The Words of Truth - Selections from THE DHAMMAPADA

THE WORDS OF TRUTH

Selections from THE DHAMMAPADA

All (mental) states have mind as their forerunner, mind is their chief, and they are mind-made. If one speaks or acts, with a defiled mind, then suffering follows one even as the wheel follows the hoof of the draught-ox.

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All (mental) states have mind as their forerunner, mind is their chief, and they are mind-made. If one speaks or acts, with a pure mind, happiness follows one as one's shadow that does not leave one.

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He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me': the hatred of those who harbour such thoughts is not appeased.

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Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world; it is appeased by love. This is an eternal Law.

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Whosoever is energetic, mindful, pure in conduct, discriminating, self-restrained, right-living, vigilant, his fame steadily increases.

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By endeavour, diligence, discipline, and self-mastery, let the wise man make (of himself) an island that no flood can overwhelm.

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Fools, men of little intelligence, give themselves over to negligence, but the wise man protects his diligence as a supreme treasure.

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Give not yourselves unto negligence; have no intimacy with sense pleasures. The man who meditates with diligence attains much happiness.

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This fickle, unsteady mind, difficult to guard, difficult to control, the wise man makes straight, as the fletcher the arrow.

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Hard to restrain, unstable is this mind; it flits wherever it lists. Good it is to control the mind. A controlled mind brings happiness.

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He whose mind is unsteady, he who knows not the Good Teaching, he whose confidence wavers, the wisdom of such a person does not attain fullness.

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Whatever harm a foe may do to a foe, or a hater to another hater, a wrongly-directed mind may do one harm far exceeding these.

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Neither mother, nor father, nor any other relative can do a man such good as is wrought by a rightly-directed mind.

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The man who gathers only the flowers (of sense pleasures), whose mind is entangled, death carries him away as a great flood a sleeping village.
One should not pry into the faults of others, into things done and left undone by others. One should rather consider what by oneself is done and left undone.

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As a beautiful flower that is full of hue but lacks fragrance, even so fruitless is the well-spoken word of one who does not practise it.

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If, as one fares, one does not find a companion who is better or equal, let one resolutely pursue the solitary course; there can be no fellowship with the fool.

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'I have sons, I have wealth': thinking thus the fool is troubled. Indeed, he himself is not his own. How can sons or wealth be his ?

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Even if all his life a fool associates with a wise man, he will not understand the Truth, even as the spoon (does not understand) the flavour of the soup.

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That deed is not well done, which one regrets when it is done and the result of which one experiences weeping with a tearful face.

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The fool thinks an evil deed as sweet as honey, so long as it does not ripen (does not produce results). But when it ripens, the fool comes to grief.

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Even as a solid rock is unshaken by the wind, so are the wise unshaken by praise or blame.

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Even as a lake, deep, extremely clear and tranquil, so do the wise become tranquil having heard the Teaching.

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Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the bank on this side.

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For him, who has completed the journey, who is sorrowless, wholly set free, and rid of all bonds, for such a one there is no burning (of the passions).

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He whose senses are mastered like horses well under the charioteer's control, he who is purged of pride, free from passions, such a steadfast one even the gods envy (hold dear).

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Calm is the thought, calm the word and deed of him who, rightly knowing, is wholly freed, perfectly peaceful and equipoised.

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The man who is not credulous, who knows the 'uncreated', who has severed all ties, who has put an end to the occasion (of good and evil), who has vomited all desires, verily he is supreme among men.

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One may conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, yet he is the best of conquerors who conquers himself.

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Better is it truly to conquer oneself than to conquer others. Neither a god, nor an 'angel' , nor Mara, nor Brahma could turn into defeat the victory of a person such as this who is selfmastered and ever restrained in conduct.

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Though one may live a hundred years with no true insight and self-control, yet better, indeed, is a life of one day for a man who meditates in wisdom.

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Make haste in doing good; restrain your mind from evil. Whosoever is slow in doing good, his mind delights in evil.

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It is well with the evil-doer until his evil (deed) ripens. But when his evil (deed) bears fruit, he then sees its ill effects.

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It is ill, perhaps, with the doer of good until his good deed ripens. But when it bears fruit, then he sees the happy results.

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Do not think lightly of evil, saying: 'It will not come to me'. Even a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops. Likewise the fool, gathering it drop by drop, fills himself with evil.

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Do not think lightly of good, saying: 'It will not come to me'. Even as a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops, so the wise man, gathering it drop by drop, fills himself with good.

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Whosoever offends an innocent person, pure and guiltless, his evil comes back on that fool himself like fine dust thrown against the wind.

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All tremble at weapons; all fear death. Comparing others with oneself, one should not slay, nor cause to slay.

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He who, seeking his own happiness, torments with the rod creatures that are desirous of happiness, shall not obtain happiness hereafter.

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The man of little learning (ignorant) grows like a bull; his flesh grows, but not his wisdom.

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Not having lived the Holy Life, not having obtained wealth in their youth, men pine away like old herons in a lake without fish.

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If a man practises himself what he admonishes others to do, he himself, being well-controlled, will have control over others. It is difficult, indeed, to control oneself.

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Oneself is one's own protector (refuge); what other protector (refuge) can there be ? With oneself fully controlled, one obtains a protection (refuge) which is hard to gain.

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By oneself indeed is evil done and by oneself is one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone and by oneself indeed is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one can purify another.

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Do not follow mean things. Do not dwell in negligence. Do not embrace false views. So the world (i.e. Samsara, the cycle of existence and continuity) is not prolonged.

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Come, behold this world, how it resembles an ornamented royal chariot, in which fools flounder, but for the wise there is no attachment to it.

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Better is the gain of Entering the Stream than sole sovereignty over the earth, than going to heaven, than rule supreme over the entire universe.

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Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one's mind, this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.

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The most excellent ascetic practice is patience and forbearance. 'Nibbana is supreme', say the Buddhas. He indeed is no recluse who harms another; nor is he an ascetic who hurts others.

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To speak no ill, to do no harm, to practise restraint according to the fundamental precepts, to be moderate in eating, to live in seclusion, to devote oneself to higher consciousness, this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.

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Happy indeed we live without hate among the hateful. We live free from hatred amidst hateful men.

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The conqueror begets enmity; the defeated lie down in distress. The peaceful rest in happiness, giving up both victory and defeat.

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Health is the best gain; contentment is the best wealth. A trusty friend is the best kinsman; Nibbana is the supreme bliss.

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Having tasted of the flavour of solitude and tranquillity, one becomes woeless and stainless, drinking the essence of the joy of Truth.

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From lust arises grief; from lust arises fear. For him who is free from lust there is no grief, much less fear.

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He who holds back arisen anger as one checks a whirling chariot, him I call a charioteer; other folk only hold the reins.

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Conquer anger by love, evil by good; conquer the miser with liberality, and the liar with truth.

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Be on your guard against physical agitation; be controlled in body. Forsaking bodily misconduct, follow right conduct in body.

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Be on your guard against verbal agitation; be controlled in words. Forsaking wrong speech, follow right ways in words.

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Be on your guard against mental agitadon; be controlled in thoughts. Forsaking evil thoughts, follow right ways in thoughts.

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The wise are controlled in deed, controlled in words, controlled in thoughts, verily, they are fully controlled.

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By degrees, little by little, from moment to moment, a wise man removes his own impurities, as a smith removes the dross of silver.

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As rust, arisen out of iron, eats itself away, even so his own deeds lead the transgressor to the states of woe.

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Know this, O good man, that evil things are uncontrollable. Let not greed and wickedness drag you to suffering for a long time.

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There is no fire like lust. There is no grip like hate. There is no net like delusion. There is no river like craving.

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The fault of others is easily seen; but one's own is hard to see. Like chaff one winnows other's faults; but one's own one conceals as a crafty fowler disguises himself.

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He who has transcended both merit (good) and demerit (evil), he who leads a pure life, he who lives with understanding in this world, he, indeed, is called a bhikkhu.

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Not by silence does one become a sage {muni) if one be foolish and untaught. But the wise man who, as if holding a pair of scales, takes what is good and leaves out what is evil, is indeed a sage.
For that reason he is a sage. He who understands both sides in this world is called a sage.
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Of paths the Eightfold Path is the best; of truths the Four Words (Noble Truths); Detachment is the best of states and of bipeds the Seeing One (the Man of Vision).

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This is the only Way. There is no other for the purification of Vision. Follow this Way: this is the bewilderment of Mara (Evil).

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Following this Way you shall make an end of suffering. This verily is the Way declared by me when I had learnt to remove the arrow (of suffering).

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You yourselves should make the effort; the Awakened Ones are only teachers. Those who enter this Path and who are meditative, are delivered from the bonds of Mara (Evil).

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'All conditioned things are impermanent', when one sees this in wisdom, then one becomes dispassionate towards the painful. This is the Path to Purity.

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'All conditioned things are dukkha', when one sees this in wisdom, then he becomes dispassionate towards the painful. This is the Path to Purity.

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'All states (dhamma) are without self', when one sees this in wisdom, then he becomes dispassionate towards the painful. This is the Path to Purity.

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Who strives not when he should strive, who, though young and strong, is given to idleness, who is loose in his purpose and thoughts, and who is lazy—that idler never finds the way to wisdom.

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Watchful of speech, well restrained in mind, let him do no evil with the body; let him purify these three ways of action, and attain the Path made known by the Sages.

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The craving of the man addicted to careless living grows like a Maluva creeper. He jumps hither and thither, like a monkey in the forest looking for fruit.

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Whosoever in this world is overcome by this wretched clinging thirst, his sorrows grow like Birana grass after rain.

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But whosoever in this world overcomes this wretched craving so difficult to overcome, his sorrows fall away from him like water-drops from a lotus (leaf).

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As a tree cut down sprouts forth again if its roots remain uninjured and strong, even so when the propensity to craving is not destroyed, this suffering arises again and again.

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Led by craving men run this way and that like an ensnared hare. Therefore let the bhikkhu, who wishes his detachment, discard craving.

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Free thyself from the past, free thyself from the future, free thyself from the present. Crossing to the farther shore of existence, with mind released everywhere, no more shalt thou come to birth and decay.

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Good is restraint of the eye. Good is restraint of the ear. Good is restraint of the nose. Good is restraint of the tongue.

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Good is restraint of the body. Good is restraint of speech. Good is restraint of the mind. Restraint everywhere is good. The bhikkhu restrained in every way is freed from all suffering.

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He who is controlled in hand, controlled in foot, controlled in speech, and possessing the highest control (of mind), delighted within, composed, solitary and contented, him they call a bhikkhu.

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One should not despise what one receives, and one should not envy (the gain of) others. The bhikkhu who envies others does not attain concentration.

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He who has no attachment whatsoever to Name and Form (mind and body), and he who does not grieve over what there is not, he indeed is called a bhikkhu.

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The bhikkhu, who abides in loving-kindness, who is delighted in the Teaching of the Buddha, attains the State of Calm, the happiness of stilling the conditioned things.

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He for whom there exists neither this shore nor the other, nor both, he who is undistressed and unbound, him I call a brahman.

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The sun glows by day; the moon shines by night; in his armour the warrior glows. In meditation shines the brahman. But all day and night, shines with radiance the Awakened One.

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He whose destiny neither the gods nor demigods nor men do know, he who has destroyed defilements and become worthy, him I call a brahman.

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He who knows former lives, who sees heaven and hell, who has reached the end of births and attained to super-knowledge, the sage, accomplished with all accomplishments, him I call a brahman.

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Source from the book: What the Buddha Taught. By Walpola Rahula