The Buddha's
Words on Kindness (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 skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let
them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing:
In gladness and in saftey,
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.