Mettasutta

This is a verbatim reading of the buddhas words in Sutta Nipata 1.8, the mettasutta. In it he describes how we ought have love in our hearts and radiate it towards all living beings. he uses the example of a mother loving her only child, and I think it wise to use the example of an ideal mother, or perhaps a mother figure we find suitable if our own doesn't fit this picture. Through this love, he said, we can surely find liberation.

Transcript

What should be done by one who is skilled in wholesomeness to gain the state of peacefulness is this.

One should be able,

Upright,

Straight and not proud,

Easy to speak to,

Mild and well content,

Easily satisfied and not cut up in too much bustle and frugal in one's ways,

With senses calmed,

Intelligent,

Not bold,

Not being covetous when with other folk,

Not even doing little things that other wise ones blame,

And this the thought that one should always hold.

May all beings live happily and safe,

And may their hearts rejoice within themselves.

Whatever there may be with breath of life,

Whether they be frail or very strong,

Without exception,

Be they long or short,

Or middle sized,

Or be big or small,

Or dense,

Or visible or invisible,

Or whether they dwell far or they dwell near,

Those that are here,

Those seeking to exist,

May all beings all rejoice within themselves.

Let no one bring about another's ruin,

And not despise in any way or place,

Let them not wish each other any ill will from provocation or from enmity.

Just as a mother,

At the risk of life,

Loves and protects her child,

Her only child,

So one should cultivate this boundless love to all that live in the whole universe,

Extending from a consciousness sublime,

Upwards and downwards and across the world,

Untroubled and free from hate and enmity,

And while one stands or walks or sits or lies down,

Still free from drowsiness,

One should be intent on this mindfulness,

This is divine abiding here,

They say,

But when one lives quite free from any view,

Is virtuous,

With perfect insight one,

And greed for selfish desires let go,

One surely comes no more to be reborn.