Metta Sutta
This is what should be done
by one who is skilled in goodness
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful,
not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
that the wise would later reprove.
They should wish:
In gladness and in safety
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another,
or despise any being in any state,
Let none through anger or ill-will
wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
should one cherish all living beings,
Radiating kindness over the entire world,
Spreading upwards to the skies,
and downwards to the depths,
Outwards and unbounded,
freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down,
Free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection.
Metta, often translated from the Pali as
'loving kindness', is one of four mental states that Buddhists wish to
cultivate. The other three are compassion, sympathetic joy, and
equanimity. Each of these four states has an easily recognized 'far enemy'
and an equally insidious 'near enemy'.
| Mental state
| Definition
| Far enemy
| Near enemy
| Comments
|
| Loving kindness
| Wanting others to be happy
| Hatred, anger
| Conditional love
| State to avoid: attachment
|
| Compassion
| Wanting others to be free from suffering
| Cruelty
| Pity
| State to avoid: sentimentality
|
| Sympathetic joy
| Rejoicing in the good fortune of others
| Envy
| Hypocritical admiration
| Good against depression
|
| Equanimity
| Regarding every sentient being as equal
| Anxiety, doubt, worry
| Indifference
| State to avoid: apathy
|
In the Metta Sutta, the Buddha discusses the conditions that must
obtain for metta to arise and how to cultivate it in one's mind and heart.
See Khema 1987, Chapter 5, for
an alternative translation and a very helpful discussion.
Each of the four states corresponds to one of the verses of the
Four Immeasurables.