The Loving-Kindness Chant for Yourself, Others and All Beings, with Meaning

The loving-kindness chant in Pali with its meaning: for yourself, for others and for all beings (sabbe sattā), followed by compassion, gladness and equanimity, and how to spread loving-kindness to those you may have wronged

The loving-kindness chant is a short Pali chant for setting a wish of goodwill: that you and others may be happy, free from suffering and free from enmity. The first part begins with yourself, Ahaṁ sukhito homi ('may I be happy'). The next part widens to all beings, Sabbe sattā averā hontu ('may all beings be free from enmity'), and the chant ends with compassion, gladness and equanimity, completing all four divine abidings. The whole chant, with the meaning of each part, is below. This page explains what each word means, how to spread loving-kindness to yourself, to others, to animals and to those you may have wronged, the short form, and when to chant it.

What loving-kindness is

Mettā means love that wishes others well, the wish for them to be happy. It is not infatuation or clinging, and it is not giving in to whatever someone wants. In Buddhism, mettā is the first of the four divine abidings (brahmavihāra), four qualities that make the heart boundless. The Navakovada, the first-level Dhamma textbook still studied today, defines the four as follows (quoted in the Navakovada's own wording):

• Mettā: love, wishing them to be happy.
• Karuṇā: compassion, thinking how to help them out of suffering.
• Muditā: gladness, sharing in their joy when others do well.
• Upekkhā: equanimity, looking on evenly, neither glad nor upset when others meet with misfortune.

The Navakovada sums up: these four are the dwelling of the great. 'The great' here means those whose hearts are noble like a Brahmā, not those of great age. So the loving-kindness chant follows these four in order: the mettā part wishes beings happiness, the compassion part wishes them free from suffering, the gladness part wishes them not to lose the good they have gained, and the equanimity part reflects that every being owns their deeds. There is more on the page on the four divine abidings.

The loving-kindness chant word by word

The part for yourself has six phrases, and each asks for something different. Knowing what they mean lets you chant with the heart, not just the voice.

• Sukhito homi: may I be happy. Sukhito means happy; homi means 'may I be'.
• Niddukkho homi: may I be free from suffering, not overwhelmed by pain of body or mind.
• Avero homi: may I be free from enmity. The Pali vera means enmity, the grudge that wants to strike back, and the Thai word wen comes from it. Avero is someone who has no enmity with anyone.
• Abyāpajjho homi: may I be free from ill will, the resentment that wants others to suffer.
• Anīgho homi: may I be free from distress and trouble.
• Sukhī attānaṁ pariharāmi: may I look after myself with ease. This phrase does not ask someone else to look after us; it is a resolve to take good care of ourselves.

The sabbe sattā part uses the same words in the plural: averā hontu, 'may they be free from enmity'. Sabbe sattā means 'all beings'. In Pali, satta means any living being, people included, not only animals.

Why begin with yourself

Many people wonder whether wishing yourself happiness is selfish. The Visuddhimagga, by Buddhaghosa, advises developing loving-kindness towards yourself first, so that you can be your own witness. Once you see clearly how much you want to be happy and dread suffering, you understand that others are the same, and goodwill towards them comes more easily. Loving-kindness for yourself is the starting point, not the end point.

It also helps people who are harsh on themselves. After a mistake, try saying Ahaṁ sukhito homi slowly and notice whether the heart softens. If it feels forced, that is all right; keep going gently. The feeling does not have to come at once. What matters is the good intention.

Loving-kindness for others: sabbe sattā

The Pali chant has no separate part for each person, because the sabbe sattā part already includes everyone. But if you want to spread loving-kindness to one person, such as a parent, someone who is ill or a friend in difficulty, bring their face to mind and say the meaning in your own language, for example: 'May you be happy, free from suffering, free from enmity, and may you look after yourself with ease.' Loving-kindness does not lie in the language but in a heart that truly wishes well.

The Visuddhimagga also suggests an order. After yourself, spread it to someone you love and respect, such as a teacher, then a close friend, then someone you neither like nor dislike, and last someone you are at odds with, widening step by step until no one is left out, including devas and beings you cannot see, which the Karaṇīya Metta Sutta describes as 'seen or unseen, living far or near'. The steps are set out one by one in metta meditation.

Loving-kindness for animals

If you want to spread loving-kindness to animals, such as a pet, a sick animal or all the creatures around your home, the Buddha's own words are in the Numbered Discourses (AN 4.67). He taught the monks to spread love to the families of snakes and to creatures of every kind, footless, two-footed, four-footed or many-footed, with these verses:

Apādakehi me mettaṁ,
mettaṁ dvipādakehi me;
Catuppadehi me mettaṁ,
mettaṁ bahuppadehi me.
Sabbe sattā sabbe pāṇā,
sabbe bhūtā ca kevalā;
Sabbe bhadrāni passantu,
mā kañci pāpamāgamā.

I have love for the footless, love for the two-footed, love for the four-footed, love for the many-footed. May all beings, all living things, all creatures without exception, see only what is good; may nothing bad come to anyone.

AN 4.67

These verses are chanted as the Khandha Paritta. In daily life, love for animals starts with simple things: not harming animals needlessly, giving water and food to those that are hungry, and not frightening them.

Spreading loving-kindness to the whole world

Spreading loving-kindness to the whole universe comes from many suttas that describe love spread in every direction until it fills the world. One is the end of the Kalama Sutta (AN 3.65), where the Buddha speaks of a noble disciple free of greed and ill will:

Mettāsahagatena cetasā ekaṁ disaṁ pharitvā viharati,
tathā dutiyaṁ, tathā tatiyaṁ, tathā catutthaṁ,
iti uddhamadho tiriyaṁ sabbadhi sabbattatāya sabbāvantaṁ lokaṁ
mettāsahagatena cetasā vipulena mahaggatena
appamāṇena averena abyāpajjhena pharitvā viharati.

They live spreading a heart full of love to one direction, and to the second, the third and the fourth. In the same way above, below, across, everywhere, to all as to themselves, they spread a heart full of love to the whole world: abundant, expansive, limitless, free of enmity and ill will.

AN 3.65

This passage is not a chant; it describes a way of practising: begin in one direction, then widen direction by direction until there are no limits. After chanting, you might sit still for a while and let your goodwill spread out in this way: from the room you are in to the house, the street, the town, the country and the whole world.

Loving-kindness for those you may have wronged

Many people look for a loving-kindness chant for their chao kam nai wen, those we may once have harmed or offended, whether we remember it or not, and who may still bear us a grudge. The most fitting Pali words are in this chant itself: Sabbe sattā averā hontu, 'may all beings be free from enmity'. The wen (enmity) in chao kam nai wen is the same word as the vera in averā, so chanting this line sincerely is a wish that the enmity between us and everyone may come to an end.

If you want to say it in Thai, there is no required wording, and your own words are fine, for example: 'To anyone I have offended, on purpose or not, I ask your forgiveness; may you be happy, and may there be no more enmity between us. To anyone who has harmed me, I hold no grudge; may you be happy too.' What matters is truly forgiving and truly asking forgiveness, not the words.

It helps to know that spreading loving-kindness and dedicating merit are different things. Spreading loving-kindness is setting a wish for others' well-being; dedicating merit is sharing merit already made, for example after giving alms or chanting, so that others can rejoice in it. Many people do both, one after the other. The short and long forms of the dedication are on the page on dedicating merit.

The short form

The shortest form of the chant is a single line: Sabbe sattā averā hontu, or the line from the Karaṇīya Metta Sutta, Sabbasattā bhavantu sukhitattā ('may all beings be happy at heart'). You can use it anywhere: waiting for a bus, before starting work, or when you are at odds with someone. The full chant below takes only about a minute; once you know it, the full form is better, because it includes both yourself and others, and all four divine abidings.

Cetovimutti: love trained into release of the heart

The word cetovimutti, often found together with the loving-kindness chant, means 'release of the heart'. When loving-kindness has been trained until it is steady, the heart is freed, for that time, from ill will and narrowness. The suttas call love trained to this level mettā cetovimutti, 'the release of the heart through love'. AN 11.15 begins:

Mettāya, bhikkhave, cetovimuttiyā
āsevitāya bhāvitāya bahulīkatāya
yānīkatāya vatthukatāya anuṭṭhitāya
paricitāya susamāraddhāya
ekādasānisaṁsā pāṭikaṅkhā.

Monks, when the release of the heart through love has been pursued, developed and made much of, made a vehicle and a basis, kept up, built up and well undertaken, eleven benefits can be expected.

AN 11.15

Notice that the sutta speaks of love trained until it becomes a habit of the heart, not of reciting words a number of times. The benefits it lists, such as sleeping and waking at ease and a mind that settles quickly, are the fruit of a heart trained in this way. The chant is only a doorway into that training. All eleven benefits are explained on the metta meditation page mentioned above.

When to chant, and how many times

You can chant at any time. Common times are after the daily chants in the morning or before sleep, before or after meditation, and when you feel angry or upset with someone. Nothing in the Tipiṭaka says how many times it must be chanted. Most people say it once; some say it three times as a custom. Say it as many times as you like, slowly, keeping the meaning in mind. Once with a heart that truly wishes well is worth more than many times while the mind is elsewhere.

When you finish the chant, notice your heart for a moment: is there some warmth or lightness? Then carry that feeling to the first person you meet that day. That is where loving-kindness leaves the chanting book and enters real life.

The chant

Machine translation from: Subjects for Regular Reviewing (AN 5.57) · Traditional chant, author unknown · Karaṇīyamettā Sutta (Snp 1.8) · Kālāma Sutta (AN 3.65) · The Snake King, Ahirāja Sutta (AN 4.67) · The Benefits of Love, Mettā Sutta (AN 11.15) · Navakovada (public domain) · Visuddhimagga, by Buddhaghosa (chapter on loving-kindness)