Life’s Highest Blessings 2 Contents 4 Editor’s Foreword 6 Preface 9 Chapter 1 Introduction 12 i The Glorious Sutta 12 ii Location in the Scriptures 15 iii The Contents of these Texts 17 iv The Title 19 v Burmese Enthusiasm 22 vi The Present Work 23 Chapter II Mahā Maṅgala Sutta 25 i The Pali Text 25 ii Word-by-Word Rendering 26 iii Translation 31 Chapter III Notes and Comments 34 i The Title 34 Mahā Maṅgala Sutta: 34 ii Introduction 34 (A) Evaṃ Me Suttaṃ 34 (B) Bhagavā 36 (C) Sāvatthi, Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍika 37 (D) Devatā 37 iii The Body of the Sutta 41
Stanza I “Many Deities and Human Beings …” 41 Stanza II “With Fools No Company Keeping …” 44 Stanza III ”Congenial Place to Dwell …” 47 Stanza IV “Ample Learning, In Crafts Ability …” 52 Stanza V “Mother, Father Well Supporting …” 55 Stanza VI “Acts of Giving, Righteous Living …” 58 Stanza VII “Avoid evil and abstaining …” 61 Stanza VIII “Right Reverence and Humility …” 65 Stanza IX “Patience, Meekness When Corrected …” 71 Stanza X “Self-Restraint and Holy Life …” 75 Stanza XI “Though Touched by Worldly Circumstances …” 86 Stanza XII “Since By Acting In This Way …” 87 Chapter IV The High Road of Blessings 89 i The Thirty-eight Blessings 89 Stanza I 89 Stanza II 89 Stanza III 89 Stanza IV 90 Stanza V 90 Stanza VI 90 Stanza VII 90 Stanza VIII 91 Stanza IX 91 Stanza X 91 Stanza XI 91 Stanza XII 92 ii General Review 92 iii A Synthetic View 94 iv Our Classification 96 Chapter V Conclusion 102 Notes 110
