Karanīya Metta Sutta (The Discourse on Loving-Kindness) [Horoscope] Approachable, engaging, and insightful. It is a Buddhist scripture concerning the practice of cultivating loving-kindness, consisting of ten verses in classical Pali meter. This sutta appears in the Khuddakapatha section of the Sutta Pitaka. Buddhists believe that chanting the Karanīya Metta Sutta helps protect against dangers, invokes guardian deities, and turns hostile enemies into friends.
Karanīya Metta Sutta Sometimes called simply the "Metta Sutta," it originally was a chant for monks to cultivate loving-kindness, avoid harming one another, and be friendly to all beings. Its history dates back to the Buddha's time. At that time, the Buddha taught meditation practice to about 500 monks in a forest. After learning, the monks separated to meditate under various trees in the Himavanta forest.
The tree spirits (rukkha devas) inhabiting those trees could no longer reside there because so many monks were meditating. Believing the monks' long meditation caused them trouble, the tree spirits gathered to frighten the monks by appearing terrifying and emitting unpleasant odors to drive them away.
The monks were disturbed and could not find peace, so they went to see the Buddha, who then said, the Karanīya Metta Sutta chant He instructed the monks to return to their meditation and recite this chant to cultivate loving-kindness toward the tree spirits and all hostile forces. Upon hearing the Karanīya Metta Sutta, the tree spirits softened, rejoiced, and protected the monks, enabling them to attain meditation insights.
mettajja sabbalokasmim mānasam bhāvaye aparimāṇaṃ,
udānaṃ adho ca tiriyā ca asampātaṃ averaṃ asapattaṃ,
tiṭṭhantaṃ nisinno vā sayāno vā yāvatāssa vīkata-mittaṃ,
etaṃ satiṃ adhiṭṭheyya brahmemetaṃ vihāraṃ idhamāhu,
diṭṭhiñca anupaggamma sīlā va tassena sampanno,
kāmesu vineyya kathaṃ na hīyate kupphalesu puna-retīti.
Translation of Karanīya Metta Sutta The Buddha taught this verse to the monks: A wise person seeking enlightenment should be diligent, courageous, honest, disciplined, simple, gentle, and not arrogant. One should be content, live simply, have wisdom to protect oneself, not be reckless, nor cling to family or lineage, and avoid any harmful actions that could cause others to criticize.
One should extend loving-kindness to all beings, regardless of their form or size, wishing them happiness—whether near or far, spirits or wandering ghosts. May all beings be happy. One should not oppress or despise anyone on any occasion, wish no suffering on others, avoid anger and resentment, and spread boundless loving-kindness without enmity or enemies, just like a mother protecting her only child with her life.
The one who radiates loving-kindness should maintain mindfulness always, live with loving-kindness and the four sublime states, not cling to views, uphold moral discipline, be endowed with clear insight, and have overcome sensual desires so they will not be reborn in the womb again.
Because the chant is quite long and has no abbreviated form, those who recite it must have firm and focused minds. Chanting also cultivates mindfulness and concentration simultaneously. It is believed that regular chanting makes one beloved by deities, protected from harm, loved by people, with a radiant face, peaceful sleep without nightmares, and a life filled only with auspicious occurrences. Notably, during the 2018 incident when the coach and 12 boys of the Wild Boars soccer academy were trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province,
Somdet Phra Ariyavongsagatayana, the Supreme Patriarch and head of the Sangha Council, encouraged Thais to chant the Karanīya Metta Sutta and to study the meaning of this sutta clearly in order to send encouragement and loving-kindness to all lives involved in that event. Source: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University