Vad metta är
(enl. Bodhipaksa, Wildmind.)
Vilken underbar lista:
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Metta is a recognition of the basic solidarity that we have with others
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Metta is empathy. It’s the willingness to see the world from another’s point of view
• Metta is wishing others well
• Metta is friendliness, consideration, kindness, generosity, patience, understanding, considerateness, love, helpfulness
• Metta is the basis for compassion. When our metta meets another’s suffering, it transforms into compassion
• Metta is the most fulfilling emotional state we can know. To wish another well is to wish that they themselves be in a state of metta
• Metta is the fulfilment of the emotional development of every human being. It’s the potential emotional maturity inherent in each one of us
• Metta is more that just an emotion. It’s an attitude. We can act out of an attitude of metta even when we do not ourselves feel happy, or even when we don’t subjectively feel loving
• Metta is the answer to almost every problem the world faces today. Money won’t do it. Technology won’t do it. Where there is no good will, there is no way to make positive change. Metta can positively transform the world like no other quality
Och sedan vad metta inte är:
• Metta isn’t the same as feeling good. When we feel mett! we do generally feel more joyful and happy, but it’s possible to feel good and for that not to be metta. We can feel good but also be rather selfish and inconsiderate, for example. Metta is an attitude of actively caring about others.
• Metta isn’t all or nothing. Just as our anger can reveal itself in many intensities from mild irritation to fury, our metta can make itself known as anything from polite behaviour to a passionate love for all that lives.
• Metta isn’t something new or unknown to us. We all experience metta. Every time you feel pleasure in seeing someone do well, or are patient with someone who’s a bit difficult, you’re experiencing metta. In the Metta Bhavana you are cultivating what is already there.
• Metta isn’t a denial of your experience. To practise mett! doesn’t mean ‘being nice’ in a false way. Even if you don’t like someone or disapprove of their actions, you can still have their welfare at heart. This is one of the greatest miracles in the world, since it liberates us from the endless round of violence and revenge, whether on a global or personal level.