Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Good deeds should not be feared, because “good deeds” is simply another name for happiness, and the Buddha offers his own past as proof: seven years of developing a mind of love produced consequences stretching across seven cosmic eons and many exalted rebirths.
Seven years of practice, seven eons of consequence
The proportion is deliberately stark: seven years of loving-kindness meditation, weighed against seven entire eons of the cosmos contracting and expanding during which the Buddha, in that past life, did not return to this world at all — going to the realm of streaming radiance as the cosmos contracted, and to an empty mansion of divinity as it expanded, over and over.
Three exalted identities, each repeated many times
Within that span, the account names three distinct exalted identities occupied repeatedly: the Divinity, the Great Divinity, wielder of power; Sakka, lord of the gods, thirty-six times; and a wheel-turning monarch, many hundreds of times, ruling by principle rather than force, possessing the seven treasures and over a thousand valiant sons.
A prose account, then the same story again in verse
Having told the story once in prose, the discourse retells essentially the same account in verse, adding little new content but reinforcing the scale of the claim through repetition and closing with an explicit exhortation: someone who desires self-knowledge and aspires to greatness should respect the true teaching and remember the instructions of the Buddhas.
Not the more famous discourse on loving-kindness
This discourse should not be confused with the widely quoted teaching that a mind of love outshines any amount of ritual merit-making, found at Iti 27 outside this project's scope. This discourse's approach is autobiographical rather than comparative, tracing one practice's fruit across an explicit span of lifetimes rather than ranking it against other practices.
Key terms
The text
Don't fear good deeds
§1“Mendicants, don’t fear good deeds. For ‘good deeds’ is a term for happiness. I recall undergoing for a long time the likable, desirable, and agreeable results of good deeds performed over a long time. I developed a mind of love for seven years. As a result, for seven eons of the cosmos contracting and expanding I didn’t return to this world again. As the cosmos contracted I went to the realm of streaming radiance. As it expanded I was reborn in an empty mansion of divinity.
As the Divinity, as Sakka, as a wheel-turning monarch
§2There I was the Divinity, the Great Divinity, the vanquisher, the unvanquished, the universal seer, the wielder of power. I was Sakka, lord of gods, thirty-six times. Many hundreds of times I was a king, a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king. My dominion extended to all four sides, I achieved stability in the country, and I possessed the seven treasures. These were my seven treasures: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the jewel, the woman, the householder, and the commander as the seventh treasure. I had over a thousand sons who were valiant and heroic, crushing the armies of my enemies. After conquering this land girt by sea, I reigned by principle, without rod or sword.
In verse: seven years of love, seven eons away
§3See the result of good deeds, of skillful deeds, for one seeking happiness. I developed a mind of love for seven years, mendicants. For seven eons of expansion and contraction I didn’t return to this world again. As the world contracted I went to the realm of streaming radiance. And when it expanded I went to an empty mansion of divinity.
In verse: Great Divinity, lord of gods, wheel-turning monarch
§4Seven times I was a Great Divinity, and at that time I was the wielder of power. Thirty-six times I was lord of gods, acting as ruler of the gods. Then I was king, a wheel-turning monarch, lord of the Black Plum Tree Land. An anointed aristocrat, I was sovereign of all humans.
In verse: without rod or sword, born into wealth
§5Without rod or sword, I conquered this land. Through non-violent action I guided it justly. After ruling this vast territory by means of principle, I was born in a rich family, affluent and wealthy.
In verse: the cause of greatness, and who it might inspire
§6It was replete with all sense pleasures, and the seven treasures. This was well taught by the Buddhas, who bring the world together. This is the cause of greatness by which one is called a lord of the land. I was a majestic king, with lots of property and assets. successful and glorious, lord of the Black Plum Tree Land. Who would not be inspired by this, even someone of dark birth.
The closing exhortation
§7Therefore someone who desires self-knowledge, and aspires to greatness themselves, should respect the true teaching, remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.”
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