The Practice of Loving Kindness

The Wretchednes of Anger

1. From the Aṅguttara Nikāya, 7:60 (spoken by the Buddha)
Bhikkhus, seven things gratifying and helpful to an enemy befall one who is angry, whether a woman or a man. What are the seven?

Here, bhikkhus, an enemy wishes thus for his enemy: “Let him be ugly.” Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy’s beauty. Now when this person is angry, a prey to anger, ruled by anger, be he ever so well bathed and well anointed, with hair and beard trimmed, and clothed in white, yet he is ugly through his being a prey to anger. This is the first thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is angry, whether a woman or a man.

Also an enemy wishes thus for his enemy: “Let him lie in pain.” Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy’s lying in comfort. Now when this person is angry, a prey to anger, ruled by anger, for all he may lie on a couch spread with rugs, blankets, and counterpanes with a deerskin cover, a canopy, and red cushions for the head and feet, yet he lies only in pain through his being a prey to anger. This is the second thing gratifying to an enemy that befalls one who is angry, whether a woman or a man.

Also an enemy wishes thus for his enemy: “Let him have no prosperity.” Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy’s prosperity. Now when this person is angry, a prey to anger, ruled by anger, he mistakes bad for good and he mistakes good for bad, and each being taken wrongly in the other’s sense, these things for long conduce to his harm and suffering, through his being a prey to anger. This is the third thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is angry, whether a woman or a man.

Also an enemy wishes thus for his enemy: “Let him not be rich.” Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy’s having riches. Now when a person is angry, a prey to anger, should he have riches gained by endeavour, built up by the strength of his arm, earned by sweat, lawful and lawfully acquired, yet the king’s treasury gathers (in fines) through his being a prey to anger. This is the fourth thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is a prey to anger, whether a woman or a man.

Also an enemy wishes thus for his enemy: “Let him not be famous.” Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy’s having fame. Now when a person is angry, a prey to anger, ruled by anger, what fame he may have acquired by diligence he loses through his being a prey to anger. This is the fifth thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is a prey to anger, whether a woman or a man.

Also an enemy wishes thus for his enemy: “Let him have no friends.” Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy’s having friends. Now when this person is angry, a prey to anger, ruled by anger, the friends he may have, his companions, relatives, and kin, will keep away from him through his being a prey to anger. This is the sixth thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is a prey to anger, whether a woman or a man.

Also an enemy wishes thus for his enemy: “Let him, on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappear in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in perdition, even in hell.” Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy’s going to a good destination. Now when this person is angry, a prey to anger, ruled by anger, he misconducts himself in body, speech, and mind, and by his misconduct in body, speech, and mind, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in perdition, even in hell, through his being a prey to anger. This is the seventh thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is angry, whether a woman or a man.

When anger does possess a man,
 He looks ugly; he lies in pain;
 What benefit he may come by
 He misconstrues as a mischance;
 He loses property (through fines)
 Because he has been working harm
 Through acts of body and speech
 By angry passion overwhelmed;
 The wrath and rage that madden him
 Gain him a name of ill-repute;
 His fellows, relatives and kin,
Will seek to shun him from afar;
 And anger fathers misery:
 This fury does so cloud the mind
 Of man that he cannot discern
 This fearful inner danger.
 An angry man no meaning knows,
 No angry man sees the Dhamma,
 So wrapped in darkness, as if blind,
 Is he whom anger dogs.
Someone a man in anger hurts;
 But, when his anger is later spent
 With difficulty or with ease,
 He suffers as if seared by fire.
 His look betrays the sulkiness
 Of some dim smoky smoldering glow.
 Whence may flare up an anger-blaze
 That sets the world of men aflame.
 He has no shame or conscience curb,
 No kindly words come forth from him,
 There is no island refuge for
 The man whom anger dogs.
Such acts as will ensure remorse,
 Such as are far from the true Dhamma:
 It is of these that I would tell,
 So harken to my words.
Anger makes man a parricide,
 Anger makes him a matricide,
 Anger can make him slay the saint
 As he would kill the common man.
 Nursed and reared by a mother’s care,
 He comes to look upon the world,
 Yet the common man in anger kills
 The being who gave him life.
No being but seeks his own self’s good,
 None dearer to him than himself,
 Yet men in anger kill themselves,
 Distraught for reasons manifold:

 For crazed they stab themselves with daggers,
 In desperation swallow poison,
 Perish hanged by ropes, or fling
 Themselves over a precipice.

 Yet how their life-destroying acts
 Bring death unto themselves as well,
 That they cannot discern, and that
 Is the ruin anger breeds.
This secret place, with anger’s aid,
 Is where mortality sets the snare.
 To blot it out with discipline,
 With vision, strength, and understanding,
 To blot each fault out one by one,
 The wise man should apply himself,
 Training likewise in the true Dhamma;
 ”Let smoldering be far from us.”
 Then rid of wrath and free from anger,
 And rid of lust and free from envy,
 Tamed, and with anger left behind,
 Taintless, they reach Nibbāna.

How to Get Rid of Anger

2. From the Dhammapada, vv. 3–5, and Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta 128 (spoken by the Buddha)

“He abused me, he beat me,
 He worsted me, he robbed me.”
 Hate never is allayed in those
 Who cherish suchlike enmity.

“He abused me, he beat me
 He worsted me, he robbed me.”
 Hate surely is allayed in those
 Who cherish no such enmity.

For enmity by enmity
 Is never in this world allayed;
 It is allayed by amity—
 That is an ancient principle.

3. From the Aṅguttara Nikāya, 5:161 (spoken by the Buddha)

Bhikkhus, there are these five ways of removing annoyance, by which annoyance can be entirely removed by a bhikkhu when it arises in him. What are the five?

Loving kindness can be maintained in being towards a person with whom you are annoyed: this is how annoyance with him can be removed. Compassion can be maintained in being towards a person with whom you are annoyed; this too is how annoyance with him can be removed. Equanimity can be maintained in being towards a person with whom you are annoyed; this too is how annoyance with him can be removed. The forgetting and ignoring of a person with whom you are annoyed can be practised; this too is how annoyance with him can be removed. Ownership of deeds in a person with whom you are annoyed can be concentrated upon thus: “This good person is owner of his deeds, heir to his deeds, his deeds are the womb from which he is born, his deeds are his kin for whom he is responsible, his deeds are his refuge, he is heir to his deeds, be they good or bad.” This too is how annoyance with him can be removed. These are the five ways of removing annoyance, by which annoyance can be entirely removed in a bhikkhu when it arises in him.

Loving kindness and its Rewards

4. From the Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta 21 (spoken by the Buddha)

Bhikkhus, there are five modes of speech that others may use when they address you. Their speech may be timely or untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, for good or harm, and may be accompanied by thoughts of loving kindness or by inner hate.
Suppose a man came with a hoe and a basket, and he said, “I shall make this great earth to be without earth”; and he dug here and there and strewed here and there, and spat here and there, and relieved himself here and there, saying, “Be without earth, be without earth.” What do you think, bhikkhus, would that man make this great earth to be without earth?—No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because this great earth is deep and measureless; it cannot possibly be made to be without earth. So the man would reap only weariness and disappointment.

Suppose a man came with lak or gamboge or indigo or carmine, and he said, “I shall draw pictures, I shall make pictures appear, on this empty space.” What do you think, bhikkhus, would that man draw pictures, would he make pictures appear, on that empty space? —No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because that empty space is formless and invisible; he cannot possibly draw pictures, make pictures appear there. So the man would reap weariness and disappointment.

So too, bhikkhus, there are these five modes of speech that others may use when they address you. Their speech may be timely or untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, for good or for harm, and may be accompanied by thoughts of loving kindness or by inner hate. Now this is how you should train yourselves here: “Our minds will remain unaffected, we shall utter no bad words, we shall abide friendly and compassionate, with thoughts of loving kindness and no inner hate. We shall abide with loving kindness in our hearts extending to that person, and we shall dwell extending it to the entire world as our object, with our hearts abundant, exalted, measureless in loving kindness, without hostility or ill-will.” That is how you should train yourselves.

Even were bandits savagely to sever you limb from limb with a two-handled saw, he who on that account entertained hate in his heart would not be one who carried out my teaching.
Bhikkhus, you should keep this instruction on the Simile of the Saw constantly in mind.

5. From the Itivuttaka, Sutta 27 (spoken by the Buddha)

Bhikkhus, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not worth one sixteenth part of the heart-deliverance of loving kindness; in shining and beaming and radiance the heart-deliverance of loving kindness far excels them.

Just as whatever light there is of stars, all is not worth one sixteenth part of the moon’s; in shining and beaming and radiance the moon’s light far excels it; and just as in the last month of the rains, in the autumn when the heavens are clear, the sun as it climbs the heavens drives all darkness from the sky with its shining and beaming and radiance; and just as, when night is turning to dawn, the morning star is shining and beaming and radiating; so too, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not worth one sixteenth part of the heart-deliverance of loving kindness; in shining and beaming and radiance the heart-deliverance of loving kindness far excels them.

6. From the Aṅguttara Nikāya, 11:16 (spoken by the Buddha)

Bhikkhus, when the heart-deliverance of loving kindness is maintained in being, made much of, used as one’s vehicle, used as one’s foundation, established, consolidated, and properly managed, then eleven blessings can be expected. What are the eleven?

One sleeps in comfort; one wakes in comfort; one dreams no evil dreams; one is dear to human beings; one is dear to non-human beings; the gods guard one; no fire or poison or weapon harms one; one’s mind can be quickly concentrated; the expression of one’s face is serene; one dies without falling into confusion; and, even if one fails to penetrate any further, one will pass on to the world of High Divinity, to the Brahma world.

7. From the Saṃyutta Nikāya, 20:3 (spoken by the Buddha)

Bhikkhus, just as clans with many women and few men are readily ruined by robbers and bandits, so too any bhikkhu who has not maintained in being and made much of the heart-deliverance of loving kindness is readily ruined by non-human beings. And just as clans with few women and many men are not readily ruined by robbers and bandits; so too any bhikkhu who maintains in being and makes much of the heart-deliverance of loving kindness is not readily ruined by non-human beings.

So, bhikkhus, you should train in this way: “The heart-deliverance of loving kindness will be maintained in being and made much of by us, used as our vehicle, used as our foundation, established, consolidated, and properly managed.” That is how you should train.

8. From the Aṅguttara Nikāya, 1:53–55, 386 (spoken by the Buddha)

Bhikkhus, if a bhikkhu cultivates loving kindness for as long as a fingersnap, he is called a bhikkhu. He is not destitute of jhāna meditation, he carries out the Master’s teaching, he responds to advice, and he does not eat the country’s almsfood in vain. So what should be said of those who make much of it?

9. From the Dīgha Nikāya, Sutta 33 (spoken by the Arahat Sāriputta)

Here, friends, a bhikkhu might say: “When the heart-deliverance of loving kindness is maintained in being and made much of by me, used as my vehicle, used as my foundation, established, consolidated, and properly managed, ill-will nevertheless still invades my heart and remains.” He should be told: “Not so! Let the worthy one not say so. Let him not misrepresent the Blessed One. It is not good to misrepresent the Blessed One. The Blessed One would not express it thus.” Friends, it is impossible, it cannot happen, that when the heart-deliverance of loving kindness is maintained in being and made much of, used as one’s vehicle, used as one’s foundation, established, consolidated, and properly managed, ill-will can invade the heart and remain; for this, that is to say, the heart-deliverance of loving kindness, is the escape from ill-will.

Loving kindness as a Contemplation

10. Metta Sutta — From the Sutta-nipāta, vv. 143 –152 (spoken by the Buddha)

What should be done by one skillful in good
 So as to gain the State of Peace is this:
Let him be able, and upright and straight,
 Easy to speak to, gentle, and not proud,
 Contented too, supported easily,
 With few tasks, and living very lightly;
 His faculties serene, prudent, and modest,
 Unswayed by the emotions of the clans;
 And let him never do the slightest thing
 That other wise men might hold blameable.
(And let him think:) “In safety and in bliss
 May creatures all be of a blissful heart!
 Whatever breathing beings there may be,
 No matter whether they are frail or firm,
 With none excepted, be they long or big
 Or middle-sized, or be they short or small
 Or thick, as well as those seen or unseen,
 Or whether they are dwelling far or near,
 Existing or yet seeking to exist.
 May creatures all be of a blissful heart!
Let no one work another one’s undoing
 Or even slight him at all anywhere:
 And never let them wish each other ill
 Through provocation or resentful thought.”
And just as might a mother with her life
 Protect the son that was her only child,
 So let him then for every living thing
 Maintain unbounded consciousness in being;
 And let him too with love for all the world
 Maintain unbounded consciousness in being
 Above, below, and all round in between,
 Untroubled, with no enemy or foe.
 And while he stands or walks or while he sits
 Or while he lies down, free from drowsiness,
 Let him resolve upon this mindfulness:
 This is Divine Abiding here, they say.
But when he has no trafficking with views,
 Is virtuous, and has perfected seeing,
 And purges greed for sensual desires,
 He surely comes no more to any womb.

11. Methodical Practice: from the Paṭisambhidāmagga
(traditionally ascribed to the Arahat Sāriputta)

The heart-deliverance of loving kindness is practised with unspecified extension, with specified extension, and with directional extension.

That with unspecified extension is practised in five ways as follows: May all beings be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss.
May all breathing things … all creatures … all persons … May all those who are embodied be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss.

That with specified extension is practised in seven ways as follows: May all women be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss. May all men … all noble ones … all who are not noble ones … all deities … all human beings … May all those in the states of deprivation be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss.

That with directional extension is practised in ten ways as follows:

May all beings in the eastern direction be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss. May all beings in the western direction … in the northern direction … in the southern direction … in the eastern intermediate direction … in the western intermediate direction … in the northern intermediate direction … in the southern intermediate direction … in the downward direction … May all those in the upward direction be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss.

May all breathing things … May all creatures … May all persons … May all who are embodied … May all women … May all men … May all noble ones … May all who are not noble ones … May all deities … May all human beings …

May all those in the states of deprivation in the eastern direction be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss … May all those in states of deprivation in the upward direction be freed from enmity, distress, and anxiety, and may they guide themselves to bliss.

12. From the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, Appamaññavibhaṅga
(traditionally ascribed to the Buddha)

And how does a bhikkhu abide with his heart imbued with loving kindness extending over one direction? Just as he would feel friendliness on seeing a dearly beloved person, so he extends loving kindness to all creatures.

As Practised without Insight into the Four Noble Truths

13. From the Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta 99 (spoken by the Buddha)

“Master Gotama, I have heard it said that the Monk Gotama teaches the path to the retinue of the High Divinity. It would be good if Master Gotama would teach me that.”
“Then listen and attend carefully to what I shall say.”

“Even so, sir,” the student Subha Todeyyaputta replied. The Blessed One said this:
“And what is the path to the retinue of the High Divinity? Here a bhikkhu abides with his heart imbued with loving kindness extending over one quarter, likewise the second quarter, likewise the third quarter, likewise the fourth quarter, and so above, below, around, and everywhere and to all as to himself; he abides with his heart abundant, exalted, measureless in loving kindness, without hostility or ill-will, extending over the all-encompassing world. While this heart-deliverance of loving kindness is maintained in being in this way, no action restricted by limited measurement is found there, none persists there. Just as a vigorous trumpeter could easily make himself heard in the four directions, so too when the heart-deliverance of loving kindness is maintained in being in this way no action restricted by limited measurement is found there, none persists there. This is the path to the retinue of the High Divinity.”

As Practised with Insight into the Four Noble Truths

14. From the Aṅguttara Nikāya, 4:125 (spoken by the Buddha)

Here, bhikkhus, a certain person abides with his heart imbued with loving kindness extending over one quarter, likewise the second quarter, likewise the third quarter, likewise the fourth quarter, and so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself; he abides with his heart abundant, exalted, measureless in loving kindness, without hostility or ill-will, extending over the all-encompassing world.

He finds gratification in that, finds it desirable and looks to it for his well-being; steady and resolute thereon, he abides much in it, and if he dies without losing it, he reappears among the gods of a High Divinity’s retinue.

Now the gods of a High Divinity’s retinue have a life-span of one aeon. An ordinary person (who has not attained the Noble Eightfold Path) stays there for his life-span; but after he has used up the whole life-span enjoyed by those gods, he leaves it all, and (according to what his past deeds may have been) he may go down even to hell, or to an animal womb, or to the ghost realm. But a disciple of the Perfect One stays there (in that heaven) for his life-span, and after that he has used up the whole life span enjoyed by those gods, he eventually attains complete extinction of lust, hate, and delusion in that same kind of heavenly existence.

It is this that distinguishes, that differentiates, the wise disciple who is ennobled (by attainment of the noble path) from the unwise ordinary man, when, that is to say, there is a destination for reappearance (after death, but an Arahat has made an end of birth).

15. From the Aṅguttara Nikāya, 4:125 (spoken by the Buddha)

Here, bhikkhus, a certain person abides with his heart imbued with loving kindness extending … over the all-encompassing world.

Now whatever therein (during that state of contemplation) exists classifiable as form, classifiable as a feeling (of pleasure, pain, or neutrality), classifiable as perception, classifiable as determinative acts, or classifiable as consciousness, such things he sees as impermanent, as liable to suffering, as a disease, as a cancer, as a barb, as a calamity, as an affliction, as alien, as being worn away, as void, as not-self. On the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears (as a non-returner) in the retinue of the Gods of the Pure Abodes (where there are only those who have reached the noble path and where extinction of greed, hate, and delusion is reached in less than seven lives without return to this world). And this kind of reappearance is not shared by ordinary men (who have not reached the Noble Eightfold Path).

The Arahat

16. From the Aṅguttara Nikāya, 3:66 (spoken by the Arahat Nandaka)

Thus I heard. On one occasion the Venerable Nandaka was living at Sāvatthī in the Eastern Monastery, Migāra’s Mother’s Palace. Then Migāra’s grandson, Sāḷha, and Pekhuniya’s grandson, Rohana, went to the Venerable Nandaka, and after salutation they sat down at one side. When they had done so the Venerable Nandaka said to Migāra’s grandson Sāḷha:

“Come, Sāḷha, do not be satisfied with hearsay or with tradition or with legendary lore or with what has come down in scriptures or with conjecture or with logical inference or with weighing evidence or with a liking for a view after pondering it or with someone else’s ability or with the thought, ’The monk is our teacher.’ When you know in yourself, ’These things are unprofitable, liable to censure, condemned by the wise, being adopted and put into effect, they lead to harm and suffering,’ then you should abandon them. What do you think? Is there greed?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Covetousness is the meaning of that, I say. Through greed a covetous man kills breathing things, takes what is not given, commits adultery, and utters falsehood, and he gets another to do likewise. Will that be long for his harm and suffering?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“What do you think, is there hate?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Ill-will is the meaning of that, I say. Through hate a malevolent man kills breathing things ... Will that be long for his harm and suffering?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“What do you think? Is there delusion?” —“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Ignorance is the meaning of that, I say. Through ignorance a deluded man kills breathing things … Will that be long for his harm and suffering?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”

“What do you think? Are these things profitable or unprofitable?”—“Unprofitable, venerable sir.”—“Reprehensible or blameless?”—“Reprehensible, venerable sir.”—“Condemned or commended by the wise?”—“Condemned by the wise, venerable sir.”—“Being adopted and put into effect, do they lead to harm and suffering, or do they not, or how does it appear to you in this case?”—“Being adopted and put into effect, venerable sir, they lead to harm and suffering. So it appears in this case.”—“Now that was the reason why I told you ’Come, Sāḷha, do not be satisfied with hearsay … When you know in yourself, “These things are unprofitable,” then you should abandon them.’

“Come, Sāḷha, do not be satisfied with hearsay … or with the thought, ’The monk is our teacher.’ When you know in yourself, ’These things are profitable, blameless, commended by the wise, being adopted and put into effect they lead to welfare and happiness,’ then you should practise them and abide in them. What do you think? Is there non-greed?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Uncovetousness is the meaning of that, I say. Through non-greed an uncovetous man does not kill breathing things or take what is not given or commit adultery or utter falsehood, and he gets another to do likewise. Will that be long for his welfare and happiness?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“What do you think? Is there non-hate?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Non ill-will is the meaning of that, I say. Through non ill-will an unmalevolent man does not kill breathing things … Will that be long for his welfare and happiness?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“What do you think? Is there non-delusion?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“True knowledge is the meaning of that, I say. Through non-delusion a man with true knowledge does not kill breathing things … Will that be long for his welfare and happiness?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”

“What do you think? Are these things profitable or unprofitable?”—“Profitable, venerable sir.”—“Reprehensible or blameless?”—“Blameless, venerable sir.” —“Condemned or commended by the wise?”— “Commended by the wise, venerable sir.”—“Being adopted and put into effect, do they lead to welfare and happiness, or do they not, or how does it appear to you in this case?”—“Being adopted and put into effect, venerable sir, they lead to welfare and happiness. So it appears to us in this case.”—“Now that was the reason why I told you, ’Come Sāḷha, do not be satisfied with hearsay … when you know in yourself, “These things are profitable …” then you should practise them and abide in them.’

“Now a disciple who is ennobled (by reaching the noble path), who has rid himself in this way of covetousness and ill-will and is undeluded, abides with his heart imbued with loving kindness extending over one quarter, likewise the second quarter, likewise the third quarter, likewise the fourth quarter, and so above, below, around, and everywhere, and to all as to himself; he abides with his heart abundant, exalted, measureless in loving kindness, without hostility or ill-will, extending over the all-encompassing world. He abides with his heart imbued with compassion … gladness … equanimity … extending over the all-encompassing world. Now he understands this state of contemplation in this way: ’There is this (state of divine abiding in me who have entered the stream). There is what has been abandoned (which is the amount of greed, hate, and delusion exhausted by the stream-entry path). There is a superior goal (which is Arahatship). And there is an ultimate escape from this whole field of perception.’

“When he knows and sees in this way, his heart is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of being, and from the taint of ignorance. When liberated (by reaching the Arahat path), there comes thereafter the knowledge that it is liberated. He knows that birth is ended, that the divine life has been lived out, that what had to be done is done, and that there is no more of this to come. He understands thus: ’Formerly there was greed which was bad, and now there is none, which is good. Formerly there was hate, which was bad, and now there is none, which is good. Formerly there was delusion, which was bad, and now there is none, which is good.’ So here and now in this very life he is parched no more (by the fever of craving’s thirst, his fires of greed, hate and delusion are) extinguished and cooled out; experiencing bliss, he abides (for the remainder of his last life-span) divinely pure in himself.