Wedding reading
The Metta Sutta — loving-kindness (verses 4–9)
The Sutta-Nipâta, tr. V. Fausböll (1881)
“The Metta Sutta — loving-kindness (verses 4–9)” by The Sutta-Nipâta, tr. V. Fausböll (1881) is a scripture reading read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about a minute and a half read aloud, usually by the officiant. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
Whatever living beings there are, either feeble or strong, all either long or great, middle-sized, short, small or large, Either seen or which are not seen, and which live far (or) near, either born or seeking birth, may all creatures be happy-minded. Let no one deceive another, let him not despise (another) in any place, let him not out of anger or resentment wish harm to another. As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her own child, her only child, so also let every one cultivate a boundless (friendly) mind towards all beings. And let him cultivate goodwill towards all the world, a boundless (friendly) mind, above and below and across, unobstructed, without hatred, without enmity. Standing, walking or sitting or lying, as long as he be awake, let him devote himself to this mind; this (way of) living they say is the best in this world.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
The loving-kindness sutta, and the reading a Buddhist couple is most likely to want — it blesses the whole room, not just the two of them. This is Fausböll’s 1881 English, the one that is ours to print; where a couple say a version at their own temple, paste theirs in and it prints instead.
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: loving-kindness · metta · as a mother watches over her only child · goodwill towards all beings · Buddhist wedding · a Buddhist family · no deity in it · an interfaith wedding · a blessing over the whole room.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “The Metta Sutta — loving-kindness (verses 4–9)” take to read aloud?
“The Metta Sutta — loving-kindness (verses 4–9)” takes about a minute and a half read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “The Metta Sutta — loving-kindness (verses 4–9)”?
Usually the officiant rather than a guest reader. “The Metta Sutta — loving-kindness (verses 4–9)” runs about a minute and a half, which sits inside the part of the service the officiant is already leading, and keeping it there means it is carried by the person who has rehearsed it.
Can “The Metta Sutta — loving-kindness (verses 4–9)” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad I.4.3 — the Self falls in two25 secondsThe Upanishads, tr. Max Müller (1884)
- 1 Corinthians 13:4–8a45 secondsKing James Bible
- 1 Corinthians 13:1–13two minutesKing James Bible
- Genesis 2:18–24a minute and a halfKing James Bible
- Ruth 1:16–17a30 secondsKing James Bible
- Song of Solomon 2:10–1340 secondsKing James Bible