Cattāri Brahmavihārā

One technique for cultivating metta that I’m practicing with asks us to first imagine ourselves suffused with the qualities described in each of the phrases above. Since this is a relatively new idea for me i’m taking my time with it and it is interesting to contemplate on what they might mean. 

What does it mean to imagine oneself free from suffering? What would that feel like? It’s funny to realize that I can barely imagine it even though that is where this whole path is pointing.

May I be free of suffering. To me this resonates most strongly as freedom from irritation, from worry, from anger and ill-will. But it is so much more, isn’t it? No boredom, no grasping, no searching. I think I’ll sit with this for awhile before moving on to flesh it out and imagine it in its fulness.