Metta Meditation (also known as metta bhavana) is focused on the emotion of loving-kindness. Metta means love (in the non-romantic sense), friendliness or kindness. Bhavana means development or cultivation.

As you begin this meditation focus on the emotion of compassion felt in the heart. Start with about 5 minutes for each of the 5 stages.

Feel free to use the images and mantras for all of the stages or to leave them out. If you have a recording device on your phone or computer you can read this and then listen to the meditation or pass it along to your favourite meditation/yoga teacher and ask to have it in the next class you attend.

Stage 1

• Feel loving-kindness (metta) for yourself
• Become aware of your breath and this moment
• Focus on feelings of peace, calm, and tranquillity
• Begin to feel strong and confident and feel love growing in your heart
• If an image helps – visualize golden light flooding your body
• If a mantra helps – say to yourself, ‘may I be well and happy’

Stage 2

• Bring a good friend to mind – think of all of their good qualities
• Feel your connection with your friend and metta towards them
• Mantra to say to yourself – ‘may they be well, may they be happy’
• Image – shining light from your heart to theirs

Stage 3

• Bring to mind a person that you don’t have a like or dislike towards
• Can be someone you don’t know well – your feelings are neutral to them
• Reflect on their humanity and send them metta
• Use the same mantra and image as stage 2 if that helps

Stage 4

• Bring to mind someone you dislike
• Try not to get caught up in the details of why and the feelings of dislike
• Think of this person in a positive light and send them metta

Stage 5

• Think of all the people from this meditation – self, friend, neutral person and enemy
• Extend your feelings to everyone around you in this room, building, town, country, world and then universe
• Send out waves of loving-kindness from your heart to every being
• Begin to relax out of this meditation, come back to the breath and to this place
• Tip forward slightly and let your eyes blink open when you are ready