lothea thole — The Practice of Love

A transmutation of the Karaniya Metta Sutta into Phi, and the language's first complete text. This is a transmutation, not a translation: each verse's meaning is rebuilt from Phi concepts (see documents/language_guide.md §6). Where Phi lacks a word or a doctrine sits outside its worldview, the adaptation is recorded honestly in the gap log at the end.

The source is the Pali Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8). The ground truth for the English is V. Fausböll's translation of the Sutta-Nipâta (Sacred Books of the East, volume X, part II, second edition; first published 1881), stored verbatim in pamphlets/sources/, quoted with its scan's own spellings and line breaks. The sutta is carried whole, verses 1 through 10, and every unit cites the clause it stands against.

Each block below carries four lines: the Phi sentence, its word-by-word gloss, a back-translation into English, and Fausböll's own wording. One unit stands uncited by design; its note says why.

The text

Verse 1 — The one who seeks peace

[rena shea ruela sano] miona welao na thole.
[REL peace path know] person good NEC practice.
(The one who knows the path of peace must practice goodness.)
fausboll: "1. Whatever is to be done by one who is skilful in seeking (what is) good, having attained that tran- quil state (of Nibbana)"

su shia theali nela wero nai.
OPT 3SG fitting COORD honest be.
(May they be fitting and honest.)
fausboll: "Let him be able and upright"

su shia thesa nai.
OPT 3SG careful be.
(May they be careful.)
fausboll: "and conscientious"

su shia moli haolu. su shia moli nai.
OPT 3SG gentle speak. OPT 3SG gentle be.
(May they speak gently, and may they be gentle.)
fausboll: "and of soft speech, gentle,"

su shia thoru ma nai.
OPT 3SG proud NEG be.
(May they not be proud.)
fausboll: "not proud,"

Notes: The headless-feeling relative [rena shea ruela sano] miona ("the person who knows the path of peace") opens the whole text with a pre-nominal relative clause: the sutta's addressee announced before they are named, in perfect modifier-first order. Fausböll's "tranquil state (of Nibbana)" is that path's destination; Phi keeps rites and ultimates unnamed for every tradition to fill, so the text says the path and lets the walker find the end. "Able" arrives as theali (fitting), competence as alignment between action and context; "conscientious" is thesa (careful), thought given to avoiding harm. The doubled moli is deliberate: soft in speech, then gentle in being, the two claims Fausböll sets side by side.

Verse 2 — Contentment

su shia nuloe nai. su shia henoi sano.
OPT 3SG content be. OPT 3SG ENOUGH know.
(May they be content. May they know enough.)
fausboll: "2. And contented and easily supported"

su shia phelo nai.
OPT 3SG light be.
(May they be light.)
fausboll: "and having few cares, unburdened"

su shia shena nai. su shia phue nai.
OPT 3SG calm be. OPT 3SG wise be.
(May they be calm. May they be wise.)
fausboll: "and with his senses calmed and wise,"

su shia motu nai.
OPT 3SG humble be.
(May they be humble.)
fausboll: "not arrogant,"

su shia mua lo womu henoi pilu.
OPT 3SG LOC PL home ENOUGH take.
(May they take enough among the homes.)
fausboll: "without (showing) greediness (when going his round) in families."

Notes: shia henoi sano ("may they know enough") uses the quantifier henoi (enough) as a knowable object: one easily supported is one who knows sufficiency, and Phi says it in three words. phelo (light) carries "having few cares, unburdened" whole, because its own entry defines lightness as the absence of burden. The verse ends on the alms round, and Phi has no word for greed because it never needed one: the round through the homes is walked with henoi again, taking enough, the same sufficiency now practiced with the hands. The verse teaches henoi twice, once as knowledge and once as conduct.

Verse 3 — The wish

su shia [rena lo phue po peloma nila] thena ma phoa.
OPT 3SG [REL PL wise POT harmful see] thing NEG do.
(May they not do the thing the wise might see as harmful.)
fausboll: "3. And let him not do anything mean for which others who are wise might reprove (him);"

su theula [rena lima nai] siora phaelo.
OPT UNIV [REL alive be] joy feel.
(May all that lives feel joy.)
fausboll: "may all beings be happy"

su theula [rena lima nai] shurano nai.
OPT UNIV [REL alive be] safe be.
(May all that lives be safe.)
fausboll: "and secure,"

su theula [rena lima nai] siora korua phelu.
OPT UNIV [REL alive be] joy heart hold.
(May all that lives hold a joyful heart.)
fausboll: "may they be happy- minded."

Notes: Phi has no word for "beings," and needs none: the headless relative [rena lima nai] ("that which is alive") quantified by theula covers every living thing without carving the world into categories. This formula recurs as the sutta's refrain. Fausböll's "might reprove" carries its hedge into Phi as po, the possibility particle, and the reproof itself is reframed: the wise do not scold here, they see harm, which is the part of reproof worth keeping. "Happy-minded" becomes siora korua, the joyful heart, because the heart is where Phi seats what a mind feels.

Verses 4–5 — Omitting none

theula [rena lima nai].
UNIV [REL alive be].
(All that lives.)
fausboll: "4. Whatever living beings there are,"

welua sola kema.
fragile DISJ strong.
(Fragile or strong.)
fausboll: "either feeble or strong,"

laeno sola whalo. kesho sola teku. thiku sola whalo.
long DISJ large. middle DISJ short. small DISJ large.
(The long or the large. The middle or the short. The small or the large.)
fausboll: "either long or great, middle-sized, short, small or large,"

[rena se nila] sola [rena se ma nila].
[REL PASS see] DISJ [REL PASS NEG see].
(The seen or the unseen.)
fausboll: "5. Either seen or which are not seen,"

[rena mua wuero sola noshi menui].
[REL LOC far DISJ near dwell].
(Those who dwell far or near.)
fausboll: "and which live far (or) near,"

[rena thowia] sola [rena wea lioru shua].
[REL born] DISJ [REL TOWARD life come].
(Those born, or those coming toward life.)
fausboll: "either born or seeking birth,"

su theula [rena lima nai] siora korua phelu.
OPT UNIV [REL alive be] joy heart hold.
(May all that lives hold a joyful heart.)
fausboll: "may al] creatures be happy-minded."

Notes: The verse's own instruction is to omit none, so the enumeration is carried whole: laeno the long, whalo the large, kesho the middle, teku the short, thiku the small, and whalo again, because Fausböll's "great" and "large" are one size in Phi and the repetition stands as the source's own. The passive se builds "the seen and the unseen" as headless relatives, and menui (dwell) gives the far and near dwellers their verb. "Born" is thowia; "seeking birth" is [rena wea lioru shua], those coming toward life: approach with no claim of arrival, which is what seeking is.

Verse 6 — No deception, no contempt

su mawha miona wei shia peshu.
OPT NONE person DAT 3SG lie.
(May no person lie to another.)
fausboll: "6. Let no one deceive another,"

su mawha miona mua theula noa shia thiku nila.
OPT NONE person LOC UNIV position 3SG small see.
(May no one, in any place, see another as small.)
fausboll: "let him not despise (another) in any place,"

su mawha miona lue korua thero wei shia peloma pula.
OPT NONE person ABL heart fire DAT 3SG harmful wish.
(May no one, from the fire of the heart, wish harm upon another.)
fausboll: "let him not out of anger or resentment wish harm to another."

Notes: Deception uses the dedicated verb peshu (lie). Contempt is "seeing another as small" (thiku nila), which names the act more precisely than "despise" does, and Fausböll's "in any place" is mua theula noa. Anger and resentment share one Phi name, korua thero, heart-fire: a compound that observes the feeling without condemning the one who feels it, wide enough for the quick flame and the banked one. The ablative lue marks the fire as a source one acts from, not an identity.

Verse 7 — The boundless heart

phea [phao roe miso lioru ta lopia shorupo].
AS [parent INS REFL life one child protect].
(As a parent protects their one child with their own life.)
fausboll: "7, As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her own child, her only child,"

su theula miona wea theula [rena lima nai] [mawha norui] korua phelu.
OPT UNIV person TOWARD UNIV [REL alive be] [NONE boundary] heart hold.
(May every person hold a heart of no boundary toward all that lives.)
fausboll: "so also let every one cultivate a boundless (friendly) mind towards all beings."

Notes: Fausböll's mother is phao, the parent, by the settled refusal of gendered person-words; nothing the simile needs is lost. "At the risk of her life" is carried as roe miso lioru, protecting with their own life, the instrument the risk puts on the table. Then the sutta's most famous wish arrives in one modifier-first clause: every person, toward all that lives, a heart of no boundary, held. mawha norui korua ("a no-boundary heart") builds "boundless" from the quantifier mawha (none) and norui (boundary), and the possessor-first pattern makes it a heart of no boundary.

Verse 8 — Radiating in all directions

su shia wei theula muila lothea loa.
OPT 3SG DAT UNIV earth love give.
(May they give love to the whole earth.)
fausboll: "8. And let him cultivate goodwill towards all the world,"

[mawha norui] korua.
[NONE boundary] heart.
(A heart of no boundary.)
fausboll: "a boundless (friendly) mind,"

wei leo waero. wei phou nulo. wei theula noa.
DAT ABOVE sky. DAT BELOW deep. DAT UNIV position.
(To the sky above. To the deep below. To every place.)
fausboll: "above and below and across,"

nuwi. whuo korua thero.
clear. WITHOUT heart fire.
(Clear, and without the heart's fire.)
fausboll: "unobstructed, without hatred, without enmity."

Notes: Goodwill is given as love, lothea loa, to the whole earth. The three directional fragments are verbless: poetry in prepositions, each relation announced before its object. leo and phou are relators and must have objects, so the sky and the deep stand beneath "above and below," the grammar asking for the very images the directions point at; "across" widens to theula noa, every place. "Unobstructed" is nuwi (clear), whose own entry means free from obstruction, and hatred and enmity burn as one fire; the verse ends whuo korua thero, without it.

Verse 9 — Sustaining the practice

shia whano sola thalo sola meilo sola ruemi.
3SG stand DISJ walk DISJ sit DISJ lie down.
(They stand or walk or sit or lie down.)
fausboll: "9. Standing, walking or sitting or lying,"

lu shia waeli nai. su shia ha thesua thenoki.
COND 3SG conscious be. OPT 3SG PROX mindful sustain.
(While they are awake, may they sustain this mindfulness.)
fausboll: "as long as he be awake, let him devote himself to this mind"

ha liona mua ha muila mo ko welao ti nai.
PROX live LOC PROX earth CMPR FOC good REP be.
(This living, they say, is the best in this world.)
fausboll: "this (way of) living they say is the best in this world."

Notes: The four postures are complete; ruemi (lie down) closes the set. "As long as he be awake" rides the conditional lu with waeli (conscious), whose entry names what wakes. And the last line keeps Fausböll's quiet hedge: "they say" is reported evidence, so the verb cluster carries ti, the reportative, beside the superlative mo ko welao. The sutta itself hands this praise on from others, and Phi's grammar can say so in one syllable.

Verse 10 — Clear seeing

[shiloa korua] mawha remo kire phelu.
[pure heart] NONE think shape hold.
(The pure heart holds no fixed shapes of thought.)
fausboll: "10. He who, not having embraced (philosophical) views, is virtuous,"

shia nuwi nila.
3SG clear see.
(They see clearly.)
fausboll: "endowed with (perfect) vision,"

shia weloni siora pula leiro.
3SG body joy wish release.
(They release the wish for the body's joys.)
fausboll: "after subduing greediness for sensual pleasures,"

shia shea ruela thole.
3SG peace path practice.
(They practice the path of peace.)

Notes: "Fixed views" becomes remo kire (thought-shapes), held by no one with a pure heart; Fausböll's "is virtuous" lives inside that same image, shiloa (pure), virtue as the unclouded essence. "Subduing" is the one verb the verse cannot keep: Phi refuses subjugation even of desire, so the greediness for sensual pleasures is leiro, released, let go rather than defeated. The final unit carries no citation, and that is the point: Fausböll's verse ends "will never again go to a mother's womb," and the rebirth doctrine requires vocabulary (and metaphysics) Phi does not carry. The text closes where it began, on shea ruela, the path of peace. The circle is deliberate.

The complete text

lothea thole

[rena shea ruela sano] miona welao na thole.
su shia theali nela wero nai. su shia thesa nai.
su shia moli haolu. su shia moli nai. su shia thoru ma nai.

su shia nuloe nai. su shia henoi sano. su shia phelo nai.
su shia shena nai. su shia phue nai. su shia motu nai.
su shia mua lo womu henoi pilu.

su shia [rena lo phue po peloma nila] thena ma phoa.
su theula [rena lima nai] siora phaelo.
su theula [rena lima nai] shurano nai.
su theula [rena lima nai] siora korua phelu.

theula [rena lima nai]. welua sola kema.
laeno sola whalo. kesho sola teku. thiku sola whalo.
[rena se nila] sola [rena se ma nila].
[rena mua wuero sola noshi menui].
[rena thowia] sola [rena wea lioru shua].
su theula [rena lima nai] siora korua phelu.

su mawha miona wei shia peshu.
su mawha miona mua theula noa shia thiku nila.
su mawha miona lue korua thero wei shia peloma pula.

phea [phao roe miso lioru ta lopia shorupo].
su theula miona wea theula [rena lima nai] [mawha norui] korua phelu.

su shia wei theula muila lothea loa. [mawha norui] korua.
wei leo waero. wei phou nulo. wei theula noa.
nuwi. whuo korua thero.

shia whano sola thalo sola meilo sola ruemi.
lu shia waeli nai. su shia ha thesua thenoki.
ha liona mua ha muila mo ko welao ti nai.

[shiloa korua] mawha remo kire phelu.
shia nuwi nila.
shia weloni siora pula leiro.
shia shea ruela thole.

What the transmutation changed

Gap log: Nibbana, the tranquil state → unnamed by the rites-unnamed refusal; the text says shea ruela, the path of peace, and lets the walker find the end. Beings → theula [rena lima nai], all that is alive: the headless relative is better than a noun. Able → theali, fitting, competence as alignment. Conscientious → thesa, careful. Easily supported → henoi sano, knowing enough. Few cares, unburdened → phelo, light, whose entry is the absence of burden. Greediness on the alms round → henoi pilu, taking enough among the homes: sufficiency as conduct, the same quantifier the verse already taught as knowledge. Reprove → the wise seeing harm, with Fausböll's "might" kept as po. Secure → shurano, safe. Happy-minded → siora korua, the joyful heart, the mind's feelings seated where Phi seats them. Great and large → one size, whalo, repeated as the source repeats. Despise → thiku nila (see as small), canonized in documents/compounds.md. Anger, resentment, hatred, enmity → korua thero (heart-fire), one compound for the whole family, canonized in documents/compounds.md. Mother → phao, parent, by the gendered-words refusal. At the risk of her life → roe miso lioru, protecting with their own life. Goodwill → lothea, love, given. Above and below → the sky and the deep, because leo and phou are relators and ask for objects. Unobstructed → nuwi, clear. Awake → waeli, conscious, under the conditional lu. They say → the reportative ti, Fausböll's hedge kept in the grammar. Fixed views → remo kire (thought-shapes), canonized in documents/compounds.md. Virtuous → shiloa korua, the pure heart. Subduing → leiro, release: Phi refuses subjugation even of desire. Seeking birth → [rena wea lioru shua], those coming toward life. Rebirth → the one uncited unit: the text closes on the path of peace, and the departure is deliberate. New words coined: none.