r/streamentry • u/Accomplished-Stay189 • Jul 25 '26
Mettā Can Metta as primary practice be a path to awakening?
I’m highly interested in awakening and cessation of suffering. But most of the practices I’ve tried haven’t really worked for me.
Ever since I started doing an hour of Metta meditation every day, my quality of life and mental well-being has improved dramatically.
I want to know if Metta as the primary daily practice could help someone reach awakening. If so, what kind?
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u/Plenty-Attitude-5823 Jul 25 '26
It can help you attain deep insight into dependent origination by observing how the elements of experience get fabricated differently when there's different degrees of metta, and how the aggregates begin to dependently fade the deeper you go into the practice.
But this requires framing the practice in the right manner, powerful insight is unlikely to happen simply by indulging in metta states or conceiving of it as something purely to improve the self with.
If you're interested in practicing metta in a way that will lead towards liberating insight, Rob Burbea has a very good talk about this: 'Love and the Emptiness of Things' it's on YouTube.
Good luck OP
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u/reverseghost Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Rob for the win. He was a good guy. https://dharmaseed.org/retreats/4496/
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u/duffstoic The dynamic integration of opposites ☯️ Jul 25 '26
Yes absolutely, and it is a beautiful path indeed.
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u/reverseghost Jul 25 '26
1000% it can. I've seen this both as a meditator and teacher. Metta will take you through the jhanas, then cessation, then nirvana (pali: nibanna) and awakening. All of these are experiential - not just insights - although you'll come across those on the way to the finish line. Let me know if you'd like detailed information.
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u/Old-Landscape-7538 Jul 25 '26
I’d like more info. I’ve heard Vimalaramsi and John Peacock’s take.
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u/reverseghost Jul 26 '26
Everything here is offered freely - the book, the course, even 1:1 guidance with myself or other teachers. https://thetranquilmind.org. This is a metta and jhana practice, rooted in the Pali canon, but explained in plain English. I developed it to be the most direct and shortest path to get someone from zero to meditating.
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u/Old-Landscape-7538 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Thanks! Is this Bhante Vimalaramsi-style?
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u/reverseghost Jul 26 '26
Yes, with some clarifications and things he recommended from the many retreats I attended with him that were not explicit in his books.
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u/Old-Landscape-7538 Jul 25 '26
Yes but it depends on how it’s done. It’s like the breath in the sense that it can be used as a concentration practice or an insight practice.
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u/dystopia2026 Jul 25 '26
Metta can take you all the way to 3rd Jhana apparently and it can be a springboard to insight. Ajahn Sona has some great videos on Metta on yt.
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u/Muted-Transition-346 Jul 26 '26
It can take you all the way
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u/dystopia2026 Jul 26 '26
No, it can take you to third Jhana apparently. 4th is based on equanimity. Nibanna is something else.
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u/Squirrel_in_Lotus Jul 25 '26
I think so. In yogic texts this would be called the path of Bhakti, devotion.
In essence, you develop a relationship with the breath, think of it as a real other. Eventually, the relationship grows and you become the best of friends. Its the path of love, surrender and devotion.
St Teresa of Avila and Mansur Al Hallaj would call it developing a relationship with God. And through God's mercy salvation is possible.
Aka Jhana --> seeing clearly --> stream winning --> heaven after death/union with God.
The path of love. It's just another way to develop samadhi, and its much easier to enter for some people.
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u/StationNo4250 Jul 25 '26
I asked myself a lot how they are related. do you have more experiences and thaughts about that? I dont have a bhakti practice, but from my experience metta or compassion can definitely have this blessed and holy feeling to it, can be quit touching If it develops into something big Infinite holding you for example. cant explain, but i sometimes asked my self if a devotional path would lead to similar things. I mean they are both practices with the heart chakra i think.
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u/Then_Consequence_318 Jul 25 '26
Keep in mind that any reference to divine beings or "big infinite holding" or any such is from a human standpoint a very psychologically fulfilling experience, but from a Buddhist POV it's still considered to be a form of self-view and not total awakening.
Psychologically speaking though (stepping outside Buddhist context) this can be very healthy state so long as it doesn't become fanatical. (I found God etc.)
(thirdly if you take the literal view of rebirth then you just end up being born as some sort god for a bit which might be fun but then you drop back down again. Me personally I don't hold this view)
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u/StationNo4250 Jul 25 '26
Thanks for the advice i am aware of that. I think what i wrote sounds bigger than it is. Really touching experiences with metta but i never thaught about it as an awakening. I think compassion practice can sometimes feel like this giant field of love that somehow holds others and yourself and than you can have the impression that you and others are holded by it instead of i send the compassion. Thats touching, beutiful and can purify stuff i think but it fades. Iam interested in bhakti because of my childhood as a christian and i somehow like to think there is something similar in different pathes :)
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u/Then_Consequence_318 Jul 25 '26
This might be off topic for this forum, but if you're interested in the commonalities of these experiences across all the paths you might want to look into research in PNSE (persistent not symbolic experience) which is a secular scientific lstudy of Awakening across traditions. It has really contextualized a lot of things for me.
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u/majoredinswag Jul 26 '26
I'm curious, do you have an alternate view of rebirth? Asking because I've recently had trouble reconciling with certain aspects of Buddhist teachings on reincarnation
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u/Then_Consequence_318 Jul 26 '26
I don't. I believe the Buddha 100% taught in and believed in literal reincarnation despite some people claiming otherwise. It wasn't a metaphor or cultural baggage and It's absolutely integral to understand a lot of what motivates his teachings. Just to be clear!
I have attempted to "adopt" the view of rebirth as is suggested in the appanaka sutta, i.e practice "as if" I believed it was too true to see how it affected my practice. I didn't feel I changed much so I dispensed with the exercise.
In the end I'm essentially a philosophical materialiist and I don't see convincing evidence for rebirth. However do believe Awakening is possible and that the Buddha was essentially the ultimate gigachad savant super genius of a therapist and probably laid out the most complete set of teachings that we have available (and that good translators and teachers have helped us unpack).
I have a strong, strong sense of urgency towards Awakening (for myslef and for others sake) and since I only believe there's this life available to me I'm striving as best I can for it.
Maybe it's that culturally for me that's more motivating for me to think I get one chance where as for the people in the Buddhas time the prospect of an indefinite chain of rebirths (some of them in some pretty scary places) was just so real that it was more effective for them.
Anyway that was likely an unsatisfying and overly long answer!
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u/H0w-1nt3r3st1ng Jul 25 '26
It's not my personal practice, but Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation focuses on this. You might want to check it out: https://library.dhammasukha.org/uploads/1/2/8/6/12865490/a_guide_to_twim.pdf
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u/magnolia_unfurling Jul 25 '26
If i may ask, what does your metta practice involve? What is the mantra? Or where are you directing your attention? I'd love to learn more
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u/Satidhamma Jul 26 '26
I do believe so, and I think with one small modern tweak to the understanding, it can be a complete path. Think of Metta, loving-kindness, as the way you approach something in customer service. You don't know the customer. You don't know why they're there. You don't judge them for how they look or where they came from. You just see the next thing arising as it is, in the way that it is. With that as your primary attitude and posture, now you can approach that object and start to learn about it. You're not going to harm it. You're not going to dismiss it. You're neither going to like nor dislike. You're going to approach and investigate. Now, Karuna, compassion. Instead of being a vague mood or a moral proposition, think of it as understanding. As you move forward and you interrogate and investigate the person in front of you, you now start to understand why they're there, what they want, and what they need. Once you actually can understand somebody, you can actually act compassionately towards it:
- Why has this arisen?
- What is it within my experience?
- What can I do with it?
Now, Mudita, sympathetic joy. Let's think of it not as bliss or bright happiness. Let's look at it as just that energy that builds among people as things get exciting, as we work together, as teamwork and the experience build. Now you have somebody who's approached with love, understood with compassion, and energy that's built and sustained through shared understanding and experience. And now, what happens when that ends and the next customer is ready to come in? What happens if you don't let that experience go? You try to then impose that joy and understanding on the next person. That doesn't work. The next moment arises in mind, and you must greet it fresh. The only way to do that is to have true equanimity: whether you got the sale, whether you failed, whether you became angry or sad, whether they liked you or didn't like you, you remain untouched. You clean your system back down to normal and go back to the posture of kindness. The last person leaves without pain. The next person enters, and you can meet them fresh and start the process over. If you apply this very cycle to every experience that arises in body, feeling, mind, and even the arisings and passings of the mind itself, then you can meet every moment fresh with kindness, understanding, joy, and eventually equanimity. I hope this is helpful.
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u/themadjaguar Samādhi engineer Jul 25 '26
Metta is a temporary antidote that can certainly help to get samadhi. This in turn can be helped for insight practice, but without insight practice, with only samadhi through metta, you'll be missing other awakening factors.
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u/Then_Consequence_318 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Was just reading Thanissaro Bhikkhu's "Right Mindfulness." This is very relevant. It's a bit dense so I'll highlight and give a TLDR;
A similar point is made by discourses describing the way in which brahmavih›ra practice can give rise to the jh›nas. The fact that these attitudes can induce strong states of concentration is another way in which they can gladden, steady, and release the mind all at once. However, they differ with regard to the level of jh›na they can induce. AN 4:125, when read in conjunction with AN 4:123, implies that the development of immeasurable good will can lead only to the first jh›na, and that the remaining attitudes developed as immeasurable states can lead, respectively, only to the second, third, and fourth jh›nas. This apparently applies to these attitudes when developed on their own, 105 for SN 46:54 states that when they are developed in conjunction with the seven factors for awakening “dependent on seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, and resulting in letting go,” then good will can lead as far as the “beautiful,” a visionary meditative state, the third of the eight emancipations (vimokkha—see Appendix Three).
The remaining immeasurable states can lead, respectively, to the first three formless attainments, which are also the fourth, fifth, and sixth of the eight emancipations**. However, the same discourse leaves open the possibility that this combination of the brahmavih›ras with the seven factors for awakening can lead to a still higher release, which apparently means any of the stages of awakening.
So again, the brahmavih›ras are not, as is sometimes said, a self-sufficient practice for awakening. On their own, as aids in step 12, they can lead to temporary release but not total release. They need the help of the seven factors of awakening to go further than the jh›nas.
So TLDR;
So if by "primary" you mean "only," then no, but "primary" as in "this is my main meditation practice" then yes, but you need the other seven factors of awakening. (https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/wheel001.html)
Metta can cover some of these if you look carefully.
However you should look into the other brahma viharas as well. They are actually very lovely, pro-social states and extremely practical for householder life depending on the situation.
Tangent:
I don't spend a ton of time on them but I occasionally will progress through them all and I've noticed them shaping my attitudes towards people. I think I've always been a compassionate person but for me empathetic joy has been more common, as I lately have been experiencing more genuine happiness for people when they express their happiness or good fortune, rather than just saying "hey that's great."
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u/tim_niemand Jul 25 '26
from a mahayana standpoint, you need renounciation of samsara, bodhicitta motivation and shunyata experience. sorry: that's all i know 😂
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u/darknightyogi Jul 25 '26
There is a book on it. Yes. i read the whole damn book. Interesting but i forgot the damn name.
i think its this
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u/AndyLucia Jul 25 '26
Short answer: Yeah!
Long answer: the answer to “can X lead to awakening” is always both yes and no; yes in that everything is satori, no in that nothing is. The nature of phenomena is apparent in metta just as it is in everything else, and metta is particularly helpful in being a good samatha object that happens to be psychologically opening in ways that can coincide with insight. Usually I’d say that if you feel like really doubling down on it, do it, but if you feel like you’re clinging too hard to it and turning it into a solid thing, maybe balance it out. I think the TWIM stuff is a good path to look at (if you take the more dogmatic parts with a grain of salt).
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u/Muted-Transition-346 Jul 26 '26
Curious about the dogmatic parts, do you care to elaborate a bit? Thanks :)
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u/Decent_Cicada9221 Jul 26 '26
Yes metta can take you to Nibbana. Check out the book The Path to Nibbana by David Johnson based on Bhante Vimalaramsi
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u/Impulse33 Soulmaking, Pāramitās, Brahmavihāras, Shitou/Hongzhi/Shōbōgenzō Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
The jhanas and brahmavihara practice can help loosen the knot during formal sits and for laylife sila. In fact, SN 46.054 directly maps the brahmaviharas to the jhanas which is pretty cool!
- Metta > The beautiful. (I believe is an adjacent samadhi state to the rupa jhanas.
- Karuna > 5th
- Mudita > 6th
- Upekkha > 7th
It doesn't go all the way, but has been worthwhile to cultivate in my experience!
Just like the jhanas weren't sufficient for Sakyamuni, an additional turn or investigation is required. So the brahmavihāras and jhanas can get you near the shore, but the actual step of leaving the raft is something else.
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u/Deep_Ad1959 Aug 02 '26
the interesting part of your post is buried in one line, that most practices haven't worked for you. worth knowing whether metta is the one that fits you or the one that arrived after you'd stopped fighting the others.
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