The Metta Prayer:  In Conclusion

May you be filled with lovingkindness

May you be well

May you be peaceful and at ease

May you be happy

            For the last several months I’ve been sharing my thoughts about the metta prayer.  I’d like to highlight the primary ideas I’ve explored, and then contribute some final thoughts.

Summary

                When we recite the metta prayer, we are wishing that those people not only in our lives, but everywhere in the world can know relief from suffering in every possible way.  The prayer gives us a mindful way to connect, allowing us not only to wish others well, but by its very nature, opens a doorway for us to be accessible to them.  We don’t express these wishes, silently or aloud, in a vacuum, but instead establish a bond with every suffering sentient being.  We want them to know that they are not alone, that we want them to be filled with a love that is always accessible and available to them through their difficulties.

                In a world where wellness has become a central focus of our culture, we can expand the meaning of wellness by including all aspects of our life—physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.  We are wishing for others the inclination to not just try to avoid their suffering, but in fact encourage them to see that their suffering is impermanent; it may dominate their lives at times, but when others learn more about skillful means to alleviate suffering, they learn how to be with their suffering, and even transcend it.  As difficult as life might get, we all have the wherewithal to live satisfying and rich lives.

                Even when things fall apart, we may feel our losses more deeply than some because we have chosen to live lives of spirit.  At the same time, we can embrace every moment (which we discover is not always about our suffering), and learn how to ride the rapids of disillusionment, disappointment, fear and even anger.  We can face our experiences with more ease and with curiosity, when we realize that they are not only created by events, but by our thoughts about them.  We can lessen our turbulent mind state as we explore its very nature.

                When we make these efforts and also wish them for others, we discover in one sense that happiness is not a steady state.  Just like a forest stream, it may gush forth when the rains fall and override its banks; at other times, it may seem like just a trickle—but even the dried bed is always there.  The difference between our lives and the rain and stream, however, is that we are both the rainstorm and the stream.  In spite of blaming outside events or other people, we are the source of our sustenance, with rare exceptions.  As the rain, we can feed ourselves with the reality that life is whole and complete, just as it is, and nothing extra is needed.  As the stream, we can receive the gifts that life offers, without picking and choosing, and when we run dry, we can remember that others are suffering, probably just as much, if not more than we are, and relief is always available, whether we recognize it or not.

Final Thoughts

                So when we pray metta, we offer wellbeing to everyone, including ourselves.  We are reminded that we are all interconnected, that no matter how isolated we feel or introverted we are.  We are not happy or sad in a vacuum.  When we are loved and loving, uplifted and uplifting, comfortable and comforting, happy and spreading happiness, we are feeding everyone.  The metta prayer is a mindful way to share all of these experiences with the whole world.