are we practicing with one eye on what we’re getting from it? At times in my practice I would be repeating the phrases, but always watching, checking, “Am I getting more concentrated? Am I getting more loving?” At these times, I was concerned with how I was feeling and forgetting the simplicity and purity of the wish for someone’s happiness. In yet another way, we can mingle various motivations. We might be saying the mettā phrases, but the underlying motivation is, “May you be free of all those annoying qualities that make me feel aversion,” again forgetting that how we feel is up to us.
