The Ultimate Good Friend

The Pali word “metta” (translation: loving-kindness) has two root meanings. One is the word for “gentle.” Metta is likened to a gentle rain that falls upon the earth. This rain does not select and choose — “I’ll land here, and I’ll avoid that place over there.” Rather, it simply falls without discrimination.

The other root meaning for metta is “friend.” To understand the power or the force of metta is to understand true friendship. The Buddha actually described at some length what he meant by being a good friend in the world. He talked about a good friend as someone who is constant in our times of happiness and also in our times of adversity or unhappiness. A friend will not forsake us when we are in trouble nor rejoice in our misfortune. The Buddha described a true friend as being a helper, someone who will protect us when we are unable to take care of ourselves, who will be a refuge to us when we are afraid.

Sharon Salzberg
from Loving-Kindness; The Revolutionary Art of Happiness