Western mindfulness movements, including mindfulness-based psychotherapies, have widely adopted Buddhist metta (lovingkindness) meditation practices. There are multiple peer-reviewed research studies on clinical outcomes of loving-kindness meditation practices in psychotherapeutic contexts. Multiple evidence-based psychotherapies make use of lovingkindness meditations, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Positive Affect Treatment (PAT).
In their traditional contexts, metta meditation practices have had an apotropaic function, and Buddhist commentary literature narrates the use of metta practice to transform conflict with "supernatural" beings (cf. the Suttapināta commentary on the Metta Sutta). The inclusion of this function and these commentary traditions varies in western adoptions of metta, with a tendency towards omission or minimization, particularly in materials that are designed for secular contexts such as clinical practice and education.
This paper engages in a discourse analysis of psychotherapy manuals, such as the 1st and 2nd editions of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy handbook, Positive Affect Treatment, patient-facing healthcare resources such as Veterans Health Administration Whole Health handouts, and research articles on clinical outcomes of metta meditation practices. I focus on the ways these texts omit or minimize the Buddhist origins of metta practice more broadly and Buddhist metta traditions involving “supernatural” beings more specifically. In keeping with observations from scholars like Candy Gunther Brown, we see frontstage/backstage differences in these materials, with the Buddhist origins of metta practice omitted from patient-facing materials but included at least briefly in clinician-facing materials. The apotropaic function of metta practice is almost entirely omitted. This is not necessarily due to ignorance of these traditions, as there are sometimes passing, vague allusions that indicate awareness of them, and some of the works that the psychotherapeutic literature explicitly draws on (Sharon Salzberg’s work) include these traditions.
The omission or minimization of the Buddhist origins of mindfulness practices, particularly in resources designed for clients/patients, reflects a phenomenon that has been frequently discussed in contemporary research on secular Buddhism and western mindfulness practice. The primary contribution of this study is the focus on omission and minimization of Buddhist traditions about “supernatural” beings in psychotherapeutic settings.
I work as a psychotherapy provider who tries to provide spiritually-attuned care in a secular healthcare setting and provide some of the therapies analyzed in this paper. I argue that the omission of traditions about supernatural beings is ethically problematic for some of the same reasons Candy Gunther Brown criticizes secular mindfulness practices (transparency, informed consent). I additionally argue that these omissions limit the potential therapeutic value of metta traditions for spiritually-attuned care, as navigating relationships with unseen or “supernatural” beings is an area of concern for many people engaging mental health treatment, including in secular settings. Learning the fuller Buddhist context of metta practices could benefit some clients/patients.
Brown, C. G. (2017). Ethics, transparency, and diversity in mindfulness programs. In L. M. Monteiro, J. F. Compson, & F. Musten (Eds.), Practitioner's guide to ethics and mindfulness-based interventions (pp. 45–85). Springer International Publishing/Springer Nature.
Craske, M.G., Dour, H.J., Treanor, M., Meuret, A.E. (2022). Positive Affect Treatment for Depression and Anxiety. Oxford University Press.
Linehan, M.M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual: Second Edition. Guilford.
Salzberg, S. (2018). Lovingkindnes: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Shambhala.
The Suttanipāta: an ancient collection of the Buddha’s discourses ; together with its commentaries, Paramatthajotikā II and excerpts from the Niddesa (Bodhi, Trans.). (2017). Wisdom Publications.
Western mindfulness movements, including mindfulness-based psychotherapies, have widely adopted Buddhist metta (lovingkindness) meditation practices. In their traditional contexts, these meditation practices have had an apotropaic function, and Buddhist commentary literature narrates the use of metta practice to transform conflict with "supernatural" beings. This paper engages in a discourse analysis of psychotherapy manuals, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and psychotherapeutic research articles that include metta meditation practices, focusing on their omission or minimization of the Buddhist origins of metta practice more broadly and Buddhist metta traditions involving supernatural beings more specifically. This discourse analysis shows that adoption of metta practices by contemporary psychotherapy reflects broader patterns in secular appropriation of Buddhist traditions, such as front-stage/back-stage behavior, and that elements of Buddhist cosmology involving supernatural beings are strongly targeted for deselection. This is ethically problematic and may limit the effectiveness of metta practice for spiritually-attuned care.