Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Khuddaka Nikaya >> Itivuttaka >> 22. Mettasuttam
Adapted From the Translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu(Geoffrey DeGraff)
Compared with the Pali Tipitaka at www.tipitaka.org
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22. Mettasuttam (Good Will)
This was said by the Lord Buddha(Bhagavata), said by the Arahant, so I have heard:
“Monks, don’t be afraid of acts of merit. This is a synonym for what is blissful, desirable, pleasing, endearing, charming—i.e., acts of merit. I directly know that, having long performed meritorious deeds, I long experienced desirable, pleasing, endearing, charming results. Having developed a mind of goodwill for seven years, then for seven eons of contraction & expansion I didn’t return to this world. Whenever the eon was contracting, I entered the [realm of] Radiance. Whenever the eon was expanding, I reappeared in an empty Brahma(Archangel)abode. There I was Brahma(Archangel), the Great Brahma, the Unconquered Conqueror, Total Seer, Wielder of Power. Then for thirty-six times I was Sakka, ruler of the gods. For many hundreds of times I was a king, a wheel-turning emperor, a righteous king of Dhamma, conqueror of the four corners of the earth, maintaining stable control over the countryside, endowed with the seven treasures1 —to say nothing of the times I was a local king. The thought occurred to me, ‘Of what action of mine is this the fruit, of what action the result, that I now have such great power & might?’ Then the thought occurred to me, ‘This is the fruit of my three [types of] action, the result of three types of action, that I now have such great power & might: i.e., generosity, self-control, & restraint.’”
Train in acts of merit
that yield the foremost profit of bliss—
develop generosity,
a life in tune,
a mind of good will.
Developing these
three things
that bring about bliss,
the wise reappear
in a world of bliss
unalloyed.
NOTE: 1. The seven treasures are a divine wheel, an ideal jewel, an ideal elephant, an ideal horse, an ideal wife, an ideal treasurer, an ideal counselor.
See also SN 3:4, 17, 20, 25; No.60