid them.
8.
She reaches meditative concentration
easily.
9.
His face is bright and clear.
10. At the time of death, her mind is clear.
11. He is reborn in the Brahma Heaven,
where he can continue the practice,
because there is already a Sangha of
those practicing the Four Immeasurable
Minds.8
In the Itivuttaka, the Buddha says if we gather
together all the virtuous actions we have realized
in this world, they are not equal to practicing love
meditation. Building practice centers, making
Buddha figures, casting bells, or doing social work
cannot bring about one-sixteenth of the merit of
practicing love meditation. If we collect together
all the light from the stars, it will not be as bright as
the light of the moon. In the same way, practicing
love meditation is greater than all other virtuous
actions combined.9
Practicing love meditation is like digging deep
into the ground until we reach the purest water.
We look deeply into ourselves until insight arises
and our love flows to the surface. Joy and happiness radiate from our eyes, and everyone around
us benefits from our smile and our presence.
If you take good care of yourself, you help
everyone. You stop being a source of suffering to
the world, and you become a reservoir of joy and
freshness. Here and there are people who know
how to take good care of themselves, who live joyfully and happily. They are our strongest support.
Everything they do, they do for everyone. That is
the meaning of Mahāyāna Buddhism. That is love
meditation.
The Buddha said that if a monk practices love
meditation, even if only for the length of time it
takes to snap one’s fingers, that monk is worthy of
being a monk: “He will not fail in meditative concentration. He will realize the teachings given by
teachers on the path. The food offered to him as
alms will not be wasted. There is no greater virtue
than practicing love meditation every day.”10
If you take good care
of yourself, you help
everyone. You stop
being a source of
suffering to the world,
and you become a
reservoir of joy and
freshness.

1 Sutta Nipāta, Chapter 1, Sutta 8.
2 Madhyama Āgama, Sutra 86.
3 Subha Sutta, Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta 99.
4 Mahāprajñāpāramitā Shastra. A shastra is a treatise
or commentary on the Buddha’s teachings, written by a
great master after the lifetime of the Buddha. This text
is available in Belgium as Le Traité de La Grande Vertu
de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna, translated by Étienne Lamotte
(Louvain, Belgium: Institut Orientaliste, 1949).
5 Mahāprajñāpāramitā Shastra. According to the Buddha,
a human being is composed of five skandhas (elements,
heaps, or aggregates): form, feelings, perceptions, mental
formations, and consciousness. For a full explanation
of practicing love meditation within each of The Five
Skandhas, see Chapter Three [of Teachings on Love by
Thích Nhất Hạnh]. “Events” that are considered neither
mental nor physical are related to our mind and objects
of our mind. They are listed as gain, loss, birth, death,
grammar, literature, time, space, union, separation,
impermanence, quantity, seeing things as similar or
dissimilar, etc. Will, volition, or intention is chetana.
6 The Ten Pāramitās of the Mahāyāna are: dāna
(generosity), shila (precepts), kshanti (forbearance), virya
(energy), dhyāna (meditation), prajña (understanding),
upāya (skillful means), pranidhāna (aspiration), bala
(spiritual power), and jñāna (wisdom).
7 Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, trans., The Path of Purification:
Visuddhimagga, The Classic Manual of Buddhist Doctrine
& Meditation (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1975).
8 Mettā Sutta, Aṅguttara Nikāya, Book 11, Sutta 15.
9 Mettābhāvanā Sutta, Itivuttaka, Sutta 27.
10 Apara-Accha​rasan​ghata​vaggo, Aṅguttara Nikāya, Book
1, Sutta 31.
This is an excerpt from Teachings on Love by Thích Nhất Hạnh,
published by Parallax Press.
If we collect together
all the light from the
stars, it will not be
as bright as the light
of the moon. In the
same way, practicing
love meditation is
greater than all other
virtuous actions
combined.

Loving
Kindness
Meditation
Thích Nhất Hạnh offers this rare
guided mettā meditation.
May I be peaceful and light in my body and in my mind.
May I be safe and free from accidents.
May I be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind, fear,
and worries.
May I know how to look at myself with the eyes of
understanding and compassion.
May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and
happiness in myself.
May I learn how to nourish myself with joy each day.
May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May I not fall into the state of indifference or be caught in the
extremes of attachment or aversion.
May you be peaceful and light in your body and in your mind.
May you be safe and free from accidents.
May you be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind,
fear, and worries.

May you know how to look at yourself with the eyes of
understanding and compassion.
May you be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and
happiness in yourself.
May you learn how to nourish yourself with joy each day.
May you be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May you not fall into the state of indifference or be caught in
the extremes of attachment or aversion.
(And I may help. Just as good as I can.)
May all beings be peaceful and light in their body and in
their mind.
May all beings be safe and free from accidents.
May all beings be free from anger, unwholesome states of
mind, fear, and worries.
May all beings know how to look at themselves with the eyes
of understanding and compassion.
May all beings be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy
and happiness in themselves.
May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy
each day.
May all beings be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May all beings not fall into the state of indifference or be
caught in the extremes of attachment or aversion.
On December 31, 2009, Thầy offered this meditation and taught the Mettā
Sutra as part of a special Dharma talk for the New Year at Upper Hamlet, Plum
Village, France. This meditation is available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.
com/watch?app=desktop&v=5luvQp--B8U) and in the Plum Village App. The
full original talk is available at https://tnhaudio.org/2010/01/01/practicesfor-the-new-year/. Bio on page 7.
Next page photo by Joel & Jasmin Førestbird