การเจริญเมตตาธรรมกับการแผ่เมตตาเป็นเรื่องเดียวกัน เพียงแต่เบื้องต้นเริ่มจากบทสวด แล้วยกระดับเป็นความรู้สึกปรารถนาดีอย่างจริงใจที่กำหนดขึ้นและแผ่ขยายออกไป ยิ่งใจโตเท่าไร เมตตาธรรมก็ยิ่งส่องสว่างไปได้ไกลเท่านั้นCultivating loving-kindness and radiating it are the same practice — beginning with a chant, then developing into a sincere, deliberately generated feeling of goodwill that is sent outward. The larger the heart grows, the further that loving-kindness shines.
Someone asked: is cultivating the same thing as radiating loving-kindness?
The answer is yes, they are the same. It's , at the start, the practice usually begins with a chant or recitation, such as, "May all beings be companions in suffering through birth, aging, sickness, and death; may they be well and happy." That is the beginning. But as the practice continues, the wisdom within teaches us to raise it to a higher level — no longer relying on the recited words, but generating the feeling ourselves directly, establishing it as a state of mind filled with genuine goodwill. As that goodwill grows stronger and stronger, it develops into love — transformed by sincere and pure goodwill. There are many levels to this. Once the heart has been fully transformed by love and goodwill, it becomes pure feeling itself, ready to be radiated outward — like a mother's love for her child, or a child's love for their mother.
When we radiate this feeling outward, it becomes a kind of light, a wholesome state of . The heart is a ready-made element — whatever we set it toward becomes real. We must deliberately generate love and goodwill, and then send that feeling outward. However large the heart expands, that is exactly how far loving-kindness will shine. It is like flipping a switch that lights up an entire house, then an entire village, sub-district, district, province, country, and the whole world — shining both outward and inward, reaching every person and every being, extending benefit to them and shaping the environment to be fit for their dwelling. Because for people and beings to truly be happy, the environment itself — the earth, water, air, mountains, and seas — must also be supportive.
This is like a Bodhisattva radiating loving-kindness throughout an entire forest, reaching every particle of the atmosphere. Every person and being within the area the Bodhisattva's loving-kindness covers has their heart and mind transformed — no longer killing or harming one another, but holding love and goodwill toward each other as companions. The feelings that unwholesomeness once used to drive them to harm one another simply cease to exist; only the feelings of side remain, full of love and goodwill toward one another.