Hello, I was wondering if anybody could provide me with a list on all the suttas that refer to anything metta related. I’d love to read all of them!
Furthermore, does anybody know of a site (maybe suttacentral does this and I’m unaware of the function), where one can search all of the suttas with tags. For example, I can type in metta and find all the places where it is mentioned in suttas?
Hi, you’re welcome to refer to search results by this link
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There’s also a nice list of suttas by subject on www.accesstoinsight.org/index-subject.html#metta.
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It might be a bit off topic, but from a working (ie. incomplete & not 100% reliable) study of the Majjhima it would appear that there are 11 suttas that mention the brahmavihāra (MN7, MN40, MN43, MN50, MN52, MN55, MN62, MN83, MN97, MN99, MN127). MN104 also talks about developing metta underlined actions.
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And MN 21, “The Simile of the Saw”, which is the most extensive exposition of mettā in Majjhima.
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One of my favorites from that list is AN 4.67. It is the only canonical metta chant I know apart from the Metta sutta. Here it is, a translation very close to Ven. Bodhi’s, though I don’t remember exactly where I got it from. I find the last well-wishing verse (“May all beings…”) to be especially powerful, even by itself.
I have goodwill for the virūpakkha snakes;
for the erāpatha snakes I have goodwill.
I have goodwill for the chabyāputta snakes;
for the black gotamakas I have goodwill.
I have goodwill for footless beings;
For those with two feet I have goodwill.
I have goodwill for those with four feet;
For those with many feet I have goodwill.
May footless beings not harm me;
May no harm come to me from those with two feet;
May four footed beings not harm me;
May no harm come to me from those with many feet.
May all beings, all living things,
All creatures, every one,
meet with good fortune;
may nothing bad come to anyone.
The Buddha is measureless,
The Dhamma is measureless,
The Sangha is measureless;
Creeping things,
Snakes, scorpions, centipedes,
Spiders, lizards, and rats are finite.
I have made a safeguard,
I have made protection.
Let the creatures retreat.
I pay homage to the Blessed One,
Homage to the seven Perfectly Enlightened Ones.
Thank you! That’s actually very on topic. The brahmavihāra is even better!
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Splendid!
In case you’ve taken to compiling your own list and haven’t yet added it, here’s a charming one I just came to: AN 5.161
The best Metta Sutta (it looks like it is the original Meta Sutta) I have come across is in the Sutta-Nipata it is number 8 in the 1st Vagga (Uragavagga).
I was lucky to be given a free copy of the English translation of the Sutta-Nipata by H. Saddhatissa. This is a very enlightening experience to read one Sutta a day from this little book.
The book is available for sale: https://www.amazon.com/Sutta-Nipata-New-Translation-Pali-Canon/dp/0700701818
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