Metta: a Loving-Kindness Meditation Course
Loving Kindness: A Deep Dive
What if you could learn to meet life with a more open and generous heart?
What is Metta?
Metta, translated as loving-kindness or friendliness, is the first of the four immeasurables—mental qualities highly venerated in Buddhism—which include compassion, joy, and equanimity. At its most basic, metta is the intention or wish for others' or our own well-being.
Why Practice Metta?
Scientific research has found that metta meditation is comparable in its effects on well-being to mindfulness meditation, but it's unique in that it also increases prosociality.
When we ask ourselves how we want to move through this life, mindfulness says "moment to moment awareness," while metta says "with an open and generous heart."
While mindfulness meditation is primarily a practice of attention, metta is a practice of the heart and emotions. Emotions play a large role in our lives—for good or for ill—and are increasingly hijacked by media and advertisement. Learning how to intentionally cultivate our emotional world toward the good is invaluable, and this is exactly what metta meditation does.
What to Expect
This six-week course is open to everyone, no matter your meditation experience, and has two interrelated goals: The first is to give you a comprehensive overview of metta and its practice. The second is to help you develop a meditation practice at home. These two goals are inseparable, as metta is practiced in a progressive, sequential manner, and each stage needs time and practice to integrate before moving to the next.
By signing up, you're making a commitment to attend at least 4 of the 6 sessions.
This is because missing out two lessons will make it highly difficult to follow the rest of the course (especially the first two lessons which are fundamental).
Sessions will include:
- Theory on metta and its practice
- Guided meditations
- Sharing circles where you can share your experience and receive feedback
Key facts:
1. The course begins on the 11th of November, and will take place every Tuesday at 17.00 at the Roeterseiland Campus in room G2.01 for six weeks/sessions (final session: 16th of December).
Dates:
11-11-25: 17.00-18.00
18-11-25: 17.00-18.00
25-11-25: 17.00-18.00
2-12-25: 17.00-18.00
9-12-25: 17.00-18.00
16-12-25: 17.00-18.00
2. Participating in the course is free for student meditation members/ 10 Euro signup fee for non-members (which can be paid at the first lesson in cash/payment request)
Become a member: https://www.studentmeditation.nl/become-a-member/
3. Limited to 12 participants
4. The sign up link: https://forms.gle/yoBZxj8JD6K9CK9H7
If you have questions, you are welcome to get in touch with Yoel at +31653498854.
About Your Instructor
My name is Yoel Behar, and I first discovered meditation nine years ago. In the last few years, I've spent roughly one month per year on retreat. While I have experience with different traditions and practice styles, I've devoted over 1,000 hours to loving-kindness meditation. This practice has transformed my life for the better, so I'm excited to share it with you. When I'm not meditating, you can find me pursuing a master's degree in research psychology, pretending to be a social butterfly, and video chatting with my mom.
