The Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta in Depth: Verses 6–10

Verse 6

Na paro paraṁ nikubbetha nātimaññetha katthaci naṁ kiñci
byārosanā paṭīghasaññā nāññamaññassa dukkhamiccheyya

• paro paraṁ: other people
• nikubbetha: not deceiving
• nātimaññetha katthaci naṁ kiñci: not looking down on one another anywhere at all
• byārosanā paṭīghasaññā: out of anger shown through agitation of body and of speech, out of resentment through agitation of mind
• nāññamaññassa dukkhamiccheyya: not wishing suffering on one another

The Blessed One, having taught mettā (loving-kindness) meditation toward beings, wishing those monks to reach benefit and happiness in every way, wished them to leave behind what is not beneficial, what is painful.

It is not cultivating mettā by merely attending to the thought “may all beings be happy”. One should also attend to this: let no one, whoever they are, oppress another through crooked or deceitful behavior; let no one, whoever they are, in whatever country, look down on another on any of the nine grounds for conceit (māna), such as birth, complexion, wealth or age; and let no one wish suffering on another out of anger or resentment.

Verse 7

Mātā yathā niyaṁ puttaṁ āyusā ekaputtamanurakkhe
evampi sabbabhūtesu mānasaṁ bhāvaye aparimāṇaṁ

• mātā yathā niyaṁ puttaṁ: as a mother cherishes her own child, born of her body
• āyusā ekaputtamanurakkhe: would protect that child, her one and only, with her life
• evampi sabbabhūtesu: so cherish all beings
• mānasaṁ bhāvaye aparimāṇaṁ: spreading without measure, as if to our own children

Now, when the Blessed One taught that mettā meditation by way of a simile, he compared the cultivation of mettā to a mother who would protect the child born of her, would cherish that only child with her life, and would give up even her own life to keep suffering from reaching that child.

A monk should apply himself to developing mettā, making it arise again and again and extending it without measure, taking immeasurable beings as its object… spreading it with none left out.

Verse 8

Mettañca sabbalokasmiṁ mānasaṁ bhāvaye aparimāṇaṁ
uddhaṁ adho ca tiriyañca asambādhaṁ averaṁ asapattaṁ

• mettañca sabbalokasmiṁ: cultivating mettā with the heart (through meditation) toward all beings in the world, leaving none out
• bhāvaye: should cultivate
• aparimāṇa: without measure
• uddhaṁ: above; with this word he includes formless existence (arūpa-bhava)
• adho: below; with this word he includes sensual existence (kāma-bhava)
• tiriyaṁ: across; with this word he includes fine-material existence (rūpa-bhava)
• asambādhaṁ: free of narrowness, extending where there are no boundaries
• averaṁ: free of enmity, free even of any intention to create enmity along the way
• asapattaṁ: free of foes

Mettā comes from the word mitta, “friend”. It is called mitta because it “loves and protects”. It means “the virtue of friendship”: caring, because one’s heart is set on bringing benefit, and protecting from what is not beneficial. The state of being a friend is called mettā…

The mettā formed in the mind should be developed and made to reach the beings of the world, with none left out and without measure, spreading in every direction, so that it grows, flourishes and becomes abundant throughout the whole world.

In the direction above, from the highest Brahmā realm (bhavagga) downward;
below, from the Avīci hell upward;
across, meaning the remaining directions. Or, counting another way, above is the formless element (arūpa-dhātu);
below is the sensual element (kāma-dhātu);
across is the fine-material element (rūpa-dhātu).

…And when one cultivates mettā in this way, making it free of narrowness, enmity and foes, that mettā is said to have reached “perfection of cultivation” (bhāvanā-sampadā).

It is a quality called unconfined
because it covers the whole world, extending through the thirty-one planes of existence.
It is a quality called without enmity
because it removes one’s own resentment toward other beings.
It is a quality called without foes
because it removes other beings’ resentment toward oneself.

One should cultivate and extend that mettā in the heart, unconfined, without enmity, without foes and without measure, throughout the whole world.

Verse 9

Tiṭṭhañcaraṁ nisinno vā sayāno vā yāvatassa vigatamiddho
etaṁ satiṁ adhiṭṭheyya brahmametaṁ vihāraṁ idhamāhu

• tiṭṭhaṁ: standing
• caraṁ: walking
• nisinno: sitting
• sayāno: lying down
• yāvatassa: for as long as one is not drowsy
• vigata: gone, free of
• middho: drowsiness, dullness, dejection
• etaṁ satiṁ adhiṭṭheyya: should keep that mindfulness established for that long
• brahmametaṁ vihāraṁ idhamāhu: living like a Brahmā

One who cultivates mettā should make mettā arise in the heart in every posture, whether standing, walking, sitting or lying down. While standing, walking, sitting and lying down, clear dullness, dejection and discouragement out of the mind and let mettā arise in their place. Cultivate mettā; have love, goodwill and care, and give the mind strength. For as long as one remains free of drowsiness, for that long one should keep mindfulness established in mettā jhāna (meditative absorption).

Develop mindfulness to watch over mettā; hold it and fix it in place, and do not let mettā slip from the mind. While standing, walking, sitting, lying down, going forward, going back, looking ahead, looking around, bending, stretching, eating, drinking, chewing, tasting, putting on robes, holding the bowl, defecating, urinating, standing, walking, sitting, lying down, waking, sleeping, speaking or keeping silent, keep mindfulness watching over mettā, and develop mettā so that its power grows ever greater. Be mindful, not letting the distortions of perception (vipallāsa) flow into the mind.

Applying oneself to the dwelling of mettā (mettā-vihāra), that is, having mettā as the place where the mind dwells: the wise call this way of living the brahmavihāra (divine abode), living like a Brahmā. It is a noble way of living, without fault, living as the noble ones live.

One who firmly establishes mettā together with mindfulness is said to have the brahmavihāra, with these qualities as the dwelling of the mind: mettā, karuṇā (compassion), muditā (sympathetic joy) and upekkhā (equanimity). Mindfulness and wisdom become firm and come to know and understand, making mettā arise while recollecting beings, with love and with care, establishing a mind of mettā with strong, steady mindfulness.

Verse 10

Diṭṭhiñca anupagamma sīlavā dassanena sampanno
kāmesu vineyya gedhaṁ na hi jātu gabbhaseyyaṁ punaretīti

• diṭṭhiñca anupagamma: not grasping, not clinging to views
• sīlavā: one who cultivates mettā must be virtuous
• dassanena sampanno: endowed with knowledge and vision of things as they really are, that is, the wisdom of the path of stream-entry (sotāpatti-magga)
• kāmesu: sensual desire, lust
• vineyya: removing
• gabbha: lying in a womb, that is, being born again

Diṭṭhiñca anupagamma:
not grasping, not clinging to views.

A person who cultivates mettā is sometimes close to the view of a self (attadiṭṭhi), still holding a sense of self. Mettā is not cultivated through views, conceit and a sense of self. It is an understanding of all beings who wander through birth and death as companions in birth, aging, sickness and death in saṁsāra (the round of rebirth): see them as companions in birth, aging, sickness and death. Whether hell beings, petas (hungry ghosts), asuras, humans, deities or Brahmās, all of them are companions in birth, aging, sickness and death. We must have love, goodwill and care for beings of every kind, without discrimination.

They too have a stream of life that must wander through birth and death, no different from us; they still have lust, anger and delusion.

So beings should not harm or injure one another, and should not oppress one another.

We should have a friendly heart and spread love and goodwill to all beings, without discrimination.

A person who cultivates mettā does not fall into wrong view (micchādiṭṭhi), the mistaken view that there is a self. They have no personality view (sakkāyadiṭṭhi) and have given up the sense of self through wisdom.

Kāmesu vineyya gedhaṁ na hi jātu gabbhaseyyaṁ punaretīti

Vineyya means removing.
Kāmesu: sensual desire and lust. It is sensual desire (kāmacchanda), an obstacle, a hindrance (nīvaraṇa).

Whoever wishes to be free of the defilements and the mass of suffering must remove sensual desire, which is delight, attachment and longing;
ill will (byāpāda), that is, anger;
sloth and torpor (thīnamiddha), that is, dejection and discouragement;
restlessness and worry (uddhacca-kukkucca);
doubt (vicikicchā), that is, wavering uncertainty.
If we can remove these defilements, we will not have to come back to be born in a womb again.

This is the result; leaving sensuality behind is the benefit.
Having removed delight in sensual pleasures, one surely does not come to lie in a womb, that is, to be born again.

The wholesome courses of action, leaving all unwholesome courses of action behind, are renunciation (nekkhamma).
Going forth (pabbajjā), as an outward form, is renunciation.
A wholesome mind that inclines away from sensuality is renunciation.
Jhāna, leaving the hindrances behind, is renunciation.
Vipassanā (insight), leaving the distortions behind, is renunciation.
The noble path, leaving the defilements behind by cutting them off for good (samuccheda-pahāna), is renunciation.
Nibbāna, leaving all conditioned things (saṅkhāra) behind, is renunciation.

When the Blessed One had finished teaching in this way, he said to those monks…

”…Go, monks. Stay in that very forest. On the days for hearing the Dhamma (the teaching), eight days each month, strike the bell and then chant this sutta. Give Dhamma talks, speak of the Dhamma, discuss the Dhamma and express appreciation to one another. Practice, develop and make much of this very meditation subject. Those non-human beings will no longer show you those terrifying sights; they will surely wish you well and wish you benefit…”

The monks accepted the Buddha’s words, rose from their seats, bowed down to him, walked around him keeping him on their right, and went to that forest, where they did everything just as he had taught. The deities were filled with rapture and joy, thinking: “These venerable ones truly wish us well and wish us benefit.” They swept and cleaned the lodgings themselves, prepared hot water, massaged the monks’ backs and feet, and set up a guard to protect them. Those monks, too, cultivated mettā, made it their basis, began vipassanā and attained arahantship (full awakening), the highest fruit, every one of them within those three months. On the great Pavāraṇā day at the end of the rains retreat, they held the Pavāraṇā ceremony in complete purity.

The Tathāgata, lord of the Dhamma, skilled in what is beneficial,
taught the Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta, full of benefit, in this way.
The monks, complete in wisdom, gained the supreme peace of heart
and attained the peaceful state.

Therefore, may the wise who wish to attain the peaceful state,
the wondrous deathless, dear to the noble ones,
do what should be done, what is beneficial, through virtue, concentration and wisdom,
stainless, continuous and unbroken. So may it be.

The Chaddanta Jātaka

Once, when the Bodhisatta (the future Buddha) was born as Chaddanta, king of the elephants, a hunter lay in wait and wounded him. At first, the elephant king stamped the ground with his foot, thinking, “I will kill him.”

But when he saw the saffron robe (kāsāva) that the hunter had cunningly put on, he felt: “The banner of the arahants is not to be destroyed by good people.” He brought forth a mind free of anger (adosa) and let the hunter saw off the elephant king’s tusks, beautiful beyond compare on this earth, with a mind that had no thought of harm, until he himself died.