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The Dhammapada
Chapter Fourteen: The Buddha
The Buddha's victory cannot be undone;
No one in the world can approach it.
By what path would you guide him,
Who has no path,
Whose field is endless?
The Buddha has no ensnaring, embroiling craving
To lead him;
By what path would you guide him,
Who has no path,
Whose field is endless?
Even the gods envy
The awakened ones,
The mindful ones,
The wise ones
Who are intent on meditation
And delight in the peace of renunciation.
It is difficult to be born a human;
Difficult is the life of mortals;
It is difficult to hear the true Dharma;
Difficult is the arising of buddhas.
Doing no evil,
Engaging in what's skillful,
And purifying one's mind:
This is the teaching of the buddhas.
Patient endurance is the supreme austerity.
The buddhas say that Nirvana is supreme.
One who injures others in no renunciant;
One who harms another is no contemplative.
Not disparaging others, not causing injury,
Practicing restraint by the monastic rules,
Knowing moderation in food,
Dwelling in solitude,
And pursuing the higher states of mind,
This is the teaching of the buddhas.
Not even with a shower of gold coins
Would we find satisfaction in sensual craving.
Knowing that sensual cravings are suffering,
That they bring little delight,
The sage does not rejoice
Even in divine pleasures.
One who delights in the ending of craving
Is a disciple of the Fully Awakened One.
People threatened by fear
Go to many refuges:
To mountains, forests,
Parks, trees, and shrines.
None of these is a secure refuge;
None is a supreme refuge.
Not by going to such a refuge
Is one released from all suffering.
But when someone going for refuge
To the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
Sees, with right insight,
The Four Noble Truths:
Suffering,
The arising of suffering,
The overcoming of suffering,
And the Eightfold Path
Leading to the ending of suffering,
Then this is the secure refuge;
This is the supreme refuge.
By going to such a refuge
One is released from all suffering.
It's hard to find a noble person;
Such a person is not born everywhere.
When such a wise one is born,
The family flourishes in happiness.
Happy is the arising of buddhas;
Happy is the teaching of the true Dharma;
Happy is the harmony of the Sangha;
Happy is the ardent practice of those in harmony.
The merit of worshipping those worthy of worship,
Be they buddhas or disciples
Who have transcended their obsessive thinking,
Passed beyond sorrow and grief,
Gone to peace,
And who have nothing to fear,
Can never be calculated by any estimation.
...excerpt from The Dhammapada
Continue to Chapter Fifteen...
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