Every morning, we practice loving-kindness meditation. When we practice loving-kindness meditation, we are doing a practice known as mind-work. Loving-kindness meditation is one of the subjects of Samatha meditation. All meditation practice falls under the heading of Manokamma, which means mind-work, or action done in the mind.

There are also two other kinds of Kammas, or two other kinds of work: body-work, meaning action done with the body, and mouth-work, action done by speech. We are used to thinking of loving-kindness as mind-work, Manokamma, so we are hardly aware that it can be expressed in deeds and in words also.

The Buddha once taught these three kinds of work to the monks—body-work, speech-work, and mind-work, accompanied by loving-kindness, Metta. In other words, the Buddha taught three kinds of loving-kindness or three kinds of Metta: Metta expressed in deed, Metta expressed in word, and Metta expressed in mind.

The Buddha added three more practices. He called these six qualities, these six practices, Saraniya. Saraniya means “that which makes people remember.” The six qualities taught in this discourse are those that make the practitioners remembered by other members of society.

The Buddha said that these qualities are conducive to unity in the community. On one occasion, the Buddha taught these qualities to monks who had been divided. It was following a dispute on a very minor rule of conduct. First, two monks quarreled and had a dispute regarding a minor rule. They quarreled and lost Metta for each other. Then their pupils became divided. Then their devotees, the lay people, became divided. It is said that even the celestial beings, the gods, came to be divided.

At first, the Buddha was unable to reconcile them. They would not listen to the Buddha. Later, the Buddha was able to teach them these six qualities, these six practices, among other things.

I think that Metta, especially Metta expressed in deed and in word, is needed at any time, but it is needed more in these modern times when there is so much disharmony, so much hatred, and so much violence in the world.

The Buddha said: “Monks, there are six ways of having consideration. There are six kinds of practices that make the practitioners remembered by the members of society. What six? Herein, monks, a monk has Metta established in deed for his companions in the holy life, openly and in private.” This is the first quality, which is to practice Metta in deed, or to practice and express Metta by bodily actions. The second is to express Metta by way of words, or speech. The third is to express Metta in thought.

The Buddha always said, “openly and in private,” and he meant that one is to express Metta in the presence of that person or in the absence of that person.

The first kind of Metta is done in deeds, in bodily actions. How do we express Metta in bodily actions? When you see someone carrying a big load, you go and help him or her carry that load. That is Metta in deed. If someone who is disabled or very young is trying to cross the street, you go and help that person cross the street. That is also Metta expressed in deed.

For monks, Metta in deed means doing one's duties to one's own teachers or being a companion in dyeing the robes or washing the robes. For younger monks, that is Metta expressed in deeds. Sometimes, someone may put something in the wrong place and you put it in the right place. That is also Metta expressed in deed. So there are many ways of expressing Metta by bodily actions. All of these actions are done with Metta, so they are called Metta bodily actions. As lay people, you can practice Metta in many ways also.

These are practices of Metta done in someone's presence. In someone's absence, when they are not present, how do you practice Metta in deed? Sometimes, somebody may leave work undone and is not there any longer. Then, if you can, you can do the work to finish it. That is one way of expressing Metta in deed. Sometimes, you keep things in order, in their respective places. That is also Metta in deed.

Venerable Sariputta is said to have expressed Metta in this way quite often, or, perhaps we can say, always. Venerable Sariputta did not go out for alms with other monks. He always stayed behind. After all the monks had left, he would go around the monastery and look at things. When some things were misplaced or not in neat order, he would put them in their right place. Only after that would he go out for alms. That was showing Metta in deed.

Giving someone something to eat is also showing Metta in deed. There are many ways we can express Metta by way of bodily actions. When lay people greet monks, offer food to monks, say good-bye to monks or accompany monks a little way as they are about to return home—all these gestures of amity or love are actually Metta expressed through actions of the body.

The Buddha said that these qualities will make people remember you. When you do something good for somebody, when you do it with a genuine Metta consciousness, then you will be remembered with love by these people. When you do something good for people and they have love for you, there will be unity between you and those people. So it is conducive to unity in the community if all the members practice in this way. Metta expressed in bodily actions is a unifying factor in the life of the community. We should promote the practice of Metta in this way in our communities.

The second quality is Metta through words. When you talk to people you can use gentle and kind words, calling them by good names, such as Mr. So and So, the Venerable So and So, like that. You can talk to them gently even when there is an occasion to censure or criticize them. You can use gentle words so you may be able to convince them of their mistake. These are acts of Metta through the action of speech, or Metta through words. That is Metta in their presence.

In their absence, you may practice Metta in speech by saying good things about them, or by referring to them as Mr. So and So or the Venerable So and So. We can thus practice Metta by speech, and we can practice in front of people as well as in their absence.

Metta in word and Metta in deed cannot be done without Metta in mind. If we do not have Metta-mind or Metta-consciousness, we cannot express it in deed or in words. And so we come to the third practice of Metta, which is Metta in mind. This may be practiced as a meditation every day as we do here. We may wish happiness and peacefulness for all beings.

How do you practice Metta in mind to a person in his or her presence? Looking at that person, you may say, “May you be well, happy, and peaceful,” or you may look at him or her with Metta-eyes, with eyes expressing Metta. You don’t say anything by word of mouth, but you wish that person well, or look at him or her with eyes expressing Metta. That is the practice of Metta in mind in front of a person, when they are present. Sending thoughts to them when they are away is practicing Metta in mind in their absence.

So, we can express Metta in our bodily actions, in our speech, and in our mind. It is a sad fact that these qualities are vanishing from modern society. People seem to forget about these qualities. That is why I think there is so much disharmony and violence in the world today.

Sometimes, I think that the whole system is at fault. If some children come to your house, you are afraid to give them food because if something goes wrong with the food, you will be sued. The system makes people apathetic towards each other. You want to be friendly, but you cannot be friendly because you are afraid that you might be sued if something goes wrong. If someone falls down on the sidewalk, you would hesitate before you helped them up because you may be wrongly accused and taken to court. This system makes people not have Metta for each other. They are afraid to have Metta for other people because they may be sued or taken to court, or they may have other troubles. This is something that should be changed.

Laws are made to protect good people, but sometimes laws are misused or abused. These laws for suing people are made for the protection of good people. But people take advantage of these laws and sue at a very slight provocation. The result is that people do not want to express Metta towards each other.

Another problem is that children are taught to be aggressive, to fight back, to strike back, and not to tolerate others. When they are taught this way, how can they practice Metta? How can the community be a peaceful one if the members of the community do not practice Metta in their deeds and in their words?

Right now, the city of Oakland has trouble. They have a lot of violence there, so the people have assembled, and they are trying to find ways to correct this situation. But I think that unless they go to the root of the problem, it will be very difficult to solve this. The root is at the homes and the schools. These qualities, these practices, should be taught by parents to their children and by teachers to their pupils. Only when children are imbued with these qualities will they act in an acceptable manner. Then the community will live in peace. So, it is very important that these practices begin at home and in school when people are still young and impressionable.

Also, there is a lot of violence in the media, and this is another factor that makes people not have Metta for each other.

These practices are not difficult, and they are not expensive. You can practice Metta without any expense at all. Metta can bring very good and very desirable results. It can change the conditions in the community, in the city, in the country, and in the world. It can change people’s lives. It can make people enjoy life more. They can live their lives in more safety. They can live in more comfort and more peacefulness.

What the Buddha taught more than 2,500 years ago about Metta can still be implemented into society in these modern days. We will get good results from the practice of these qualities. There are three qualities—Metta expressed through body, through speech, and through mind.

When you are walking, you can show Metta by stepping aside and allowing someone to pass. Or sometimes you can show Metta by showing respect to that person if he is older than you are. There are a lot of ways to show respect, to show Metta, to express Metta.

When one has Metta towards people, then people have Metta towards the person who had Metta first. Metta is like a vibration. It goes back and forth, both ways. If you have love for someone, then that person will have love for you.

When we express Metta in words, we use kind and gentle words. It is very good in this country that people say, "Have a nice day” or “Have a good trip,” or “Good morning.” These may be considered trivial, but they help smooth the communication or contact between people.

The word “Metta” is defined as that which is sticky, which is glutinous. When there is Metta, you keep together two things. When there is no Metta, there is no coming together. I always compare it to oil that you put into a car engine. You will not drive a car if there is no oil in the car because you know the engine will be damaged. Most of the time, we forget to put some “oil” or “grease” into our communication with other people. That is why there is so much conflict. So it is good to put the “oil” of Metta in our communication with other people.

When we say, “Have a nice day” or “Take care” or something similar, they should come from our heart and not just from our lips. People are so used to saying these things that they just come out of their mouths. Sometimes, they may not really mean them, especially those whose job it is to say these things. For example, in Japan, there are department stores where at every escalator, there is a girl. Her duty is to say, “Watch your step,” when people use the escalator. She may say “Watch your step” a thousand times a day, and sometimes, she may not always mean it. When we say things such as “Have a nice day,” those words should come from our hearts, not just from our lips. That is also important.

The machinery of communication would be very smooth if we put some “oil” or “grease,” as I mentioned before, into all of our communication with other people. We would live in peace and harmony wherever we were.

These are the first three qualities or ways of expressing Metta. The next way is sharing. You know the discourses are mostly taught to monks, so most of them have to do with a monk's life, but they can be adapted to the lives of lay people too.

The fourth of the six qualities mentioned in this Sutta is “those proper gains gotten according to rule; be they but bowl-scraps, he loves to share them indiscriminately, to have them in common with his virtuous fellows in the holy life.” This is for a monk. Whatever a monk gets must be according to Vinaya, the rules for monks. That means he must not get things by improper means. Proper for a monk means that he must go out for alms to get things, like food and supplies. When people come and of their own free will offer him something, he may accept them. These things he gets are said to obtained by proper means.

But if a monk treats a person, gives him medicine, tells fortunes and gets something in return, then that is said to be gained through improper means. So “gotten according to rule” means gotten according to rules of Vinaya. “He loves to share them indiscriminately” encourages a monk to share whatever he gets with the members of his community.

There is a practice of Saraniya which is very, very difficult. Perhaps, nowadays, nobody practices this. A monk practicing this must go for alms. When he comes back, he must give whatever he has gotten to sick monks, to those who are visiting, and to those young monks who are not well acquainted with the life of a monk. When there is still something left over, he must share it with other monks. Only after the other monks have eaten and there is still some remaining will he eat. If there is none remaining, he may go back to the village again for a second round. So the principle is that whatever he gets, first he offers it to other monks. He must be delighted when other monks take the food from his bowl. He must not be disappointed at any moment at all. It is very difficult.

When a monk shares, he must share indiscriminately. This means that he must not say, “This kind of food I will share and that kind of food I will not,” or “I will share with this kind of person and I will not share with that kind of person.” He must not have this discrimination. He must share all of his food with all of the monks. That means all monks who are virtuous or who are fulfilling the purity of moral conduct by keeping the precepts properly. The monk must act in this way for twelve years. If, at the end of the twelve years, on the last day, he was disappointed because some monks he favored less took his offering, his vow would be broken, and he would have to start from the beginning of another twelve-year cycle. It is very difficult—I cannot fulfill that vow. If the monk is successful in that practice, he would never be without food or anything he needs. Even during a time of famine or scarcity, he would get plenty of things. Even if he were to go into the forest where no human beings live, he would get plenty to eat and wear because the deities, the devas, would take care of him.

The spirit of this kind of practice is, above all, one of sharing, sharing whatever you get with other members of the community. This is a very good practice, and if you want to be good at this practice, you let other people use things before you. Then you use those things yourself. The sharing of what you get is pleasing to other people, and people will always remember you in their fond memories. Sharing is also a unifying factor in community life.

These days, people don't want to share. They think: “I worked hard for this. When I get it, I will enjoy it myself. I will not share it with any other person.” Many people have an attitude like this. We have to teach the attitude and practice of sharing to young people so that they share what they have with other people.

Sharing things with other people makes those persons have a gentle or soft mind. Then they like the person who has shared with them. This is the harmonizing quality of the practice of sharing. Sharing is the fourth quality of a monk who wants to live being loved by others and who wants to live in unity in a given community.

The fifth practice is Sila, strictly keeping the moral precepts. “Those virtues that are unbroken, without flaw, spotless, without blemish, bringing freedom, praised by wise men, incorruptible, leading to concentration, he dwells as one in virtue with them among his fellows in the holy life, openly and in private.” This is one of the qualities to be remembered—keeping the precepts, keeping moral conduct.

The moral conduct that you keep must be like that kept by the Noble Ones. The Noble Ones are those who have attained any stage of enlightenment. They keep the precepts unbroken. If you have reached the first stage of enlightenment, you are known as a Sotapannas and you will not break any of the five precepts. Even at the risk of your life, you will never break any of these rules. If you are a monk, you will not break any of the 227 rules.

Here it is said that the rules must be unbroken, practiced in a way that is without flaw, without blemish, spotless. In brief, this means that the rules must not be broken anywhere—in the beginning, middle, or end. Two consecutive rules or one rule here and another one here cannot be broken: The moral precepts must not be broken in any way at all, and if that is accomplished, then the Sila of a person resembles a Noble One. Even though you have not reached any stage of enlightenment, you must try to keep these moral precepts unbroken, as pure as possible, so that your Sila resembles the Sila of a Noble Person, one who has reached enlightenment.

Keeping these precepts is praised by wise persons. Good people praise those who deeply hold precepts. Keeping one’s moral conduct pure, not doing anything morally wrong, is pleasing to other people. Other people love and will remember that person for keeping moral precepts. So this practice has a harmonizing effect on society.

The precepts must be “incorruptible” when we are on the path “leading to concentration.” This is very important. In the teachings of the Buddha, we go step by step. On the spiritual path, we go step by step. This first step is moral conduct, Sila. Sila must be pure. If Sila is not pure, then we cannot hope to get concentration. If moral conduct is not pure, we will have a feeling of guilt. The feeling of guilt can interfere with our meditation. When we practice meditation, we want to keep our minds very pure so that thoughts of guilt and remorse will not come to us and interfere with our concentration. If we cannot get concentration, there is no hope of penetrating into the true nature of things and of ultimately reaching any stage of enlightenment. Keeping Sila, or moral conduct, pure is the beginning of one’s spiritual path.

When Sila is kept pure, it leads to concentration. This means that, when we practice meditation, we get concentration easily when our moral conduct is pure. So a monk is encouraged to keep the precepts unbroken. And a lay person is encouraged to keep at least five precepts unbroken.

Sila, the moral precepts, are to be kept pure both “openly and in private.” That means that we are not to break rules even in secret, even in private. Sometimes we may be tempted to break a rule when nobody is looking at us. We may think, “Nobody sees me. I will break this rule. It is OK.” But whether it is in front of other people or in secret, we are not to break any of these rules. We are to keep them unbroken, keep them intact.

In the Jatakas, there is the story of the Bodhisatta who refused to steal jewelry even though he could do it without anyone knowing. He claimed that he himself would still know and it was not right. There was a great teacher in a certain place with about 500 students. That teacher had a beautiful, intelligent daughter. He wanted to give that daughter to one of his pupils, a pupil who was deserving. One day he called all of his pupils and told them, “I have this daughter who is beautiful and intelligent. I want to give her away in marriage to one of you who is deserving. I want her to wear jewelry on her wedding day, so bring some jewelry. Take the jewelry from people and do not let anyone know,” which is another way of telling his students to steal. So he sent out his students and many of them came back with many pieces of jewelry. In fact, 499 pupils came back with jewelry. But one came back empty- handed.

The teacher asked him, “Why didn't you bring back jewelry as I told you?”

Then the Bodhisatta said, “Teacher, you said to take jewelry so that nobody would know. Even though nobody knows, I myself know because I see that I am stealing. There is no place in the world where I can do something morally wrong without the knowledge of others because I am the other, and I know. So I did not bring anything.”

The teacher was pleased with him, and he gave his daughter to that pupil.

When we keep precepts, we must keep them whether other people are looking or not, whether we are in front of other people or not. We should keep the moral precepts everywhere. This will make us dear to our fellow companions in the holy life wherever we live. Keeping the precepts is conducive to harmony among the members of the community and gives people the qualities they should have if they want a peaceful and united community.

The last memorable practice is Panna (wisdom). One must try to get wisdom or understanding like those who have reached enlightenment. In order to get Panna like those who have reached enlightenment, you yourself must get enlightenment. Panna at the moment of enlightenment is the best one. In order to get that Panna, you have to practice Vipassana meditation. In reality, the sixth memorable practice is to practice meditation.

“The Ariyan (Noble) view or understanding, leading him who practices it accordingly to the utter destruction of suffering; he dwells as one in view among his fellows in the holy life, openly and in private. That means he must practice meditation.

One noteworthy thing is “leading him who acts accordingly to the utter destruction of suffering.” The practice will lead him to the utter destruction of suffering. It will lead him who acts, who practices. The practice will take us to the destruction of suffering, but only if we practice it. If we do not practice it, it will not take us to the destruction of suffering. It is important that we understand that this is the way that leads to the destruction of suffering, and then we must practice it or we cannot expect anything from this path or this way. The Ariyan view, that is, the Noble understanding, is to be actually understood and practiced, not just read about, not just heard.

In order to reach that wisdom, the wisdom of enlightenment, we need to practice Vipassana meditation. When people practice meditation, there will be no conflict between them. In addition, people like other people who practice meditation. There are many people who themselves cannot practice meditation, but who are willing to help other people practice by offering food to them, offering opportunities to them, or in other ways. Those who practice meditation are dear to many people. When people practice meditation, there is no conflict among them, and there will be unity and peace and harmony.

Altogether, there are six qualities that we have to develop to create a peaceful community and a peaceful society. These are Metta in three categories: sharing and generosity; good conduct; and wisdom, which is the practice of Vipassana meditation. If we can practice all six of them, that is best. If we cannot practice Vipassana meditation, at least we can practice the other five. If not that, at least people should practice Metta expressed in deed, word, and mind.

If people could practice such simple teachings—and they are simple to understand and not difficult to practice—I think the world would be a much better place than it is now. If we want to do something for the good of the world, then we need to practice these qualities ourselves and also encourage other people to practice these qualities. If these qualities became alive again in our society, then our society would become a peaceful, united, friction-free, stress-free society. At least the first three should be practiced as much as possible. Then we should practice sharing, keeping moral precepts pure, and ultimately, we must practice Vipassana meditation and try to become enlightened.

These are the six ways that lead to harmonious living in the world, and they make people remember those who practice them. Thank you.

Sadhu! Sahdu! Sadhu!