The first of the four brahmaviharas, the divine abodes: boundless goodwill toward all beings without exception, cultivated as a formal meditation as well as an ethical disposition. Classically distinguished from ordinary affection by having no object it prefers over another, extended in stages from oneself outward to a friend, a neutral person, a difficult person and finally all beings equally. This atlas separately holds Metta Sutta, the canonical text where the practice is taught, and Metta-bhavana, the meditation method itself; this entry is the virtue those two put into words and practice.
Facts
Origins
Place of OriginNorth India, in the earliest recorded teaching; the Visuddhimagga's systematic treatment is traditionally associated with Sri Lanka, where Buddhaghosa worked. 1 Origin of the NamePali metta, from a root associated with friendship and mildness; the Sanskrit cognate is maitri. 1 Attributed Author / CompilerTaught throughout the Pali Canon, most directly in the Karaniya Metta Sutta; given its systematic place as the first brahmavihara and its own meditative method in Buddhaghosa's fifth century Visuddhimagga, chapter nine. 2 Disputed
Origin PeriodTaught within the earliest strata of the Pali Canon; the canon's own compilation and dating remain debated among scholars, spanning oral transmission from the Buddha's lifetime through committal to writing centuries later. Its systematic treatment as the first brahmavihara is fixed to Buddhaghosa's fifth century CE Visuddhimagga. 2 Status
Status Within the TraditionStandard teaching, not formally defined 1 Doctrinal Status DetailFirst of the four brahmaviharas; the Visuddhimagga names ill will as its far enemy, the direct opposite it is meant to replace, and clinging attachment as its near enemy, the counterfeit that resembles it but is not it. 2 Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourceBoundless goodwill toward all beings without exception or preference, the first of the four brahmaviharas. 1 Connections
Attested In
Source Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification)Buddhaghosa
Belongs to Tradition
Source The Princeton Dictionary of BuddhismRobert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr.
In Language
Opposes
The Visuddhimagga names ill will as loving-kindness's direct opposite, its far enemy; Dvesha, the general Sanskrit and Pali term for aversion already catalogued among the three poisons, is the atlas's existing entry for that disposition.
Source Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification)Buddhaghosa
Related To
Karuna, Virtues The four brahmaviharas, taught as one graduated set in the Visuddhimagga.
Source Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification)Buddhaghosa
Sources
1. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism
Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., Princeton University Press, 2014View the Source 2. Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification)
Buddhaghosa
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