Reply To: Mettā = God’s Love ?

#47787
Dawson
Participant

No, because someone would feel ‘God’s love’ on account of taking the pancakkhanda as being of nicca, sukha, and atta nature. As such, they would also have micca ditthi. Therefore, expressing ‘God’s love’ to other beings, while moral in a conventional sense, would be lacking an understanding of the four ariya truths. A person could encourage others to live morally on the basis of thinking that doing so would result in salvation, and conduct themselves according to that principle. However, The Buddha taught that morality alone isn’t sufficient enough to address the fundamental issue with the world (i.e., sansara). So then, that wouldn’t constitute metta. By understanding that reality is characterised by anicca, dukkha, and anatta, that will inform how a person perceives others and subsequently engages with them.

To learn more about metta, you can read this article: https://puredhamma.net/bhavana-meditation/ariya-metta-bhavana/

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