‘Positive’ emotions are essentially those that are not self-centred. They are more outgoing and orientated towards others, though their positivity naturally includes ourselves. The most fundamental of these positive emotions is metta — a Pali word which means unlimited loving-kindness or benevolence. The development of metta (Metta Bhavana) is generally the first practice taught to cultivate this aspect of the system of meditation.
Metta Bhavana is one of a traditional set of four practices that cultivates different aspects of positive emotion. When, with metta, we encounter pain and suffering, the well-wishing naturally becomes compassion. When we encounter happiness, it becomes sympathetic joy; we delight in someone else’s good fortune. When we contemplate all the ups and downs of human (and non-human) existence, the positive emotion becomes equanimity; this is a steady, empathic and unshakeable positivity, which embodies deep insight into the human condition.
Achievement of a reasonable degree of integration and positive emotion (samatha) is the basis for the next two aspects of the system, involving the cultivation and realisation of insight.
Listen to talks around the theme of positive emotion.
There are a number of practices that could be done to cultivate each of the four stages in the System of Meditation. However, this is not a rigid system — most meditation practices could be used to cultivate the whole system. For example, although Mindfulness of Breathing is usually the first practice taught to cultivate ‘integration’, it can in fact be used to cultivate all four aspects of the system. The same is true of Metta Bhavana, and so on.
Integration implies bringing mental and emotional ‘energies’ together so that attention is not fragmented or divided. This is usually achieved by bringing attention to an object (say, the breath, a visual object, a sound), or using that object as an anchor for awareness. In everyday life, as well as in formal meditation, integration is also developed through mindfulness practices such as walking meditation and body awareness. Mindfulness can be cultivated in any circumstances whatsoever.
Listen to talks exploring the theme of Integration.
The original name of this practice is metta bhavana, which comes from the Pali language. Metta means ‘love’ (in a non-romantic sense), friendliness, or kindness: hence ‘loving-kindness’ for short. It is an emotion, something you feel in your heart. Bhavana means development or cultivation. The commonest form of the practice is in five stages, each of which should last about five minutes for a beginner.
your heart to everyone, to all beings everywhere. Then gradually relax out of meditation, and bring the practice to an end.
Listen to or download full guided introductions to the Metta Bhavana.
As its name implies, the ‘Mindfulness of Breathing’ uses the breath as an object of concentration. By focusing on the breath you become aware of the mind’s tendency to jump from one thing to another. The simple discipline of concentration brings us back to the present moment and all the richness of experience that it contains. It is a way to develop mindfulness, the faculty of alert and sensitive awareness. And it is an excellent method for cultivating the states of intense meditative absorption known as dhyana. As well as this, the mindfulness of breathing is a good antidote to restlessness and anxiety, and a good way to relax: concentration on the breath has a positive effect on your entire physical and mental state.
The meditation has four progressive stages leading to a highly enjoyable level of concentration. To start with five minutes per stage is a good period of practice.
Listen to or download full guided introductions to the Mindfulness of Breathing.
There are many things in life that are beyond our control. However, it is possible to take responsibility for our own states of mind – and to change them for the better. According to Buddhism this is the most important thing we can do, and Buddhism teaches that it is the only real antidote to our own personal sorrows, and to the anxieties, fears, hatreds, and general confusions that beset the human condition.
Meditation is a means of transforming the mind. Buddhist meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and a calm seeing of the true nature of things. By engaging with a particular meditation practice you learn the patterns and habits of your mind, and the practice offers a means to cultivate new, more positive ways of being. With regular work and patience these nourishing, focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly peaceful and energised states of mind. Such experiences can have a transformative effect and can lead to a new understanding of life.
Over the millennia countless meditation practices have been developed in the Buddhist tradition. All of them may be
described as ‘mind-trainings’, but they take many different approaches. The foundation of all of them, however, is the cultivation of a calm and positive state of mind.
Learning meditation
Each year thousands of people learn meditation with the Triratna Buddhist Community. We teach two basic meditations that were originally taught by the historical Buddha. These help develop the qualities of calmness and emotional postivity: the Mindfulness of Breathing and Loving-Kindness (Metta Bhavana) meditations .
The techniques of meditation are very simple. However, reading about them is no substitute for learning from an experienced and reliable teacher. A teacher will be able to offer you guidance in how to apply the technique and how to deal with difficulties. Perhaps most importantly, a teacher can offer the encouragement and inspiration of their own example.
At Triratna Centres, meditation is taught by members of the Triratna Buddhist Order, who are experienced meditators. Classes and courses are open to everyone: you need not be interested in Buddhism. Motives for learning meditation vary. Some people want to improve their concentration for work, study, or even sports; others are looking for relief from stress and peace of mind. Then there are people trying to answer fundamental questions about life. With regular practice, meditation can help all of us to find what we are looking for.
Meditation Courses are excellent contexts for learning. Meditation Retreats offer ideal conditions to take things further.
Preparation
When you sit down to meditate you need to set up your meditation posture in a way that is relaxed but upright, usually sitting on a cushion and probably cross-legged. If this is not easy you can sit kneeling or else in a chair. Then you close your eyes, relax, and tune in to how you are feeling. It is important to be sensitive to your experience
because this is what you work with in meditation. It is a good idea to take some time to sit quietly before starting a meditation, to slow down and relax. Some gentle stretching can also help.
Resources
There are lots of resources available to help you learn meditation – or to take your practice deeper. And in our Online Meditators Group you can now sit with others too, wherever you are in the world!
Read an excellent meditation posture guide by Bodhipaksa, from Wildmind.
You can find answers to some common questions about Buddhist meditation with Clear Vision video.
For a comprehensive set of free audio and text resources on learning meditation, see free buddhist audio’s meditation pages.
The Buddha advised his followers that if they were to thrive they should ‘meet together regularly and in large numbers.’ So festivals are central to the life of the Triratna Buddhist community. They provide an opportunity for celebration and the expression of devotion and gratitude to the Buddha and his teachings.
The principal Triratna Buddhist festivals celebrate ‘the Three Jewels’: the Buddha, the Dharma (the Buddhist Teaching), and the Sangha (the spiritual community). Get dates for Buddhist Festivals till 2025.
Buddha Day: the celebration of the Buddha’s Enlightenment (the full moon of May/June)
The Buddha’s Enlightenment is the central event in Buddhism and we mark this event on Buddha Day (sometimes called Wesak), the most important festival in our calendar. Many of the Buddha’s disciples also attained Enlightenment, and in the centuries that have followed there have been many other Enlightened masters. They too are recalled at Buddha Day with readings of accounts of their lives or from works they wrote themselves. But Enlightenment is also an ideal to which all Buddhists aspire. So Buddha Day is a chance to reflect on what it might
mean for individual Buddhists.
Watch Buddha Day celebrations.
Listen to talks from Buddha Day celebrations, and on the general theme of Enlightenment.
Read Who Is The Buddha? by Sangharakshita.
Dharma Day: the celebration of the Buddha’s teaching (the full moon of July)
Soon after his Enlightenment the Buddha rose from where he had been sitting, went to find his former disciples and shared his experience with them. This event, which happened at a place called Sarnath in northern India, might be called the start of the Buddhist religion and it is this that Dharma Day celebrates. On Dharma Day there are often readings from the Buddhist scriptures and a chance to reflect deeply on their contents. Above all, on Dharma Day Buddhists feel profoundly grateful that the Buddha and other Enlightened masters did share their teachings with other people.
Watch a Dharma Day festival.
Listen to evocations of Dharma Day.
Read What Is The Dharma? by Sangharakshita.
Sangha Day: the celebration of spiritual community (the full moon of November)
All of us need other people to learn from. If we are to practise the Dharma we need the example and teaching of others who have done so before us, especially those who have gained insight into the nature of reality themselves. It’s a joyous thing to mark the fact that we don’t have to go it alone – to rejoice in our friends and those who inspire us every day. So on Sangha Day we celebrate both the ideal of creating a spiritual community, and also the actual spiritual community which we are trying to build.
Watch the Sangha Day Online Festival of Light | Read What Is The Sangha? by Sangharakshita | Listen to talks on Sangha.
Parinirvana Day: the death of the Buddha (in Triratna, the 15th of February))
The Buddha’s death came when he was eighty years old after spending some forty years teaching following his Enlightenment. The notion that all things are impermanent is central to Buddhist teaching and, for Buddhists, loss and impermanence are things to be accepted rather than just being causes of pain and grief. The Maha-parinibbana Sutta gives a moving and dignified account of the Buddha’s last days and passages from it are often read on Parinirvana Day.
The day is used as an opportunity to reflect on the fact of one’s own future death and on people whom one has known who have recently died. Meditations are done for the recently deceased to give them help and support wherever they might be now.
Listen to talks on Parinirvana, and on the theme of death and dying.
Buddhism teaches that the mind and the body cannot be understood independently of one another. This means that as well as cultivating the mind through meditation, the physical dimension of being is also very important. So as well as teaching meditation, many Triratna centres also teach classes in yoga, and some hold classes or retreats in tai chi, Aikido, and karate. Although these are not part of the core curriculum of centres, many people find huge benefits from practising such physical trainings with experienced teachers.
Look for your local Triratna Centre to see if it offers classes like these.
Learn how to do some basic breath and body work with this free guided introduction by Paramananda, from his bestselling book Change Your Mind.
Listen to a body scan meditation by Vidyamala.
What are Buddhist ethics about?
To live is to act, and our actions can have either harmful or beneficial consequences for oneself and others. Buddhist ethics is concerned with the principles and practices that help one to act in ways that help rather than harm. The core ethical code of Buddhism is known as the five precepts, and these are the distillation of its ethical principles. The precepts are not rules or commandments, but ‘principles of training’, which are undertaken freely and need to be put into practice with intelligence and sensitivity.
The Buddhist tradition acknowledges that life is complex and throws up many difficulties, and it does not suggest that there is a single course of action that will be right in all circumstances. Indeed, rather than speaking of actions being right or wrong, Buddhism speaks of the being skilful (kusala) or unskilful (akusala). In Triratna, our faith in the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha finds everyday practical expression in our aspiration to live by ethical precepts, to the best of our ability.
The Five Precepts
1. Not killing or causing harm to other living beings. This is the fundamental ethical principle for Buddhism, and all the other precepts are elaborations of this. The precept implies acting non-violently wherever possible, and many Buddhists are vegetarian for this reason. The positive counterpart of this precept is love.
2. Not taking the not-given. Stealing is an obvious way in which one can harm others. One can also take advantage of people, exploit them, or manipulate them. All these can be seen as ways of taking the not given. The positive counterpart of this precept is generosity.
3. Avoiding sexual misconduct. Over the centuries different Buddhist schools have interpreted this precept in many ways, but essentially it means not causing harm to oneself or others in the area of sexual activity. It includes avoiding breaking commitments in the area of sexual relations, and avoiding encouraging others to do the same. The positive counterpart of this precept is contentment.
4. Avoiding false speech. Speech is the crucial element in our relations with others, and yet language is a slippery medium, and we often deceive ourselves or others without even realising that this is what we are doing. Truthfulness, the positive counterpart of this precept, is therefore essential in an ethical life. But truthfulness is not enough, and in another list of precepts (the ten precepts or the ten kusala dharmas) no fewer than four speech precepts are mentioned, the others enjoining that our speech should be kindly, helpful, and harmonious.
5. Abstaining from drink and drugs that cloud the mind. The positive counterpart of this precept is mindfulness, or awareness. Mindfulness is a fundamental quality to be developed the Buddha’s path, and experience shows that taking intoxicating drink or drugs tends to run directly counter to this.
At ordination, members of the Triratna Buddhist Order undertake to practise a further six precepts, making ten in total:
The Ten Precepts (1- 4 as above, then also abstaining from:)
5. Harsh speech. The positive counterpart is in developing kindly speech.
6. Frivolous speech. The positive counterpart is in developing meaningful speech.
7. Slanderous speech.The positive counterpart is in developing harmonious speech.
8. Covetousness.The positive counterpart is in developing tranquility.
9. Hatred. The positive counterpart is in developing compassion.
10. False views.The positive counterpart is in developing wisdom.
The first precept in both sets of precepts expresses the overarching Buddhist ethical value - ahimsa, or non-harming - to abstain from causing harm and to cultivate loving kindness. We aspire to express these values generally in our everyday lives, particularly in teaching Buddhism and meditation to all who wish to hear about them, whether Buddhist or not.
For a deeper exploration of the basis and practice of Buddhist ethics, read or listen to Sangharakshita’s classic paper The Ten Pillars Of Buddhism.
Explore more perspectives on Buddhist ethics.
Read Sangharakshita’s Living Ethically: Advice from Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland.
Read Not About Being Good: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Ethics by Subhadramati.