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The Dhammapada
Chapter Twenty One: Miscellaneous
If, by giving up a lesser happiness,
One could experience greater happiness,
A wise person would renounce the lesser
To behold the greater.
Those who seek their own happiness
By causing suffering for others
Are entangled with hostility.
From hostility they are not set free.
The toxins multiply
For the insolent and negligent
Who reject what they should do
And do instead what they should not.
But the toxins come to an end
For those who are mindful and alert,
Who are constantly well-engaged
With mindfulness of the body,
Who don't resort to what they should not do
But persist in doing what they should.
Having killed
Mother, father,
Two warrior kings,
A kingdom and its subjects,
The brahmin, undisturbed, moves on.
Having killed
Mother, father,
Two learned kings,
And a tiger,
The brahmin, undisturbed, moves on.
Always wide awake
Are the disciples of Gotama
Who constantly, day and night,
Are mindful of the Buddha.
Always wide awake
Are the disciples of Gotama
Who constantly, day and night,
Are mindful of the Dharma.
Always wide awake
Are the disciples of Gotama
Who constantly, day and night,
Are mindful of the Sangha.
Always wide awake
Are the disciples of Gotama
Who constantly, day and night,
Are mindful of the body.
Always wide awake
Are the disciples of Gotama
Whose minds constantly, day and night,
Delight in harmlessness.
Always wide awake
Are the disciples of Gotama
Whose minds constantly, day and night,
Delight in spiritual practice.
Going forth into homelessness is difficult - it's hard to enjoy.
Household life is difficult - it's painful.
Living with discordant people is suffering.
A traveler is subject to suffering,
So don't be a traveler
And don't be subject to suffering.
People endowed
With faith, virtue, fame, and wealth
Are revered
Wherever they go.
From afar, good people shine
Like the Himalaya mountains.
Close up, bad people disappear
Like arrows shot into the night.
Sitting alone, resting alone, walking alone,
Untiring and alone,
Whoever has tamed oneself
Will find delight in the forest.
...excerpt from The Dhammapada
Continue to Chapter Twenty Two...
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