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Last week, at the meditation group which I regularly attend, we were given an extract from the book "Buddhist Meditation" by Sarah Shaw.

The extract was on the Four Divine Abidings (Brahmavihara). These are meditations on Loving-Kindness (metta), Compassion (karuna), Sympathetic Joy (mudita), and Equanimity (upekkha).

Metta is sometimes practised for the well-being of someone dear, then someone neutral, then someone unfriendly. Another approach is to practise towards one's self, then towards a friend, then towards all the people nearby, then to all beings everywhere. There are many variants of the practice, but all involve the sending out of loving-kindness to others.

It has left me feeling unclear about the purpose of this practice, and I would be grateful for all explanations.

Does a person do metta practice to change their self in some way? Or is the purpose of metta practice to have an effect on others?

If it has no effect on others, it seems a pointless process. There is a story of a Buddha-deer who offered himself to a hunter-king with loving-kindness, and this rendered the hunter unable (or unwilling) to shoot the deer.

Do I take the lesson from the story that the hunter's values were changed by loving-kindness, or that the deer was protected by loving-kindness?

I read that the Metta-Sutta is regarded as a means of bringing good fortune, dispelling bad dreams and protecting against ghosts and evil spirits, in some traditions. That looks like metta acting on the self. But if you wish well-being towards others in order to get a result for yourself, then your motive does not match your action, and that is dangerously close to hypocrisy.

If I wish for the well-being of all the citizens of my local town, they will not be aware of my action. Will I have an effect on them? If not, what is the root of my metta practice?

W.