My Own Experiment Part 3

The third and last type of meditation I practiced with was the Loving-Kindness one, or Metta Bhavana, which happened to be my favorite. It is usually paired with some other form of mediation, but the purpose is to develop the habit of selfless love for oneself and others. This progresses through stages, the first being specific pervasion, where I was to focus on sending loving-kindness to myself, then an admired or respected person, next a beloved person, then a neutral person and lastly a hostile person. Going down this list, I practiced using visualization, reflection, and mantra.

The next stage, known as directional pervasion, was focused on directing these feelings toward diverse communities all over the world and therefore uniting from it.

Photo Source: https://thebuddhistcentre.com/sites/default/files/media/images/metta%202.jpg

The last stage, non-specific pervasion, is about radiating these feelings in everyday life, and spreading unconditional love. This phase is only reached if the others were successful, and I proudly accomplished all of them. Though it was emotionally taxing because you have to be the one to forgive, it was also rewarding and felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Photo Source: http://2bpresent.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/loving-kindness-300x225.jpg

I was most engaged in the loving-kindness mediation because it deals with such positive energy toward others and oneself, making everyone equally important and deserving of love and kindness.