Saturday, August 21, 2010

Dhammapada

Chapter 15

Happiness

197
Happy indeed we live,
friendly amidst the hostile.
Amidst hostile men
we dwell free from hatred.

198
Happy indeed we live,
unafflicted amidst the afflicted
(by craving).
Amidst afflicted men
we dwell free from affliction.

199
Happy indeed we live,
free from avarice
amidst the avaricious.
Amidst avaricious men
we dwell free from avarice.

200
Happy indeed we live,
we who possess nothing.
Feeders on joy we shall be,
like the Radiant Gods.

201
Victory begets enmity;
the defeated dwell in pain.
Happily the peaceful live,
discarding both victory and defeat.

202
There is no fire like lust
and no crime like hatred.
There is no ill
like the aggregates (of existence)
and no bliss higher
than the peace (of Nibbana)*

203
Hunger is the worst disease,
conditioned things the worst suffering.
Knowing this as it really is,
the wise realize Nibbana,
the highest bliss. **

204
Health is the precious gain
and contentment the greatest wealth.
A trustworthy person is the best kinsman,
Nibbana the highest bliss.

205
having savoured
the taste of solitude and peace
(of Nibbana),
pain-free and stainless he becomes,
drinking deep
the taste of the bliss of Truth.

206
Good it is to see the Noble Ones;
to live with them is ever blissful.
One will always be happy
by not encountering fools.

207
Indeed,
he who moves
in the company of fools
grieves for long.
Association with fools is ever painful,
like partnership with an enemy.
But association
with the wise is happy,
like meeting one's own kinsmen.

208
Therefore,
follow the Noble One,
who is steadfast, wise, learned,
dutiful and devout.
One should follow
only such a man,
who is truly good and discerning,
even as the moon
follows the path of the stars.

*Aggregates (khandha):
The five groups of material form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness into which the Buddha analyses the living being.

**Conditioned things refer to phenomenal existence--samsara.

Monday, August 09, 2010

Dhammapada

Chapter 14

THE BUDDHA

179
By what track can you trace
that trackless Buddha of limitless range,
whose victory nothing can undo,
whom none of the vanquished defilements
can ever pursue?

180
By what track can you trace
the trackless Buddha of limitless range,
in whom exists no longer
then entangling and embroiling craving
that perpetuates becoming?

181
Those wise ones who are devoted
to meditation and who delight
in the calm of renunciation--
such mindful ones,
Supreme Buddhas,
even the gods hold dear.

182
Hard is it to be born a man;
hard is the life of mortals.
Hard is it to gain the opportunity
of hearing the Sublime Truth,
and hard to encounter
is the arising of the Buddhas.

183
To avoid all evil,
to cultivate good,
and to cleanse one's mind--
this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

184
Enduring patience
is the highest austerity.
"Nibbana is supreme," say the Buddhas.
He is not a true monk
who harms another,
nor a true renunciate
who oppresses others.

185
Not despising,
not harming,
restraint according
to the code of monastic discipline,
moderation in food,
dwelling in solitude,
devotion to meditation --
this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

186-187
There is no satisfying sensual desires,
even with a rain of gold coins.
For sensual pleasures
give little satisfaction and much pain.
Having understood this,
the wise man finds no delight
even in heavenly pleasures.
The disciple of the Supreme Buddha
delights in the destruction of craving.

188
Driven only by fear,
do men go for refuge to many places --
the hills, woods, groves,
trees and shrines.

189
Such, indeed, is no safe refuge;
such is not the refuge supreme.
Not by resorting to such a refuge
is one released from all suffering.

190-191
He who has gone for refuge
to the Buddha,
his Teaching and his Order,
penetrates with transcendental wisdom
the Four Noble Truths --
suffering,
the cause of suffering,
the cessation of suffering,
and the Noble Eightfold Path
leading to the cessation of suffering.*

192
This indeed is the safe refuge,
this is the refuge supreme.
Having gone to such a refuge,
one is released from all suffering.

193
Hard to find is the thoroughbred man
(the Buddha);he is not born everywhere.
Where such a wise man is born,
that clan thrives happily.

194
Blessed is the birth of the Buddhas,
blessed is the enunciation
of the sacred Teaching;
blessed is the harmony in the Order,
and blessed is the spiritual pursuit
of the united truth-seekers.

195-196
He who reveres
those worthy of reverence,
the Buddhas and their disciples,
who have transcended all obstacles
and passed beyond the reach of sorrow
and lamentation --
he who reveres
such peaceful and fearless ones,
his merit non can compute
by any measure.

*The Order
The Order of the Noble ones who have reached the four supramundane stages, and the monastic Order.