Metta Sutta and versions

From an email sent to a friend today:

That image from here is someone's idea of Buddha giving a discourse on Loving Kindness.

I'm including some versions of the Metta Sutta (Sutra in Pali).


We're getting married [cuke page for that] July 10th at a nearby beach by a Chinese Bali Buddhist priest in the Thai tradition. At our request he's going to include some of the Metta Sutta - in Pali.

There are many people who've done their own version.

Here's a PDF of the SFZC's Loving Kindness Meditation

Here's a PDF of a brief one.

Here's a brief one from Karen Casey Smith dot com. Katrinka found it by searching for "Loving Kindness Blessing."

Lovingkindness Blessing

May I be at peace.
May my heart remain open.
May I realize the beauty of my own true nature.
May I be healed.
May I be a source of healing for this world.

~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~

May you be at peace.
May your heart remain open.
May you realize the beauty of your own true nature.
May you be healed.
May you be a source of healing for this world.

*****

And from here comes the pure unadulterated English translation from the Pali which descends from the original lost language they spoke and didn't write for a few centuries.

Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness

translated from the Pali by

The Amaravati Sangha

© 2004

Alternate translations: Ñanamoli | Buddharakkhita | Piyadassi | Thanissaro

This sutta also appears at Khp 9.

Alternate format: 

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 skillful, Not proud or demanding in nature. Let them not do the slightest thing That the wise would later reprove. Wishing: 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. This is said to be the sublime abiding. By not holding to fixed views, The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision, Being freed from all sense desires, Is not born again into this world.

There's some interesting info on this material in Wikipedia

And here's the Metta page on Wikipedia.

Thanks Tom Silk