Metta: The Philosophy and Practice of Universal Love

The word for loving-kindness in Sanskrit is maitri. Maitri is also translated as unconditional friendliness. So each time you say to yourself “thinking,” you are cultivating that unconditional friendliness toward whatever arises in your mind.

The word metta is derived from another word, mitta, which means “friend.” Mitta also means “sun.” We depend on the sun’s warmth to survive, and we rely on loving friendship to thrive. Accordingly, my own preferred translation of metta is “loving-friendliness”