As a mother, even at the risk of her own life, protects her son, her only son, so let there be goodwill without measure among all beings. Let goodwill without measure prevail in the whole world, above, below, around, unstinted, unmixed with any feeling or differing or opposing interests. If a man remain steadfastly in this state of mind all the while he is awake, whether he be standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, then is come to pass the saying, "Even in this world holiness has been found!"

—Metta Sutta

With right knowledge, or at any rate with a confident conviction that our neighbours will no more work to hurt us than we would think of harming them, the two-thirds of the World's evil would vanish into thin air. Were no man to hurt his brother, Karma-Nemesis would have neither cause to work for, nor weapons to act through. It is the constant presence in our midst of every element of strife and opposition, and the division of races, nations, tribes, societies and individuals into Cains and Abels, wolves and lambs, that is the chief cause of the "ways of Providence."

—H. P. Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine

There is grave concern everywhere at the growing world tension. In all countries, however, the large majority looks to its government, its legislative assemblies and its security councils to find ways and means of reducing the tension of the world and thereby avoiding a global conflict. Within each country too there are conflicting currents and mounting tensions and the prevailing mood is one of fear and of distrust.

Men and women everywhere are anxious and they seek reassurance in varied ways, while blaming their leaders and the houses of parliament. They overlook that political parties and governments are after all only machineries run and directed by men and that the gift of safety, the greatest gift there is, must come from man himself.

But we too, each one of us, are Man. Is there not something we can do to reduce tension? Thoughts, like television and radio waves, reach out in all directions. Can we not as individuals bring peace to our own minds and thereby contribute to the peace of our divided and tormented world? Modern psychology is rediscovering the fact that thought is a power and exerts its influence, directly and primarily upon the thinker himself and indirectly upon all who are touched by the thoughts the mind sends out into space. Thoughts of animosity and cruelty injure grievously those who harbour them. Acting like poison, they pervert the mind and blind it.

The Full Moon of the Hindu-Buddhist month of Vaishakh is sacred to the memory of Lord Buddha and marks the thrice glorious anniversary of His Birth, His Enlightenment, and His Parinirvana. It is known as Buddha Purnima and this year it falls on the 16th of May. A week earlier, on the 8th, Theosophists everywhere celebrated White Lotus Day, the anniversary of the passing away of H. P. Blavatsky. Sacred anniversary days are occasions for deep reflection and they afford golden opportunities to recall the words of the Great Spiritual Teachers whose memories are honoured.

Their wisdom has a message relevant to the present state of the world. They all affirm that hatred is our greatest enemy, that there is no ill like malice, and that we should give up all hostile feelings and cultivate loving-kindness. They tell us further that love—pure love, love untainted by lust, love untarnished by selfishness—is the greatest power on earth. Such love has its roots in eternity and is divine in essence; it can act as a strong protective shield, not limited by space or time.

The question then is—Can such love be cultivated? And the answer is in the affirmative. The divine potency of true love is enshrined in the human heart, and through meditation and self-discipline it can be unfolded. Lord Buddha, in the Maha Rahulavada Sutta, advises Rahula thus: "Cultivate, Rahula, the meditation on loving-kindness, for by cultivating loving-kindness ill-will is banished."

What is this meditation on loving-kindness? "As we think, so we become." The virtues can be cultivated through ideation and imagination. Meditation, as a spiritual exercise, is a most effective means of cleansing and stilling the mind, leading to direct perception, which flowers in deeds of generosity, benevolence, and wisdom. Lord Buddha enjoins certain forms of meditation for the cultivation of right attitudes and moods. They are part of a severe system of training based on a profound understanding of man. One such meditation is Metta-Bhavana.

The Metta-Bhavana is the first of the four Brahma Viharas, the four Illimitable Sublime Moods, which are ethical in character and have for their object the cultivation of the heart qualities, namely, friendliness or loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equal-mindedness.

How is Metta-Bhavana to be practised? After the usual necessary preparations which precede actual meditation, this Bhavana begins with oneself. For it is a principle of true psychology that one's attitude to oneself must be a wholesome one, blending harmoniously humility and self-confidence. The meditation on Metta starts therefore with oneself, thus: "May I be free from enmity; may I be free from ill-will; may I be rid of suffering; may I be at peace!"

The next stage is to direct the same thought and feeling towards a friend. When the thought of Metta has been directed to a friend, one is ready to apply it towards someone to whom one is indifferent, whom one neither likes nor dislikes, and finally towards someone who is hostile—a more difficult injunction, for the carrying out of which the Buddhist scriptures give detailed instructions.

Thus there are four stages: oneself, one's friend, a person towards whom one is neutral, an enemy. When this has been successfully achieved, the feeling of loving-kindness can be widened and extended. This is done in three stages, without limitation, with limitation, in all ten directions. In the Patisambhidha these three methods are outlined as: (1) limitless, to all beings and all creatures without distinctions, "May all be free from enmity and at peace"; (2) with limitation, specifically directed to all women, all men, all holy ones, all ordinary people, all the devas or Gods, all human beings, all those in states of woe; (3) in all ten directions: East, West, North, South, North-East, North-West, South-West, South-East, above, and below.

There are variations given in different texts, but, according to all, the force of Metta is to be radiated deliberately and made to pervade one's whole sphere of influence.

The above is only a rough outline of this most potent Meditation. For a more detailed description we refer our readers to any authentic books on Buddhism and to the original texts of the Buddhist Canon, notably the Suttas dealing with Metta, such as the Karaniya Metta Sutta, which is usually read at the beginning and at the close of the Metta Bhavana.

True peace can only come to the world through minds purged of ill will and radiating the beneficent energy of Metta. No greater homage can be paid to the Blessed One than to practise Metta-Bhavana. In the words of H. P. Blavatsky:

...if the simple, humane and philosophical code of daily life left to us by the greatest Man-Reformer [the Buddha] ever known, should ever come to be adopted by mankind at large, then indeed an era of bliss and peace would dawn on Humanity.

May we contribuite to hastening that Dawn!

Must the citizen, even for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first and subjects afterwards.

—Thoreau