Toh 36Sūtra on the Meditation on Loving Kindness

Commentary on the Sutra on the Meditation on Loving Kindness

Background

The Sutra on the Meditation on Loving Kindness (Maitribhāvanāsūtra) is one of the important scriptures of the Mahayana, especially treasured in the Northern Transmission tradition. This sutra is recorded in the Kangyur - the collection of the Buddha’s teachings - and belongs to the Sutra Piṭaka of the Buddhist canon.

The Sutra on the Meditation on Loving Kindness arises from a deep practical need on the Mahayana path of practice: how to transform a confused mind, anger, and greed into a mind of loving kindness and compassion, directed toward liberation not only for oneself but also for all beings. This is the context of bodhisattva practice - the practice of those who willingly endure suffering in order to liberate sentient beings.

This sutra has been transmitted for the purpose of providing a concrete, step-by-step method by which practitioners can develop loving kindness (maitri), the unconditional compassion described as the foundation of all compassionate action. In the Northern Transmission tradition, especially among practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, supreme loving kindness and compassion are regarded as a direct path leading to Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and the other bodhisattvas.

Main Content

The Sutra on the Meditation on Loving Kindness teaches a method of meditation focused on the development of universal loving kindness. Although the specific content of this sutra has not yet been fully translated in the available materials, on the basis of other scriptures in the Northern Transmission Mahayana tradition, we may understand that this sutra gives the following guidance:

First, the cultivation of loving kindness begins with oneself - not out of self-interest, but through the recognition that oneself is also worthy of receiving compassion and that every being with mind wishes for happiness. This is an indispensable starting point.

Second, the sutra teaches how to extend loving kindness to loved ones, then to neutral persons, and finally - this being the distinctive mark of the Mahayana - to enemies as well, to those who cause harm. This is not because they deserve to be loved, but because the bodhisattva’s loving kindness transcends such distinctions.