Jesse asks, how important is metta meditation?
It's not something I've done often.
I'm not even certain I know how to do it correctly.
It is very important because metta is very important for this world.
It is something that for somebody being on the Buddhist path or practicing the Buddhist teaching should be developed.
We can
practice metta either as a separate metta meditation or included in our meditation of vipassana by examining the mind by making sure that it arises from time to time and
I think Bhante has a very good talk on that, how and when metta meditation should be done and can be done.
And maybe he wants to say more on that later, but for your question, yes it is very important.
If you want a really good discussion or explanation of all four of the Brahma Viharas, Mahasi Sayadaw did a book on the Brahma Viharas, so you can look him up.
I can never recommend anything more than Mahasi Sayadaw's teaching, so I would recommend looking up that book.
It's quite a big volume and it actually gives detailed instructions on how to develop loving-kindness.
I guess he was asked these questions as well, and so he had to...
come up with it.
But I think he's quite clear about putting it in its place.
There's, as I said just before this, that there's two ways of understanding it.
One, you can use it as, and Palanjani said basically the same thing, you can use it as a support for your meditation or you can use it to develop
jhana to develop samatha tranquility meditation, but the latter should be done with a qualified teacher who's going to lead you through that, lead you to the jhanas.
Does metta lead to the jhanas?
I can't remember.
Yeah, metta leads to the first three jhanas.
So...
I would recommend it.
We often do it after our meditation practice.
So after you finish your practice you can do it.
You can also do it before your practice to clear up some thoughts.
You can also do it during your practice when you get angry about someone.
You can make a determination when you're really frustrated about someone.
You can make a determination to set your mind straight.
Is that what I was talking about in the talk?
That metta actually has a benefit not just of developing love, but about straightening out your mind.
Because you have a misunderstanding.
You have this crookedness in your mind.
And so it's helping you to realize that's not the correct way to relate to people.
Not just to give up the anger, but to give up the delusion as well.
The delusion which says this person is bad and so on.
When you send metta, you realize you develop right view, the right view that what is proper is for all beings to be happy and so on.
So you're not just developing love, you're also developing right view, which is quite useful.
This is the same with focusing on the ugly parts of the body.
It doesn't just give up lust, it gives up wrong view, the wrong view that this body is
is beautiful.
The wrong view that gives rise to lust, that says that lust is good and so on, or attachment to the body is good.
I think there is a talk, but it's probably hard to find because I wasn't naming them back during those talks.
It's on the audio page.
Yeah, I wanted to mention that.
It was an audio talk, not a video talk.
I'm trying to find it and name it.
And the other thing I wanted to mention is that when you do it after the meditation practice, that you want to add some metta meditation or before you start your vipassana meditation, I would recommend to make a clear break, not to confuse both parts.
I clearly know now I'm starting metta meditation and getting out of the mental noting.
what you can do in and and and send out matter then what you can do in your daily life is that you can when you become aware through your mindfulness that you have
throughout the day and you know that you don't have metta or that you know that you are angry or upset or hurt or whatever, you can direct your mind towards metta for yourself or for another being.
That can be done without making a break in whatever you are doing.
But when you do it before or after the vipassana meditation with the noting, then you should make a clear break in your mind.
Sumedha asked me, how do we note when we are practicing loving-kindness meditation?
What is the noting that we do?
But I think at one point you were asking me how we do it and trying to figure it out.
That's what I remember anyway.
So yeah, the point was that you don't have to know.
But I think you could.
Just like when you're giving a Dhamma talk, when you're teaching, when I'm speaking right now, I can be mindful of the, you know, I'm not bragging about myself, but it's possible that when you're talking, to be mindful of the movements of your lips.
It's possible that when you're giving, when you're practicing metta meditation,
to suddenly switch to vipassana and watch the feelings and be mindful of them.
But it's not the point of metta meditation.
Mahasi Sayadaw was explaining when you're giving a gift, some people will say the only way to give a gift is to say moving, moving, placing, you know, when you give alms to the monks.
scooping, raising, placing.
And he said, that's not the point.
When someone gives a gift, they want to make a determination to be born in heaven and so on, to get rich and so on or whatever.
He was saying to make a determination.
Like in the olden times, in the stories in ancient times, monks who became enlightened did it because they made a determination.
They gave a gift
And then they made a determination, may I become enlightened based on this gift or so on.
And at the time when you're making the determination, it shouldn't be with mindfulness.
It should be with full intention that this is for this person and for the benefit of my own mind that I may become free from suffering.
So you're in the conceptual realm and it's a conceptual practice.
Giving is a conceptual practice.
And
Menta is a conceptual practice.
So during that time you practice menta.
In the end all you need is vipassana.
But the point is that we live in a conceptual reality most of the time.
And so to come to terms with those concepts, to allow us to develop in vipassana meditation, you have to use... No audio?
You have to use... No audio?
No video?
Yeah, that's okay.
I mean, this is recording the audio.
There's no problem.
So anyway, that's fine.
That's all for now.