The Gift of Loving-Kindness: 100 Meditations on Compassion, Generosity, and Forgiveness

Loving-kindness, the English translation of the Pali word metta, is defined as unconditional well-wishing and openhearted nurturing of ourselves and others, just as we are. By practicing loving-kindness, you can learn to treat yourself and others-even strangers-like dear friends, putting aside criticism and judgment and choosing instead to open your heart to greater generosity, forgiveness, and compassion.

While Buddha taught loving-kindness meditation as an antidote to fear, it can also quiet feelings of anger, judgment, and worry by helping you see the innate goodness within yourself and others. Whether used as part of a formal meditation practice or as daily mindfulness exercises, the 100 meditations in The Gift of Loving-Kindness make it easy to open your heart and share the seeds of loving-kindness with others.

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Brantley, MA, LMFT, teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and loving-kindness meditation at Duke Integrative Medicine. She participated in a seven-day professional training in MBSR under the direction of Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, and Saki F. Santorelli, EdD Brantley has practiced meditation for more than twenty-five years and attends yearly intensive retreats.

Brantley is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has maintained a private psychotherapy practice since 1983. She is co-owner of Seeds of Kindness, a business that makes loving-kindness prayer beads. You can learn more about Brantley's loving-kindness prayer beads at www.seedsofkindness.biz.

Tesilya Hanauer, CMT, is a freelance writer and certified massage therapist. She received her massage training at Heartwood Institute in northern California, where she also studied Iyengar yoga. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.