Words of Buddha
THE DIVINE LIFE
About
Words of Buddha
MODERN SPIRITUALITY
DHAMMAPADA, Choices
Our life is shaped by our mind;
we become what we think.
Suffering follows an evil thought as
the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.
Our life is shaped by our mind;
we become what we think.
Joy follows a pure thought
like a shadow that never leaves.
Dhammapada, The Sayings of the Buddha
Buddha, 6th century BC
Nothing in the world happens by chance - not because things are predestined, but because everything is connected by cause and effect. This includes thoughts, because they both cause things to happen and are aroused by things that happen. What we think has consequences for the world around us, - for others, for the world, for ourselves - and sooner or later they will get back to us.
Actions in harmony with dharma (law essence holding life together,
the law that all things and events are part of an indivisible whole) bring good karma and add to health and happiness. Selfish actions, at odds with the rest of life, bring unfavorable karma and pain. We punish and reward ourselves.
As Jesus taught: "As you sow, so shall you reap. With whatever measure you mete out to others, with the same measure it shall be meted out to you."
Be vigilant and go beyond death. If you lack vigilance, you cannot escape death. Those who strive earnestly will go beyond death; those who do not can never come to life. The wise understand this, and rejoice in the wisdom of the noble ones. Meditating earnestly and striving for nirvana, they attain the highest joy and freedom.
If you meditate earnestly, pure in mind and kind in deeds, leading a disciplined life in harmony with the dharma, you will grow in glory. If you meditate earnestly, through spiritual disciplines you can make an island for yourself that no flood can overwhelm.
- Dhammapada 2 : Vigilance 1,2, Easwaran
DHAMMAPADA, Choices / couplets / Twin verses
Hatred can never put an end to hatred;
love alone can.
This is an unalterable law.
People forget that their lives will end soon.
But for those who remember,
quarrels come to an end.
DHAMMAPADA, Choices 1.
"He reviled me; he injured me;
he defeated me; he deprived me."
In those who harbor such grudges,
hatred never ceases.
. . .
"He reviled me; he injured me;
he defeated me; he deprived me."
In those who do not harbor such grudges,
hatred eventually ceases.
Do not look at the faults of others,
or what others have done or not done;
observe what you yourself have done
and have not done.
- Dhammapada, Flowers, 4:7, Cleary
DHAMMAPADA, Thousands
Better than a speech of a thousand vain words is one
thoughtful word which brings peace to the mind.
Better than a poem of a thousand vain verses is one thoughtful line which brings peace to the mind.
Better than a hundred poems of vain stanzas is one
word of the dharma that brings peace to the mind.
Comparative translation by Thomas Cleary: VIII. Thousands, 1-3
Better than a thousand sayings composed of meaningless statements is a single meaningful statement on hearing which one becomes calm.
Better than a thousand verses composed of meaningless lines
is a single line of verse on hearing which one becomes calm.
Better than one who recites a hundred verses of meaningless lines is one verse on hearing which one becomes calm.
www.Awakening.Network
