Mettā

Mettā (Pāli: मेत्ता) or maitrī (Sanskrit) has been translated as "loving-kindness,"Bodhi (2005), pp. 90, 131, 134, passim; Gethin (1998), pp. 26, 30, passim [spelled as two words: "loving kindness"]; Harvey (2007), pp. 247-8 [spelled without a hyphen: "lovingkindness"]; Ñāamoli & Bodhi (2001), pp. 120, 374, 474, passim; Salzberg (1995), passim [without a hyphen]; Walshe (1995), p. 194.Warder (2004), pp. 63, 94. "friendliness,"Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 540, entry for "Mettā," retrieved 2008-04-29 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:177.pali.Monier Williams, 1964, p. 834, entry for "Maitrī," retrieved 2008-04-29 from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0834-meSUraNa.jpg.Kamalashila (1996). "benevolence," "amity," "friendship," "good will," "kindness,"Gombrich (2002), p. 64-5. "love," "sympathy," and "active interest in others." It is one of the ten pāramitās of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four Brahmavihāras. The mettā bhāvanā ("cultivation of mettā") is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism.
The object of mettā meditation is loving kindness (love without Upādāna, that is, attachment). Traditionally, the practice begins with the meditator cultivating loving kindness towards themselves,Regarding the cultivation of loving kindness towards oneself, this is not specifically recommended by the Buddha himself in the pertinent canonical discourses but is inferred in the commentarial literature from other discourses. then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, enemies, and finally towards all sentient beings. Commonly, it can be used as a greeting or closing to a letter or note.
Buddhists believe that those who cultivate mettā will be at ease because they see no need to harbour ill will or hostility. Buddhist teachers may even recommend meditation on mettā as an antidote to insomnia and nightmares. It is generally felt that those around a mettā-full person will feel more comfortable and happy too. Radiating mettā is thought to contribute to a world of love, peace and happiness.
Mettā meditation is considered a good way to calm down a distraught mind by people who consider it to be an antidote to anger. According to them, someone who has cultivated mettā will not be easily angered and can quickly subdue anger that arises, being more caring, more loving, and more likely to love unconditionally. Recent neurological studies have shown that compassion meditation can increase one's capabilities for empathy by changing activity in brain areas such as the temporal parietal juncture and the insula, and increase the subject's ability to understand the mental and emotional states of othershttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326204236.htm as well as deal more effectively with external stressors.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081007172902.htm
==Mettā meditation: the practice of loving-kindness==
Mettā signifies friendship and non-violence as well as "a strong wish for the happiness of others", but also less obvious or direct qualities such as showing patience, receptivity, and appreciation. Though it refers to many seemingly disparate ideas, Mettā is in fact a very specific form of love – a caring for another independent of all self-interest – and thus is likened to one's love for one's child or parent. Understandably, this energy is often difficult to describe in words; however, in the practice of Mettā meditation, one recites specific words and phrases in order to evoke this "boundless warm-hearted feeling." The strength of this feeling is not limited to or by family, religion, or social class. Indeed, Mettā is a tool that permits one's generosity and kindness to be applied to all beings and, as a consequence, one finds true happiness in another person's happiness, no matter who the individual is.
==Visuddhimagga method: Six stages==
Contemporary metta practice is often based on a method traditionally associated with the 5th c. CE Pali exegetical text, the Visuddhimagga.See, for instance, Kamalashila (1996) and Salzberg (1995). The full instructions for the theory and practice of mettā bhāvanā is available in the Visuddhimagga ("The path to purity"), Chapter IX, of the Buddhist scriptures.Centuries before the Visuddhimagga's famous instructions for metta practice, Upatissa's Vimuttimagga provided a similar though less detailed framework:
:Thus after the yogin has clearly understood the way of destroying hatred, has identified friends, indifferent ones and enemies with himself, and acquired facility in the practice, he should gradually arouse the thought of loving-kindness and develop it for various bhikkhus in (his) dwelling-place.... After that he should develop (loving-kindness for beings) in one direction.... Thus he spreads loving-kindness towards all beings of the four directions, above, below.... (Upatissa et al., 1995, p. 187.)
Interestingly, however, the aforementioned method is not the first one described by Upatissa. Instead, In a manner reminiscent of the Karaniya Metta Sutta (see below), Upatissa starts his description of metta practice with the following:
:Q. What is loving-kindness? What is the practising of it?...
:A. As parents, on seeing their dear and only child, so one arouses thoughts of loving-kindness and benevolence towards that child, so one arouses thoughts of loving-kindness and benevolence towards all beings. Thus is loving-kindness to be known. The undisturbed dwelling of the mind in this practice is called the practising of it.... (Upatissa et al., 1995, p. 181.)
The six stages of mettā bhāvanā meditation which are most commonly found involve cultivating loving-kindness towards:
# YourselfIn the Visuddhimagga, Ch. IX, vv. 8-10 (Buddhaghosa & (1999), pp. 289-90), Buddhaghosa identifies three sources in the Tipitaka for metta practice (the Khuddaka Nikaya's Sutta Nipata 145, the Khuddaka Nikaya's ii.30, and the Abhidhamma's Vibhanga 272); and, in none of these texts is cultivating metta towards oneself mentioned. However, Buddhaghosa states that the Tipitaka references to metta are for the purpose of meditative absorption (such as jhāna practices); whereas cultivating metta towards oneself is instead practiced as "an example" for cultivating metta towards other. That is, one first cultivates metta towards oneself in order to seed metta that is subsequently extended towards others. Buddhaghosa bases this latter approach on the following statement by the Buddha in the canonical Samyutta Nikaya i.75 (also in the Khuddaka Nikaya's Udāna 47):
:Searching all directions
:with one's awareness,
:one finds no one dearer
:than oneself.
:In the same way, others
:are fiercely dear to themselves.
:So one should not hurt others
:if one loves oneself. (Thanissaro, 1994)
# A good friend
# A 'neutral' person
# A difficult personIn the Pāli Canon, a classic example of extending loving-kindness and compassion (Pali: karuṇā) to "difficult persons" can be found in the "Parable of the Saw" sutta (MN 21), where the Buddha provides the following instruction:
:'Monks, even if bandits were to sever you savagely limb by limb with a two-handled saw, he who gave rise to a mind of hate toward them would not be carrying out my teaching. Herein, monks, you should train thus: "Our minds will remain unaffected, and we shall utter no bitter words; we shall abide compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of loving-kindness, never in a mood of hate. We shall abide pervading them with a mind imbued with loving-kindness; and starting with them, we shall abide pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, and without ill will." This is how you should train, monks.' (Bodhi, 2005, pp. 278-79.)
(Excerpts from this sutta are also available on-line at Buddharakkhita, 2006, and Thanissaro, 1997.)
# All four
# and then gradually the entire UniverseKamalashila (1996), p.25-26.
For #2 avoid choosing someone to whom you feel sexually attracted, or that is much younger or much older than yourself, or who is dead. For #3 choose someone that you might come in contact with every day, but who does not give rise to strong positive nor strong negative emotions. For #4 traditionally choose "an enemy", but avoid choosing a person who has just wrecked your life, unless you are very well grounded in awareness. For #5 treat them as equals, equally deserving of loving-kindness.
==Pali Canon texts==
In the Pāli Canon, statements regarding the use of metta traditionally employ one or more of the following devices, often using a stock formula: 
* mental purification
* a verse for wishing others well
* pervading all directions and all beings with loving-kindness. 
The well-known Kakacupama Sutta and Karaniya Metta Sutta use striking metaphors to give these traditional devices vitality. Other canonical material, such as in the Paṭisambhidāmagga, elaborate on these basic devices in a manner that is perpetuated by the later traditional commentaries. Other canonical sources, such as the Abhidhamma, underline the key role of metta in the development of wholesome karma.
===Basic intention and verse===
In Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta ("To Cunda the Silversmith," AN 10.176), the Buddha explains that mental or intentional purity () is threefold: non-greed, non-ill-will and non-delusion. Regarding the manifestation of non-ill-will the discourse describes a virtuous person in the following manner (in English and Pali):
He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. [He thinks,] 'May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!'Thanissaro (1997). Square-bracketed text is part of the original Thanissaro (1997) translation.
Bodhgaya News (n.d.), Anguttara Nikaya, book 5, BJT p. 488, retrieved 2007-11-26 at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=7056.
This basic statement of intention and verse can also be found in several other canonical discourses.In addition to AN 10.176, other discourses that contain this text include: Sāleyyaka Sutta ("The Brahmans of Sala," MN 41) (Ñanamoli & Khantipalo, 1993); Verañjaka Sutta ("The Brahmins of Verañja," MN 42, which is substantially a reiteration of MN 41 in a different locale); Sevitabbāsevitabba Sutta ("To Be Cultivated and Not to Be Cultivated," MN 114) ( & Bodhi, 2001, p. 917); Pahama-niraya-sagga Sutta ("First Discourse on Hell and Heaven," AN 10.211); Dutiya-niraya-sagga Sutta ("Second Discourse on Hell and Heaven," AN 10.212); Pahama-sañcetanika Sutta ("First Discourse on Intentional Actions," AN 10.217); Dutiya-sañcetanika Sutta ("Second Discourse on Intentional Actions," AN 10.218); as well as in the Patisambhidamagga (see below) and the paracanonical Milinda Panha.
===Basic radiating formula===
In over a dozen discourses, the following description (in English and Pali) is provided for radiating metta in six directions:See for instance, in the Digha Nikaya alone, Mahāsudassana Sutta ("The Great Splendor Discourse," DN 17), v. 2.4 (Walshe, 1995, p. 287); Mahāgovinda Sutta ("The Great Steward Discourse," DN 19), v. 59 (Walshe, 1995, p. 312); Udumbarika-Sīhanāda Sutta ("The Great Lion's Roar to the Udumbarikans Discourse," DN 19), v. 17 (Walshe, 1995, pp. 390-391); and Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta ("The Lion's Roar on the Turning of the Wheel Discourse," DN 79), v. 28 (Walshe, 1995, p. 405). 
"He abides, having suffused with a mind of loving-kindness one direction of the world, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth, and so above, below, around and everywhere, and to all as to himself; he abides suffusing the entire universe with loving-kindness, with a mind grown great, lofty, boundless and free from enmity and ill will."This particular English text is from the Nyanaponika (1988) translation of the Vatthūpama Sutta ("Simile of the Cloth," MN 7), v. 12.
Bodhgaya News(n.d.), Majjhima Nikaya, book 1, BJT p. 88, retrieved 2009-08-07 at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=2987.
In the Canon, this basic formula is expanded upon in a variety of ways. For instance, a couple of discoursesSee, for instance, the Subha Sutta ("To Subha," MN 99) ( & Bodhi, 2001, pp. 816-17); 
and, the Tevijja Sutta ("The Threefold Knowledge Discourse," DN 13), vv. 76-77 (Walshe, 1995, p. 194).
See also the Dhānañjāni Sutta ("To Dhānañjāni," MN 97) ( & Bodhi, 2001, p. 796), in which a similar statement about union with Brahma is made by the Ven. Sariputta without the trumpeter metaphor. provide the following description of "the path to the company of Brahmā" ( sahavyatāya maggo) along with a memorable metaphor:
:"What ... is the path to the company of Brahmā? Here a bhikkhu abides pervading one quarter with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the forth; so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself, he abides pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility, and without ill will. When the deliverance of mind by loving-kindness is developed in this way, no limiting action remains there, none persists there.
:"Just as a vigorous trumpeter could make himself heard without difficulty in the four quarters, so too, when the deliverance of mind by loving-kindness is developed in this way, no limiting action remains there, none persists there. This is the path to the company of Brahmā."MN 99 ( & Bodhi, 2001, pp. 816-17). In this translation, this text is presented as one paragraph. Here, it was divided into two, thus following the Pali text presentation, to enhance readability.Given this text's length, relatively uncomplicated translation and lesser known status (e.g., compared with the Karaniya Metta Sutta), the associated Pali text is not represented in this main article but here:
:
: (Bodhgaya News, n.d., Majjhima Nikaya, book 2, BJT p. 730 [MN 99], retrieved 2009-08-07 at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=3702.)
In this particular Pali text, the word that is repeatedly elided ("...") is ("student" or "young man") so that only the text that is common to all of the identified discourses is represented here. (For instance, in MN 97, instead of , it uses the name of the brahmin being addressed.)
===Kakacupama Sutta (MN 21)===
Incorporating facets of the above textual methods in a series of increasingly vivid similes, the Kakacupama Sutta ("Parable of the Saw Discourse," MN 21) provides the following culminating scenario:
:"Monks, even if bandits were to savagely sever you, limb by limb, with a double-handled saw, even then, whoever of you harbors ill will at heart would not be upholding my Teaching. Monks, even in such a situation you should train yourselves thus: 'Neither shall our minds be affected by this, nor for this matter shall we give vent to evil words, but we shall remain full of concern and pity, with a mind of love, and we shall not give in to hatred. On the contrary, we shall live projecting thoughts of universal love to those very persons, making them as well as the whole world the object of our thoughts of universal love — thoughts that have grown great, exalted and measureless. We shall dwell radiating these thoughts which are void of hostility and ill will.' It is in this way, monks, that you should train yourselves."Buddharakkhita (1987).
===Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8)===
The Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8) combines both the interpersonal and radiant aspects of canonical expressions of metta.
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace: 
... Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, 
medium, short or small,
 
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born — 
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding....Amaravati Sangha (2004). Space between sentences and half-sentences is not in the original English translation but is based on the Pali text presented here.
....Bodhgaya News (n.d.), Sutta Nipata (1.8), vv. 143-152, BJT pp. 44-46, retrieved 2009-08-07 starting at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=8041. Intra-sentence lines formatted to match English translation.
According to the Pali commentaries, the Buddha originally gave this instruction (of Loving-Kindness meditation) to Monks who were being harassed by the Tree Spirits of a forest in which the Monks were trying to meditate. After doing this meditation in the forest it is said that the Spirits were so affected by the power of Loving-Kindness that they allowed the Monks to stay in the forest for the duration of the rainy season.
===Patisambhidamagga Mettakatha (Ps. 2.4)===
In the Khuddaka Nikaya's , traditionally ascribed to Ven. Sariputta, is a section entitled Mettākathā (Ps. 2.4, "Metta Instruction").In this section of this article, the primary English-language sources are Buddhaghosa & (1999), pp. 301-304, Vsm.IX,49-58; and, Ñanamoli (1987), section 11, "Methodical Practice: from the Patisambhidamagga." The Pali is primarily based on Bodhgaya News (n.d.), Patisambhidamagga 2, BJT pp. 64-80, retrieved 2009-08-07 starting at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=9611. In this instruction, a general formula (below, in English and Pali), essentially identical to the aforementioned Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta verse (especially evident in the Pali), is provided for radiating metta:
"May all beings be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily."Cited in Buddhaghosa & (1999), p. 302, Vsm.IX,50. See also Ñanamoli (1987), section 11, "Methodical Practice: from the Patisambhidamagga," where this sentence is translated as: "May all beings be freed from enmity, distress and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss."
Sabbe sattā averā abyāpajjā anīghā sukhī attāna pariharantu.Bodhgaya News (n.d.), Patisambhidamagga 2, BJT p. 64, retrieved 2009-08-07 at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=9611.
In addition, this instruction categorizes twenty-two ways in which "the mind-deliverance of lovingkindness" (mettācetovimutti) can be radiated as follows:
* five ways of "unspecified pervasion" ():
:# all beings (sabbe sattā )
:# all breathing things ()
:# all creatures (sabbe bhūtā bhāvapariyāpannā)
:# all persons (sabbe puggalā bhāvapariyāpannā)
:# all with a personality (sabbe attabhāvapariyāpannā)
* seven ways of "specified pervasion" ():
:# all women (sabbā itthiyo)
:# all men (sabbe purisā)
:# all Noble Ones (sabbe ariyā)
:# all non-Noble Ones (sabbe anariyā)
:# all deities (sabbe devā)
:# all humans (sabbe manussā)
:# all born in lower realms (sabbe vinipātikā)
* ten ways of "directional pervasion" ():
:# of the eastern direction (puratthimāya disāya)
:# of the western direction (pacchimāya disāya)
:# of the northern direction (uttarā disāya)
:# of the southern direction ( disāya)
:# of the eastern intermediate direction (puratthimāya anudisāya)An "intermediate direction" (anudisā) is the midpoint between two compass points. For instance, the "eastern intermediate direction" refers to either the direction to the north-east (between north and east) or the south-east (between south and east).
:# of the western intermediate direction (pacchimāya anudisāya)
:# of the northern intermediate direction (uttarā anudisāya)
:# of the southern intermediate direction ( anudisāya)
:# of the downward direction ()
:# of the upward direction (uparimāya disāya).
Moreover, the directional pervasions can then be applied to each of the unspecific and specific pervasions. For instance, after radiating metta to all beings in the east (Sabbe puratthimāya disāya sattā ...), one radiates metta to all beings in the west and then north and then south, etc.; then, one radiates metta to all breathing things in this fashion (Sabbe puratthimāya disāya ...), then all creatures, persons, and so forth until such is extended for all those born in the lower realms.
===Abhidhammic descriptor (Dhs. 189)===
In the Abhidhamma's Dhammasangani, the causes of "good" or "wholesome" (kusala) and "bad" or "unwholesome" (akusala) karmic states (dhammā) are described (Dhs. 188ff.). The three causes of wholesome karma are stated to be the non-greed, non-hate and non-delusion (alobho adoso amoho; cf. kleśā). Non-hate is then defined in the following manner:
"The absence of hate, hating, hatred; love, loving, loving disposition; tender care, forbearance, considerateness; seeking the general good, compassion; the absence of malice, of malignity; that absence of hate which is the root of good (karma)."Rhys Davids (1900), pp. 275-276.
Bodhgaya News (n.d.), Abhidhamma Pitaka, vol. 1, Dhammasangani, BJT p. 402, retrieved 2009-08-07 at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=10965.
==See also==
* Ahimsa
* Brahmavihara
* Love
* Happiness
* Kammaṭṭhāna
*Loving-kindness
*Chesed Hebrew word, given the association of kindness and love
*Agape Greek word, given the association of "loving-kindness" or "love"
* Metta Sutta
==Notes==
==Sources==
* Acharya Buddharakkhita (trans.) (1987/2006). "Kakacupama Sutta: The Parable of the Saw (excerpt)" from Positive Response: How to Meet Evil With Good (Bodhi Leaves No. 109). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society (1987). Retrieved from "Access to Insight" (2006) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.021x.budd.html.
* Amaravati Sangha (trans.) (1994, 2004). "Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness" from Chanting Book: Morning and Evening Puja and Reflections (1994). Hemel Hempstead: Amaravati Publications. Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" (2004) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.08.amar.html.
* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (2005). In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-491-1.
* Bodhgaya News (n.d.), "Pali Canon Online Database," online search engine of Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project's (SLTP) Pali Canon. Retrieved 2009-08-07 at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/pali.htm. 
* Buddhaghosa, Bhadantacariya & Bhikkhu (trans.) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
* Gethin, Rupert (1998). The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-289223-1.
* Gombrich, Richard (1988; reprinted 2002). Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge: London. ISBN 0-415-07585-8. 
* Harvey, Peter (2007). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31333-3. 
* Kamalashila (1996). Meditation: The Buddhist Art of Tranquility and Insight. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications. ISBN 1899579052. Retrieveable from the author's personal web site at http://kamalashila.co.uk/Meditation_Web/index.htm. 
* Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. Retrieved 2008-04-29 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf.
* Ñanamoli Thera (ed., trans.) (1987/1994). The Practice of Loving-Kindness (Metta): As Taught by the Buddha in the Pali Canon (The Wheel No. 7). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society (1987). Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" (1994 transcription) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel007.html.
* , Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
* Ñanamoli Thera (trans.) & Bhikkhu Khantipalo (ed.) (1993/1994). Saleyyaka Sutta: The Brahmans of Sala (MN 41). Retrieved 2007-12-23 from "Access to Insight" (1994 transcription) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.041.nymo.html.
* Nyanaponika Thera (trans.) (1988/1998). "Vatthupama Sutta: The Simile of the Cloth" (MN 7) from The Simile of the Cloth & the Discourse on Effacement (Wheel No. 61). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society (1988). Retrieved 2007-12-03 from "Access to Insight" (1998) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.007.nypo.html.
* Rhys Davids, Caroline A. F. ([1900], 2003). Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, now made for the First Time, from the Original Pāli, of the First Book of the , entitled Dhamma- (Compendium of States or Phenomena). Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-4702-9. 
* Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. Retrieved 2008-04-29 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
* Salzberg, Sharon (1995). Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-57062-176-4. 
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994). Raja Sutta: The King (Ud. 5.1). Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.5.01.than.html.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta: To Cunda the Silversmith (AN 10.176). Retrieved 2007-11-25 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.176.than.html.
* Upatissa, Arahant, N.R.M. Ehara (trans.), Soma Thera (trans.) and Kheminda Thera (trans.) (1995). The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0054-6.
* Walshe, Maurice (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
* Warder, A. K. (1970; reprinted 2004). Indian Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass: Delhi. ISBN 81-208-1741-9.
==External links==
* Brahmavihara Dhamma by Mahasi Sayadaw
* An essay on metta by Acharya Buddharakkhita
* The Metta Sutta
* Unconditional Love
* Dharma Dictionary - RangjungYesheWiki - Byams Pa / Maitri
* Facets of Metta by Sharon Salzberg
* Online Metta Contemplation
* Metta meditation, sutta and chanting - mobile
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