When I was following Goenka’s technique, after ānāpāna meditation I used to listen to his mettā song in Hindi. It created waves in my body, but my thoughts overwhelmed me. There was an overwhelming empathy that made me cry, and it became exhausting. I now understand that what I was doing was not really mettā meditation.
So can someone please tell me what mettā meditation actually is?
When I chant words like kalyān ho (may you be prosperous, may your life go toward well-being and benefit) or maṅgal ho (may there be auspiciousness, may everything be blessed and favorable), I feel peaceful. While walking, can I chant such words to share mettā? I smile and chant these words.
Please tell me mettā meditation techniques in detail, the way we know the steps of ānāpāna-sati.
I think we should start in our normal life- do we have friendly thoughts to those we meet everyday or are we just having attachment or indifference or aversion.
If someone cuts us off when we are driving do we instantly forgive them and mentally wish them well - or do we silently curse them..
Little by little we can remember the teachings and change our attitude to our fellow beings..
What I do I if someone mean to me …I try to forgive them . Obviously my mind makes to much revange scenarios but I now know this is bad and I will say ..i forgive u …may u find peace…
As doing anything intentionally will generate bad kamma ..even intentionally ignoring such person..
But I want to learn metta and want to stay in metta jhana
There are so many excellent reminders in the texts about the four Brahmavihāras and bringing these to mind helps us to understand the characteristic of metta and the others.
Like the Bodhisatta (this is about the quality of upekkha, rather than metta) when he was born as a prince and his father the King got enraged when his mother kept all her attention on the new baby . The King ordered the royal executioner to kill him to spite the mother. It is said the baby thought this is the time not to have attachment to my grieving mother or aversion for my ruthless father - instead he used that short time to develop equanimity. Culladhammapāla Jataka 358
You can look at the visuddhimagga or Knowing and seeing By Ven Pa-Auk Sayadaw.
Goenka does not really teach mettā. He teaches feeling love. However, I think he says the phrases but does not really tell you that you should remember the phrases.
Yes.. I think that that is the big problem outside of the Classical Theravaāda world. The focus is on real objects and often 5 sense based during the samatha phase of meditation. It cannot be like that. Samatha is a mind door only object. The sense prime the pump for a mind door object to be taken as paññatti, but should not be taken as real objects for samatha. The body should not react, it should be calm and in the mind, just like when you are in deep thought about planning something, or deep thought about a person you think well of and wish to be well and happy. The latter is closest mettā if done correctly.