Wakefulness is the way to life.
The fool sleeps
As if he were already dead,
But the master is awake
And he lives forever.
~ The Buddha – Dhammapada
Venerable Dejapanno with little Ananda.
Better than a thousand
Hollow words
Is one word that brings peace.
Better than a thousand
Hollow verses
Is one verse that brings peace.
Better than a hundred
Hollow lines
Is one line of the law, Bringing peace.
It is better to conquer yourself
Than to win a thousand battles;
Then the victory is yours.
~From the Dhammapada
Death overtakes the man
Who, giddy and distracted by the world,
Cares only for his flocks and his children.
Death fetches him away
As a flood carries off a sleeping village.
His family cannot save him,
Nor his father nor his sons.
Know this.
Seek wisdom, and purity.
Quickly clear the way.
~Dhammapada
Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer badness with goodness. Conquer meanness with generosity. Conquer dishonesty with truth. ~Buddha, The Dhammapada
RFA photo
They blame those who remain silent, they blame those speak much, they blame those who speak in moderation. There is none in the world who is not blamed. ~Buddha, The Dhammapada
RFA photo
One is not called noble who harms living beings. By not harming living beings one is called noble. ~The Buddha, Dhammapada
There is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires. ~The Buddha, Dhammapada
Meditation master Toum Vachana
There is no fire like greed,
No crime like hatred.
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger of heart,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.
Look within, be still
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
~Dhammapada
RFA photo
Cut off the stream energetically, holy one;
leave desires behind.
Knowing the destruction of all that is created,
you know the uncreated, holy one.
When the holy one has reached the other shore
in meditation and contemplation,
all bonds vanish for the one who knows.
For the one I call holy
there is neither this shore nor that shore nor both,
who is free from fear and free from shackles.
The one I call holy is thoughtful, detached, settled,
accomplished, desireless, and has attained the highest goal.
The sun shines by day; the moon lights up the night;
the warriors shine in their armor;
the holy one shines in meditation;
but the awakened shines radiantly all day and night.
Because a person has put aside wrong, one is called holy.
Because one lives serenely, one is called an ascetic.
Because one gets rid of impurities, one is called a pilgrim.
No one should hurt a holy one,
but no holy one should strike back.
Woe to the one who hurts a holy one;
more woe to the one who strikes back.
It is no small gain to a holy one
if one holds one’s mind back from the pleasures of life.
The sooner the wish to injure disappears,
the sooner all suffering will stop.
The one I call holy does not hurt by body, speech, or mind,
and is controlled in these three things. Continue reading
Control of the eye is good; good is control of the ear;
control of the nose is good; good is control of the tongue.
Control of the body is good; good is control of speech;
control of thought is good; good is control of all things.
A mendicant controlled in all things is freed from sorrow.
Whoever controls one’s hand, whoever controls one’s feet,
whoever controls one’s speech, whoever is well-controlled,
whoever finds inner joy, who is collected,
who is alone and content they call a mendicant.
The mendicant who controls one’s tongue,
who speaks wisely and calmly, who is not proud,
who illuminates the meaning of the truth,
that one’s words are sweet.
Whoever lives in the truth, who finds joy in the truth,
meditates on the truth, follows the truth,
that mendicant does not fall away from the truth.
Let one not despise what one has received
nor envy others.
A mendicant who envies others does not find peace.
A mendicant, who, though receiving little,
does not despise what one has received,
even the gods praise, if one’s life is pure and not lazy.
Whoever never identifies with name and form
and whoever does not grieve from not having anything
is called a mendicant.
The mendicant who lives in friendliness
with confidence in the doctrine of the Buddha
will find peace, the blessed place where existence ends.
Empty the boat, mendicant;
when emptied it will go quickly.
Having cut off desire and hate, you will go to freedom.
Cut off the five; get rid of the five; master the five.
A mendicant who has freed oneself from the five chains
is called “one who has crossed the flood.”Meditate, mendicant; do not be careless.
Do not think of pleasures
so that you may not for your carelessness
have to swallow the iron ball,
so that you may not cry out when burning, “This is painful!”
There is no meditation for one without wisdom,
no wisdom for one without meditation;
whoever has wisdom and meditation is close to nirvana.
A mendicant who with a peaceful heart
has entered an empty house,
has more than human joy when seeing the truth clearly.
When one has comprehended
the origin and destruction of the elements of the body,
one finds happiness and joy
which belong to those who know the eternal.
This is the beginning here for a wise mendicant:
control of the senses, contentment,
living according to the moral law,
associating with friends
who are noble, pure, and not lazy.
Let one live in love;
let one be adept in one’s duties;
then joyfully one will see the end of sorrow.
As the jasmine sheds its withered flowers,
people should shed desire and hate, mendicants.
A mendicant is said to be calm
who has a calm body, calm speech, and a calm mind,
who has mastered oneself
and rejected the baits of the world.
Lift up your self by yourself;
examine your self by yourself.
Thus self-protected and attentive
you will live joyfully, mendicant.
For self is the master of self;
self is the refuge of self.
therefore tame yourself,
like a merchant tames a noble horse.
Joyful and faithful in the doctrine of the Buddha,
the mendicant finds peace,
the joy of ending natural existence.
Whoever, even as a young mendicant,
applies oneself to the path of the Buddha
illuminates this world,
like the moon when free from clouds.
~The Dhammapada
I shall endure painful words
as the elephant in battle endures arrows shot from the bow;
for most people are ill-natured.
They lead a tamed elephant into battle;
the king mounts a tamed elephant.
The tamed are the best of people,
who endure patiently painful words.
Mules are good, if tamed,
and noble Sindhu horses and elephants with large tusks;
but whoever tames oneself is better still.
For with these animals no one reaches the untrodden country
where a tamed person goes on one’s own tamed nature.
The elephant called Dhanapalaka is hard to control
when his temples are running with pungent sap.
He does not eat a morsel when bound;
the elephant longs for the elephant grove.
If one becomes lazy and a glutton,
rolling oneself about in gross sleep,
like a hog fed on grains,
that fool is born again and again.
This mind of mine used to wander
as it liked, as it desired, as it pleased.
I shall now control it thoroughly,
as the rider holding the hook controls the elephant in rut.
Do not be thoughtless; watch your thoughts.
Extricate yourself from the wrong path,
like an elephant sunk in the mud.
If you find an intelligent companion
who will walk with you,
who lives wisely, soberly, overcoming all dangers,
walk with that person in joy and thoughtfulness.
If you find no intelligent companion
who will walk with you,
who lives wisely and soberly,
walk alone like a king who has renounced a conquered kingdom
or like an elephant in the forest.
It is better to live alone;
there is no companionship with a fool.
Let a person walk alone with few wishes, committing no wrong,
like an elephant in the forest.
Companions are pleasant when an occasion arises;
sharing enjoyment is pleasant.
At the hour of death it is pleasant to have done good.
The giving up of all sorrow is pleasant.
Motherhood is pleasant in this world;
fatherhood is pleasant.
Being an ascetic is pleasant;
being a holy person is pleasant.
Virtue lasting to old age is pleasant;
faith firmly rooted is pleasant;
attainment of wisdom is pleasant;
avoiding wrong is pleasant.
~The Dhammapada
