14 Days of Metta: a loving-kindness practice
Two weeks of goodwill practice: for yourself, a friend, a stranger, a difficult person, and everyone at once.
Mettā is usually translated as loving-kindness; Bhikkhu Sujato’s translations call it love, in the sense of goodwill: the wish for others to be well and free from harm. The Discourse on Love (the Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta) is its best-known text, and it opens this path.
Over fourteen days the practice widens the way many teachers describe it: yourself, a good friend, someone neutral, someone difficult, and everyone at once. The phrases you use in the sits are modern practice phrasing, not quotations; the passages each day are quoted exactly.
Scope. Day 1 is a complete free preview. Days 2–14 are part of Daily Dharma Plus.
All 14 days
- Day 1A wish for every beingKp 9
- Day 2Eleven benefits of loveAN 11.15
- Day 3Starlight and the moonIti 27
- Day 4No one dearer than oneselfSN 3.8
- Day 5As a mother, her only childSnp 1.8
- Day 6With them as a basisMN 21
- Day 7Five ways past resentmentAN 5.161
- Day 8All tremble at the rodDhp 129–130
- Day 9A heart full of rejoicingMN 7
- Day 10Heir to my own deedsAN 5.57
- Day 11The gong that does not ringDhp 133–134
- Day 12The charioteer and the reinsDhp 221–223
- Day 13The rag and the travellerAN 5.162
- Day 14Standing, walking, sitting, lying downKp 9
Day 1 is published here in full. Days 2–14 are in the iPhone app with Daily Dharma Plus; each title above links to the source text it is built on, which is free to read.