Loving Kindness with Noah Levine

Loving Kindness with Noah Levine

What drives someone to seek a life rooted in kindness rather than self-criticism? Against The Stream leans into that question as Noah Levine guides a roomful of meditators through the Buddhist practice of loving-kindness, or metta.

Speaking with his trademark mix of straight talk and humour, Noah reframes metta as “unconditional friendliness” towards yourself and everyone else – even “when your mind’s being an asshole.” He walks through the classic Buddhist refuges (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and shows how community and accountability support this training of the heart, especially for those who find it easier to care for others than themselves.

You’ll hear Noah unpack the Metta Sutta, including the simple but challenging wish, “May all beings be at ease,” and the Buddha’s bold reminder that “you’d never find anybody more worthy of your love than yourself.” From there, he offers a structured loving-kindness meditation using phrases like, “May I be happy. May I be at ease. May I be free from suffering,” expanding out from benefactors, to friends, to neutral people, to enemies, and back to yourself.

Noah doesn’t pretend any of this is quick or easy. He shares honestly about years of resistance, saying early on his practice felt like, “May I be happy, blah, blah, blah. May I be at ease, go fuck yourself,” and how perseverance slowly shifted his relationship with his own mind, unworthiness and resentment. Along the way he touches on the Buddha’s “11 benefits of loving-kindness,” from easier sleep to a more radiant presence and a calmer mind.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you could actually learn to like yourself – not in a cheesy way, but in a grounded, recovery-friendly way – this talk offers a practical map and a lot of reassurance that change comes bit by bit. How might your day look different if you treated yourself with even 1 point more friendliness on that 1-to-10 scale?