A brief study overview
The discourse connects a life conducive to peace with a boundless wish for beings to be well. It begins with qualities such as uprightness, gentleness, contentment and simplicity.
Goodwill is extended without restricting it to those we like or those nearby. The familiar image of a mother protecting her only child expresses the care with which this boundless attitude is to be maintained.
It links this cultivation to conduct, freedom from harmful intentions, and the larger path of liberation.
A life conducive to peace
Those who are skilled in the meaning of scripture
should practice as follows to realize the state of peace.
Let them be capable and upright, very upright,
easy to speak to, gentle and humble;
content and unburdensome,
unbusied, living lightly,
alert, with senses calmed,
courteous, not fawning on families.
Let them not do the slightest thing
that others who are wise would blame.
A wish for all beings
May they be happy and safe!
May all beings be happy!
Leaving no one out
Whatever living creatures there are
with not a one left out—
frail or firm, long or large,
medium, small, tiny or round,
seen or unseen,
living far or near,
those who have been born and those about to be born—
may all beings be happy!
Even when there is hurt
Let none deceive another,
nor look down on anyone anywhere.
Though provoked or aggrieved,
let them not wish pain on each other.
A boundless heart
Even as a mother would protect with her life
her child, her only child,
so too for all creatures
unfold a boundless heart.
With love for the whole world,
unfold a boundless heart:
above, below, all round,
unconstricted, without enmity or foe.
In every posture
When standing, walking, sitting,
or lying down while yet unweary,
keep this ever in mind;
for this, they say, is a divine meditation in this life.
The horizon of liberation
Avoiding harmful views,
virtuous, accomplished in insight,
with desire for sensual pleasures dispelled,
they never return to a womb again.
About this edition
SuttaCentral · Bilara translations · Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0
Illustrations are imaginative reading companions. They do not supply missing details about the historical setting or replace the teachings.