Mettānisaṃsā Suttaṃ¹
(A.v.342)
The Benefits of Loving-kindness
“If the liberation of the mind by loving-kindness, monks, is practised, developed, made much of, made a vehicle, made a basis, maintained ² and augmented, and properly undertaken, these eleven benefits are to be expected. What eleven?
- One sleeps happily,
- One awakens happily,
- One dreams no evil dreams,
- One is pleasing to human beings,
- One is pleasing to non-human beings,
- Deities protect one,
- Neither fire, nor poison, nor weapons harm one,²
- The mind is quickly concentrated,³
- One’s complexion is radiant,
- One dies unconfused,
- If one attains no higher state,⁴ one is reborn in the Brahma realm.
“If the liberation of the mind by loving-kindness, monks, is practised, developed, made much of, made a vehicle, made a basis, maintained and augmented, and properly undertaken, these eleven benefits are to be expected.
Notes:
1. The Pāḷi text calls it the Mettā Suttaṃ, but the Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series calls it the Mettānisaṃsā Suttaṃ. A similar discourse in the Book of Eights lists eight of these eleven benefits.
2. If there is a lapse in concentration it may lose its protective power. See the Dilemma on Protection by Loving-kindness in the Debate of King Milinda. The Commentary to this Sutta cites the example of Saṅkicca Sāmaṇera, q.v.
3. This benefit and the following two are omitted from the version in the Book of Eights (A.iv.150)
4. That is, if one fails to attain Arahantship in this very life, one will be reborn in the Brahma realm.