[bestgenpower]

I find this article very helpful:

The birth of a child, is, at the same time, the birth of a mother
into the world.

Child is the symbol of a mother. That love for the child, that
tenderness of the heart which characterises a mother, is so sig-
nificant that it is often associated with the change of red-blood
into milk.

"Metta" - usually rendered by that cross-bred term loving kind-
ness, is the universal love for which the mother's love for her child
is the unit. The Buddha speaking about metta says for instance,
"Just as a mother would protect her only child even at the risk of
her own life, so should one develop a boundless heart towards
all beings".

A mother is not only born with the child she brings forth, she
also grows up with the child she brings up. Her growth is in terms of
the other three Divine Abidings or Brahma Vihara- compassion,
sympathetic joy and equanimity. In bringing up her child, some-
times a mother has to be stern and tactful. Her soft tender love
matures into a compassionate sternness, when the child is pass-
ing through the unruly boyhood and reckless adolescence. But
that hardness of her heart melts at the correct moment, like
butter.

The child has now reached manhood. He can stand on his
own feet with enviable self-confidence. The mother also grows
up with sympathetic joy enjoying the fruits of her labours. Her com-
placence, like curd, is serene and has nothing meddlesome about it.
The bringing forth and the bringing-up is over. The time comes
now to let go - of the attachments and involvements regarding
the child. But for that separation too, the mother, now mature
in her experience, is fully prepared with equanimity. Like a pot
of ghee, she is not easily upset.

Universal love, compassion, sympathetic-joy and equanimity are
the four Divine Abidings a mother practises in a limited sense in
the course of her motherly care for the child. Charity begins at
home. These four are homely virtues in the first instance, to be
remembered like milk, butter, curd and ghee. The four Divine
Abidings are to be developed, however, in a boundless measure
until one's heart is fully released in them. A mother bears testi-
mony to the practicability and the reciprocal value of these
Divine Abidings which hold the prospects of spiritual growth,
peace and harmony for the society at large.