In Buddhism, the loving-kindness practice, also called metta, consists of sending/intending love and happiness to ourselves and others. Metta is a Pali word meaning goodwill, friendliness, or loving-kindness. A loving-kindness practice may look like this: We send love and happiness first to ourselves, then to those close to us, then to those toward whom we are neutral, then to marginalized people—that is, those who are “othered,” looked down on, or oppressed by society—then to those we don’t like or who don’t like us, even enemies and those who have been hostile, aggressive, or vengeful toward us, and finally to all beings.

We can engage in the practice with daily aspirations of goodwill that we send to, feel for, and show to all those circles of people in our lives and in the world. We can do this each day and in challenging relationship moments throughout the day as well.

We are also aware in this practice that if we are sending love and happiness, we must already and always have them inside us. What a boost to our spiritual self-esteem!

Thus, the practice of loving-kindness makes us channels of grace, that is, gifting the world around us with love. This is how grace and loving-kindness practice become one life-enriching experience.

But a loving-kindness practice does not end with aspirations. We live it out in daily life by showing love in spiritually evolved ways: unconditional, universal, and unending. We move from vengeance to forgiveness, from excluding to including, from hate or indifference to a caring, committed connection, which is the very definition of unconditional love.

A Daily Loving-Kindness Affirmation

I say Yes to everything that happens to me today

as an opportunity

to give and receive love and to free myself from fear.

I am thankful for the enduring capacity to love

that has come to me from the Sacred Heart of the universe.

May everything that happens to me today

open my heart more and more.

May all that I think, say, feel, do, and am express loving-kindness

toward myself, those close to me, and all beings.

May love be my life purpose, my bliss, my destiny, my calling,

the richest grace I can receive or give.

And may I always be a compassionate assisting force

toward people who are considered

least or last, or who feel alone or lost.

May all of us co-create

a world of justice, peace, and love.

Adapted from By Your Side: How to Find Soulful Allies and Become One to Others (Shambhala, 2024).