Written by Rebecca D'Onofrio

According to Buddhism, the best way to change the world is to change yourself. This reflects two core principles: the truth of impermanence, that everything is in a constant state of flux including our sense of self which is not static but ever-evolving, along with the fact that everything we experience — our emotions, attitudes, opinions, perspectives — are all conditioned phenomena based on cause and effect. Because of these two principles, we actually have the power to shift how we see and experience the world.

In metta meditation, we begin to take ownership of our mental conditioning by recognizing that the way we think and feel about others has less to do with who they fundamentally are, and more to do with our projections. We color the world based on who we like, who we don’t like, and who we don’t care about. These are known as the three kleshas and they represent the root cause of suffering, according to Buddhist thought.

During metta practice, we acknowledge our common humanity by sending four wishes that all beings can benefit from: safety, happiness, health, and ease. Starting from this common ground cuts through our tendency to separate ourselves by “othering” people. It is an acknowledgement of our interconnection.

We then send these four wishes to four categories of attitudes that we tend to project onto other people, which are represented by the kleshas: those we care about, those we don’t care about, those we don’t like, and we also include ourselves as the fourth category. This allows us to take ownership of the attitudes that we are coloring the world with.

Finally, we cut through these attitudes by sending the four wishes to all beings everywhere beyond any personal bias. This acknowledges the true nature of all beings as unconditionally worthy of love, care, and compassion.

Metta meditation is a process that can change the whole world and every single being in it, including ourselves, by transforming our own impermanent and conditioned mental attitudes that keep us from experiencing the true nature of things as they actually are. When we cut through this confusion and experience things as they truly are, the natural result of that process is wisdom.

In this state of wisdom, we understand how confusion arises in others because we have worked through our own, and this allows us to see through to their most true fundamental nature, which is the same as our own. The natural result of this process is love and compassion.

So when we transform ourselves, we have the power to transform the whole world. This is what the Buddha meant when he said, “When one changes, all changes.”