LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION (METTA)

LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION (METTA)LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION (METTA) This painting is rooted in the ancient practice of Metta, or Loving Kindness Meditation. Traditionally, the meditation begins by blessing someone close to us, then extends outward to neutral acquaintances, to those more difficult to love, and finally to all beings. Hubby reverses this order. She begins with we, then you, and finally Iwalking back from the collective to the self. In doing so, she suggests that by

LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION (METTA)

This painting is rooted in the ancient practice of Metta, or Loving-Kindness Meditation. Traditionally, the meditation begins by blessing someone close to us, then extends outward to neutral acquaintances, to those more difficult to love, and finally to all beings. Hubby reverses this order. She begins with we, then you, and finally I—walking back from the collective to the self. In doing so, she suggests that by blessing the world first, we remember that we are inseparable from it. To bless the whole is to bless ourselves.

The mantra unfolds across raw linen in turquoise text: May we be happy. May we be well. May we be safe. May we be peaceful and at ease. May you be happy. May you be well… May I be happy. May I be well… Repeated again and again, the phrases become both incantation and environment, creating a field of compassion that radiates outward like ripples on water.

The vertical scale, echoing Hubby’s own body, makes the canvas feel like a standing presence in the room—a calm companion that emanates kindness. Placed in a home, studio, or public space, Metta Meditation offers a visual reminder that when we expand beyond the small mind into the collective, peace and ease ripple back to us all.

Part of the series "Inside Job" 

2020–2023 The series Inside Job was completed over the pandemic when we all were separated and had the opportunity to look inside our homes and our heads. Hubby sought out some mind release (from the Sanskrit, mantra translates into man, meaning mind, and tra, meaning release). “Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.” is a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh, which aims to keep one in the present moment. “Every Day in every way I’m getting better and better” is the famous phrase from French psychologist, Émile Coué, who changed the face of psychotherapy with the Coué Method of Autosuggestion. Coué stated: “Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realize itself.” Another painting reads: “May we be happy, may we be well, may we be safe, may we be peaceful and at ease,” which is the traditional Buddhist Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta Prayer). 

"These paintings are on canvases that are my exact width and height, further underscoring Mahatma Gandhi’s message, that when you want to change the world, start with yourself."

-Bettina

Original artwork by Bettina Hubby

Gouache on Linen

64" x 17"

2021