Mettabhavana

During 1997 my family and I were invited to stay at a beautiful Oliver Messel beach house in Barbados. On the night we arrived I had an unforgettable dream about a building. I could not see where the light came from; it just seemed to emanate softly through the walls. I had a great inner sense of peace and unity; feelings of such clarity, which remain with me today.
The moment I woke, I knew this was a building not just for me but for everyone: a space that could unite people, a space to simply practise Metta Bhavana, the compassionate meditation, nothing more. It was about drawing light back into the world, both literally and spiritually. In the months after the dream the ideas and design came naturally. Although the building is visually complex, the functional side is extremely simple. There’s no electricity, it is lit by sunlight by day and beeswax candles by night. In essence the building would be a light space, a place to practise Metta Bhavana or a simple meditation of the breath. Although this is Buddhist meditation/prayer the building would be non-denominational, in other words, the building is for everyone. For now, it exists as a concept, but it remains one of my life’s ambitions to build the Mettabhavana.