---
slug: loving-kindness
title: On Loving-Kindness
subtitle: The Metta Sutra — the Buddha's teaching on goodwill. Short, almost a poem. Told in plain modern English.
ordinal: 4
pali_name: Metta Sutra
---

Here's what someone should do if they want to live well and find real peace.

Be capable and honest — genuinely, deeply honest. Be open to guidance. Be gentle. Don't carry yourself like you're better than anyone.

Live simply, with few wants. Be easy to please and easy to support. Don't take on more than you need to. Stay calm and clear-headed. Don't be pushy, and don't cling to people just for what they can give you.

And never do even the smallest thing that thoughtful people would later look at and shake their heads over.

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Now, hold this wish in your heart:

*May everyone be at ease. May everyone be safe. May everyone be happy.*

And mean **everyone** — no exceptions. Whatever's alive out there:

1. The fragile and the strong, every one of them.
2. The big, the small, the in-between.
3. The ones you can see and the ones you can't.
4. The ones nearby and the ones far away.
5. The ones already here and the ones not yet born.

May all of them, without leaving a single one out, be happy.

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Don't deceive anyone. Don't look down on anyone, anywhere. Don't let anger or resentment make you wish harm on another person.

Think of how a mother would protect her only child — willing to put her own life on the line for it. Hold that same care toward *every* living thing — a heart without limit.

Let that goodwill fill the whole world — above you, below you, all around you — with no walls in it, no grudge, no enemy anywhere in it.

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Whether you're standing, walking, sitting, or lying down — for as long as you're awake — keep this in your heart. This is what they call divine living — right here, in this life.

And the one who lives like this — who doesn't get trapped in rigid opinions, who's decent and sees clearly, who's worked through the pull of craving — that person is free, and won't be caught in this whole cycle again.