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Metta
lobster
Crusty Veteran
in Meditation
Agape, Chesed, Ishq, Metta etc. 
Spiritual love. 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishq
Metta is the unfolding of the Buddha/yogi heart chakra, very different to the most intense forms of mundane love which all have a component of suffering/dukkha.
In the non-Buddhist traditions the experience often has elements of intense Dukkha/craving. Is this the same as the mature compassion tempered by wisdom and understanding?
My experience of metta is an inevitable by product. Bliss and euphoric states come and go but metta increasingly unfolds.
Not what you have read. What have you experienced?
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I confess, an internal feeling of metta is elusive for me. I put in effort and have had some fleeting experiences but no unfolding.
I think I've sort of adopted a rational approach to morality and ethics of goodness and end up evaluating right and wrong less on a feeling of care and warmth and more on some kind of mash up of what actions and decisions would create the most amount of good for the largest number of people.
From what I have experienced it seems like it can be a very warm, peaceful feeling and also some sort of (good) painful feeling.
My experience also tells me it is a by-product of a way of seeing which can cause deep feelings of bliss or even despair depending on the lens.
http://www.mettainstitute.org/mettameditation.html
A wise article by guess who? Our friend Gil Fronsdal, author of The Buddha Before Buddhism... I would like to order his translation of the Dhammpada sometime soon
I too was unfamiliar with it, until I found that it came with a deeper understanding of the Four Noble Truths: if life is dukkha, then it follows that we all suffer. Everyone carries around the seeds of their suffering. And that makes my heart open to you, to my family, to my difficult ex-boss... on certain levels, we all suffer. And that deserves much sympathy.
Self importance prevents our recognizing so much of the teaching. Particularly metta. As long as we are full of "I-ness"we can't see our commonality with others. So how can we gain the sense of community that is hidden by the obscuring dusts without the clear vision of Dharma?
Those feelings he describes seem to be like everyday obstacles to overcome during Metta meditation but sadness can come as a direct result of Metta as well. It is this kind of sadness that brought us the code of the Bodhisattva. We know and can feel that people are suffering that we cannot possibly reach but at the same time, Metta taints the sadness with hope because if I can feel Metta then maybe the neighbor of somebody in need can feel it too.
May I send some Metta to the perky young lady who called me earlier to ask me for a donation. My response was rather rude!
I need to work on my aversion to charities cold calling me.......
Charities pay call centres to make these calls for them, or they also have street stands whereby paid young individuals (who are normally merely employed by a Touting company - they usually have nothing whatsoever to do with the Charity they're paid to represent) pressure passers by to either make a donation or take out a Direct Debit and pay a monthly figure.
In a short while they then ring you (the Call centre operatives paid by the charity - yes, this is where a large chunk of your donations goes, folks - to pay people to ask you to make a donation!)to get you to increase your monthly donation.
I know all this because during hard times, my H sought and gained temporary employment through an agency, to make such calls to people. You'll be glad to know that he packed it in after 2 weeks, because he considered the entire practice to be totally immoral. (See 'Morality' thread.)
If I ever get such calls, I now know the perfect response:
"Oh thank you for your call! I'd be happy to make a donation! Tell me how much of your salary you're giving to this charity and I'd be happy to match it!"
The silence at the other end will tell you exactly how much of their salary they're giving to the charity, so you can do the same.
You're polite, but it tells them you're on to their little game....
Generally charities (well the ones I donate to) don't spend more than 20% on salaries / admin costs. I have no problem with that.
I just don't agree with pestering people who already give.
Me too.
Metta to our droid friends.
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hitchbot-usa-vandalised-philadelphia
Who seeks to promote his welfare,
Having glimpsed the state of perfect peace,
Should be able, honest and upright,
Gentle in speech, meek and not proud.
More Metta
https://tinyurl.com/yczgm6od
Less Metta
https://tinyurl.com/yaanrqon
It reminds me of the sixteen breathing exercises from the Anapanasati Sutra, specifically those of the second tetrad where you come into contact with your feelings of joy and happiness. Thich Nhat Hanh once said during a retreat that a good practitioner would be able generate joy and happiness through breathing at will. I have been able to do this from time to time.
The opening of the heart is not easy... besides the aspect of the Four Noble Truths, that we all suffer and therefore everyone is deserving of sympathy and loving-kindness, I found it useful to meditate on what happens when my mother comes around to visit.
I have a close band with my mother, and I notice that when I have been with her for a longer period, as has happened a few times over the last years while I have been unemployed, that my emotions become opener and more loving in her presence, I become happier and more care free. Love responds to love, I think.