Why Practice Loving Kindness Meditation | A to Z Guide to Mettā

A comprehensive dhamma talk exploring why we practice loving kindness meditation and its profound role in the Buddha's path to awakening. This teaching addresses common questions from vipassanā practitioners about mettā bhāvanā, revealing how loving kindness is far more than a preliminary practice—it's a complete vehicle for developing the seven factors of enlightenment, accessing jhāna, and cultivating the boundless heart that leads to liberation.

Drawing from extensive sutta analysis across all four Nikāyas and modern neuroscience research on compassion and the vagus nerve, this talk demonstrates how loving kindness meditation develops both samādhi and wisdom, ultimately surpassing all other meritorious practices in its wholesome power.

Sutta Sundays are the monthly gathering of the HeartDhamma community where we study original teachings on meditation directly from the Buddha. Join us on Zoom, every first Sunday of the month:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87824875440

Talk by Bhante Ānanda in August during the Sutta Sunday teaching.

Download the PDF Guide to Why Practice Loving Kindness:
https://heartdhamma.love/why-metta-me...

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00:00:00 - Preview
00:00:43 - Beginning
00:02:17 - Summary
00:04:46 - I. Foundations
00:05:06 - 1. Undersatnding Right Intention
00:08:23 - 2. Inherent Qualities of Wholesome States
00:08:34 - A. Qualities of Mental States
00:11:04 - B. Elements of Escape
00:13:13 - C. Conduit of Wisdom
00:14:12 - 3. Biology & Science of Love
00:14:30 - A. Compassion and the Vagus Nerve
00:16:32 - B. Aware Nature of Loving Kindness
00:18:02 - 4. Liberation of the Mind - Cetovimutti
00:18:37 - B. Analogy of the Conch
00:20:57 - A. Un-Limited Liberation of the Mind
00:22:47 - 5. Measureless Liberation (Appamāṇa)
00:23:12 - A. Un-Limited Meditation
00:23:26 - B. Measureless Mind vs Concentration
00:24:11 - II. Meditation Instrauctions
00:24:26 - 6. Sutta Analysis: Brahmavihāras vs Mindfulness of Breathing
00:26:11 - 7. Mettā is Quick Samādhi
00:27:41 - 8. Finger-Snap Analogy
00:29:09 - 9. Practical Aspects
00:29:21 - A. True Love is Selfless
00:30:56 - B. Loving Kindness is Tangible
00:32:33 - C. Boundlessness & Detachment (Viveka)
00:34:39 - 10. Guidance & Requirements
00:37:22 - 11. Analogy of the Cloth | Cornerstone Teaching
00:40:34 - 12. Boundless Love & Jhāna
00:43:12 - 13. Factors of Awakening
00:44:50 - 14. Complete Maturation of Loving Kindness
00:47:16 - 15. Mettā & Vipassanā
00:50:10 - 16. Final Knowledge & Non-Return
00:51:12 - III. Broader Picture
00:51:37 - 17. Past Lives of the Buddha
00:56:56 - 18. Mettā & Nibbāna
00:58:18 - 19. Meritorious Power of Mettā
00:59:26 - 20. Experiential Knowledge
01:00:54 - Starting with Other Subjects
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