Meta

Today I just want to quote from today’s lesson.

“Today I introduced a practice called meta, that is the official Buddhist name, and the mental state that is the goal of that practice is a feeling of loving kindness that is quite distinct from romantic attachment or any kind of complicated or self directed entanglement with another person. It really is just this unimpeded well wishing toward another, that they be happy, they be free from suffering, and there are people who do this practice quite one-pointedly for weeks and months and even years at a time, and unlike vipassana, which is what we’ve been training in primarily, there really is a goal, there is a single mental state, that you are trying to achieve and deepen and expand and not let go of, and this is classically a concentration practice…and as we continue with this course, you might consider adding just a few moments of meta practice, because it can connect you to one of the primary purposes of meditation. After all we’re not doing this merely for ourselves, we’re doing this so that we can be better with others, we want better relationships, we want a better world, and it’s the recognition that we always are our mind in relationship in the world, that makes meditation practice, an intrinsically social project even though we do it in isolation very often. If this is good for anything, it has to be good for our being in the world, with others.” – Sam Harris.