What is loving-kindness meditation?

Loving-kindness meditation, metta bhavana in Pali, is the cultivation of goodwill toward specific people using short repeated phrases such as may you be safe and may you live with ease. It is usually taught in circles: yourself, someone you love, someone you barely know, someone you find difficult, and then all beings. The success criterion is the intention behind the phrase rather than any feeling it produces. A session where you formed the wishes and meant them as aims has done its work, even if nothing warm arrived.