The deliverance of the heart through mettā made known by the Buddha is a simple meditation, which even a child can practice.
Although this is the Buddha’s behest due to some complicated exegesis in the commentarial period, the original message of the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā receded to the background. Visuddhimagga, (Path of Purification) which is regarded as the textbook by meditation teachers today, recommends a method of breaking down of barriers between oneself and one’s dear person, the neutral person and the hostile person as the means of attaining the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā. This is not at all in accordance with the content of the Metta sutta. This mode of exegesis relies on building barriers and breaking them down as an approach to that Deliverance of the Heart through mettā.
The reason for this pervert commentarial trend is a wrong attitude born of an incorrect understanding of the relation between mettā and friendship (mittatā). Simply because mettā is opposed to ill-will or enmity, it should not be equated to friendship or amity. Many meditation masters today begin their instructions with the definition ‘Mettā is friendship’ by taking seriously the apparent similarity between ‘mettā’ and ‘mittatā’ (friendship). True enough when it comes to pronunciation, mettā and mittatā are similar. But the very difference between mettānisaṁsa sutta and mittānisaṁsa sutta is a telling argument against such confusion. The fact that the advantages of mettā, which the Buddha has highly praised in the mettānisaṁsa sutta, are by far greater and more excellent than those of friendship listed in mittānisaṁsa sutta would be clear to whoever compares these two discourses. Here is a ‘ready-reckoner’ for ascertaining the wide disparity between friendship and mettā.
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