Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

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Coyote
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Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Coyote »

It's one of the three chants on the Brahmaviharas that I know of, along with the Karaniya metta sutta and the basic formula from DN 13.
I'll repeat it here just for fun as I'm sure everybody knows what I am talking about.

May I abide in well-being, in freedom from affliction, in freedom from hostility, in freedom from ill-will, in freedom from anxiety, and may I maintain well-being in myself.

May everyone abide in well-being, in freedom from hostility, in freedom from ill-will, in freedom from anxiety, and may they maintain well-being in themselves.

May all beings be released from all suffering.

And may they not be parted from the good fortune they have attained.

When they act upon intention, all beings are the owners of their action and inherit its results. Their future is born from such action, companion to such action, and its results will be their home. All actions with intention, be they skillful or harmful, of such acts they will be the heirs.



Where does it come from? Is it from a Sutta? Quick google search comes up with nothing.
I ask because I am starting to use it in meditation. It's a good way to reflect on the Brahmaviharas. Also while this topic is up, are there any other similar chants/suttas I should know about?
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
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mikenz66
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by mikenz66 »

I'm not aware of a sutta with all of those things arranged together.
By the way, here is a Pali-English version:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... ml#sublime

But, of course, the "may all beings be happy" part is in the Karaniya Metta Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .piya.html

And the part about kamma:
All living beings are the owners of their actions, heir to their actions, born of their actions, related through their actions, and live dependent on their actions.
does appear in a number of suttas, such as: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

:anjali:
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Sam Vara
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Sam Vara »

mikenz66 wrote:
But, of course, the "may all beings be happy" part is in the Karaniya Metta Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .piya.html


Mike
I think I heard a dhamma talk from Ajahn Thanissaro where he talks about American laughter when they realised a nun from Amaravati in the UK chanted "May everyone abide in well-being" instead of the more direct "may all beings be happy".

I wonder whether practitioners outside the UK are familiar with coyote's version? If not, it might originate in Amaravati.
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mikenz66
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by mikenz66 »

Hi Sam,

Interesting. Safer to stick with chanting in Pali. Less arguments.

A few months ago I was in a group with an Ajahn Chah monk and we were chanting the Karaniya Metta Sutta, and someone asked about the different translations of the line towards the end:
Which is variously translated as:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .piya.html
Not falling into wrong views...
But when he has no trafficking with views...
By not holding to fixed views...
Not taken with views...
Holding no more to wrong beliefs...
From which a long discussion ensued... [As I understand it, when "views" are mentioned without qualification, then "fixed" or "wrong" is implied.]

:anjali:
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Coyote
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Coyote »

Thanks for all the help.

As for the translation being particular to Amaravati - Abhiyagiri's version on their website is the same translation, though I don't know of it is their everyday version. It seems more likely it is a translation made by the Thai Forest Sangha, of which the two monasteries are branches. I like this flowery translation as it seems to have been translated specifically for chanting.

Metta
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
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Sam Vara
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Sam Vara »

mikenz66 wrote:Hi Sam,

Interesting. Safer to stick with chanting in Pali. Less arguments.

A few months ago I was in a group with an Ajahn Chah monk and we were chanting the Karaniya Metta Sutta, and someone asked about the different translations of the line towards the end:
Which is variously translated as:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .piya.html
Not falling into wrong views...
But when he has no trafficking with views...
By not holding to fixed views...
Not taken with views...
Holding no more to wrong beliefs...
From which a long discussion ensued... [As I understand it, when "views" are mentioned without qualification, then "fixed" or "wrong" is implied.]

:anjali:
Mike
Yes, the Amaravati/Cittaviveka version of that line changed in the chanting books about five years ago. From "By not holding to fixed views", to "by not holding to false views".

They rarely chant the Pali version at Cittaviveka, and when they do there are only a couple of lay supporters who know it.
jamesheld
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by jamesheld »

In regards to the Universal Well-Being chant; I'm curious about the second paragraph where it does not mention freedom from affliction as it does in the beginning. May I abide in well being, in freedom from affliction, in freedom from hostility....................and so on

May everyone abide in well being,in freedom from hostility.............and so on

?
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Aloka
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Aloka »

Its in Volume One of the Amaravati Chanting book: "Reflections on Universal Well Being" page 40/41.

https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/up ... -1-Web.pdf


:anjali:


.
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Polar Bear
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Polar Bear »

Coyote wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2013 7:29 pm It's one of the three chants on the Brahmaviharas that I know of, along with the Karaniya metta sutta and the basic formula from DN 13.
I'll repeat it here just for fun as I'm sure everybody knows what I am talking about.

May I abide in well-being, in freedom from affliction, in freedom from hostility, in freedom from ill-will, in freedom from anxiety, and may I maintain well-being in myself.

May everyone abide in well-being, in freedom from hostility, in freedom from ill-will, in freedom from anxiety, and may they maintain well-being in themselves.

May all beings be released from all suffering.

And may they not be parted from the good fortune they have attained.

When they act upon intention, all beings are the owners of their action and inherit its results. Their future is born from such action, companion to such action, and its results will be their home. All actions with intention, be they skillful or harmful, of such acts they will be the heirs.



Where does it come from? Is it from a Sutta? Quick google search comes up with nothing.
I ask because I am starting to use it in meditation. It's a good way to reflect on the Brahmaviharas. Also while this topic is up, are there any other similar chants/suttas I should know about?
I think part of the passage you quote is an aspect of non-ill-will in the ten wholesome courses of action:
“And how are there three sorts of Dhamma conduct, harmonious conduct with the mind?

“There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He doesn’t covet the belongings of others, thinking, ‘O, that what belongs to others would be mine!’

“He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. (He thinks,) ‘May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!’


“He has right view and is not warped in the way he sees things: ‘There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are contemplatives & brahmans who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.’

“This is how there are three sorts of Dhamma conduct, harmonious conduct with the mind.

“It’s by reason of this Dhamma conduct & harmonious conduct that some beings here, with the break-up of the body, after death, re-appear in a good destination, a heavenly world.


https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN41.html


:anjali:
"I don't envision a single thing that, when developed & cultivated, leads to such great benefit as the mind. The mind, when developed & cultivated, leads to great benefit."

"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about such suffering & stress as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about suffering & stress."
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Dhammanando »

Coyote wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2013 7:29 pm Where does it come from?
It's quite a mishmash...
Well-being chant wrote:
ahaṃ sukhito homi.
niddukkho homi.
avero homi.
abyāpajjho homi.
anīgho homi.
sukhī attānaṃ pariharāmi.
This is taken from the Visuddhimagga's chapter on the Brahmavihāras:

Sabbapaṭhamaṃ pana 'ahaṃ sukhito homi niddukkho ti vā, 'avero abyāpajjo anīgho sukhī attānaṃ pariharāmī' ti vā evaṃ punappunaṃ attaniyeva bhāvetabbā.

First of all [mettā] should be developed only towards oneself, doing it repeatedly thus: “May I be happy and free from suffering” or “May I keep myself free from enmity, affliction and anxiety and live happily.”
Well-being chant wrote: sabbe sattā sukhitā hontu.
sabbe sattā averā hontu.
sabbe sattā abyāpajjhā hontu.
sabbe sattā anīghā hontu.
sabbe sattā sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu.
This is from the Paṭisambhidāmagga's chapter on mettā, but with one extra phrase added:

sabbe sattā averā abyāpajjā anīghā sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu.

"May all beings be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety and live happily."
Well-being chant wrote:sabbe sattā sabbadukkhā pamuccantu.
This isn't attested in either the Paṭisambhidāmagga or Visuddhimagga. For karuṇā the latter uses:

kicchaṃ vatāyaṃ satto āpanno, appeva nāma imamhā dukkhā mucceyyā.

"This being has indeed been reduced to misery; if only he could be freed from this suffering!"
Well-being chant wrote: sabbe sattā laddhasampattito mā vigacchantu.
This is from the Abhidhammatthavibhāvinī, Sumaṅgalasāmī's commentary on the Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha. For muditā the Visuddhimagga uses:

modati vatāyaṃ satto, aho sādhu aho suṭṭhu.

"This being is indeed glad. How good, how excellent!"
Well-being chant wrote: sabbe sattā kammassakā kammadāyādā kammayonī
kammabandhū kammapaṭisaraṇā
yaṃ kammaṃ karissanti
kalyāṇaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā
tassa dāyādā bhavissanti
This is from the Abhiṇhapaccavekkhitabbaṭhāna Sutta, AN 5.57, et al.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
soniaSDRC
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by soniaSDRC »

jamesheld wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:35 am In regards to the Universal Well-Being chant; I'm curious about the second paragraph where it does not mention freedom from affliction as it does in the beginning. May I abide in well being, in freedom from affliction, in freedom from hostility....................and so on

May everyone abide in well being,in freedom from hostility.............and so on

?
Did you ever get an answer to this? I've been wondering myself. Mostly I've seen it online with "affliction" removed in the second paragraph. But not always. It just doesn't seem in keeping with the suttas for something to be mentioned in a list once and not again in the following verses.
dharmacorps
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by dharmacorps »

Sam Vara wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:51 pm
I think I heard a dhamma talk from Ajahn Thanissaro where he talks about American laughter when they realised a nun from Amaravati in the UK chanted "May everyone abide in well-being" instead of the more direct "may all beings be happy".

I wonder whether practitioners outside the UK are familiar with coyote's version? If not, it might originate in Amaravati.
At Abhayagiri, I believe we chant may all beings be happy. I know there is also Gil Frondsdahl who is a translator of some stuff out here, who may have popularized this framing of things. I am not sure why there would be laughter, its not like "may everyone abide in well being" is that crazy of a translation! Maybe they thought the British nun was being posh. :tongue:
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Sam Vara
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Re: Where does the Universal Well-Being chant come from?

Post by Sam Vara »

dharmacorps wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 7:56 pm
Sam Vara wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:51 pm
I think I heard a dhamma talk from Ajahn Thanissaro where he talks about American laughter when they realised a nun from Amaravati in the UK chanted "May everyone abide in well-being" instead of the more direct "may all beings be happy".

I wonder whether practitioners outside the UK are familiar with coyote's version? If not, it might originate in Amaravati.
At Abhayagiri, I believe we chant may all beings be happy. I know there is also Gil Frondsdahl who is a translator of some stuff out here, who may have popularized this framing of things. I am not sure why there would be laughter, its not like "may everyone abide in well being" is that crazy of a translation! Maybe they thought the British nun was being posh. :tongue:
Yes, I think that's it - the contrast between American directness and British circumlocution.

Anyway, may you abide in well-being yourself, dc! :anjali: :heart:
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