Mettā Sutta
The Mettā Sutta is a discourse of ten verses from the Sutta Nipāta and is one of the most popular and well-known of all the Buddha’s discourses. In it the Buddha describes some of the characteristics of love, which include being humble, contented, easy to speak to and skilful in doing good. He also says that love should be expressed to all sentient beings without exception – ‘the seen and the unseen, those dwelling near or far’ (Sn.147). One of the Buddha’s most famous sayings: ‘As a mother would protect her only child even at the risk of her own life, develop a love like this to all beings’ is from the Mettā Sutta (Sn.149). In countries like Sri Lanka many people know the Mettā Sutta by heart and chant it in the belief that its calming and confidence-giving effect offers them protection.
The Sutta Nipata is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose. It is divided into five sections:
Uraga Vagga
Cula Vagga
Maha Vagga
Atthaka Vagga
Parayana Vagga
Some scholars believe that it describes the oldest of all Buddhist practices. Others agree that it contains much very early material.
Translations
Tr V. Fausbøll, in Sacred Books of the East, volume X, Clarendon/Oxford, 1881; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (?and by Dover, New York)
Buddha's Teachings, tr Lord Chalmers, Harvard Oriental Series, 1932
Woven Cadences, tr E. M. Hare, 1945, out of print
The Group of Discourses, tr K. R. Norman, 1984, Pali Text Society , Bristol; the original edition included alternative translations by I. B. Horner & Walpola Rahula; these are currently available in the paperback edition under the title The Rhinoceros Horn and Other Early Buddhist Poems; the current edition under the original title omits these, but includes instead the translator's notes, not included in the paperback
Tr Saddhatissa, Curzon, London/Humanities Press, New York, 1985
Tr N. A. Jayawickrama, University of Kelaniya, 2001
Living with Kindness-The Buddha’s Teaching on Kindness, Sangharakshita, 2004.
