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The Dhammapada
Chapter Nine: Evil
Be quick to do good,
Restrain your mind from evil.
When one is slow to make merit,
One's mind delights in evil.
Having done something evil,
Don't repeat it,
Don't wish for it:
Evil piled up brings suffering.
Having done something meritorious,
Repeat it,
Wish for it:
Merit piled up brings happiness.
Even an evildoer may see benefit
As long as the evil
Has yet to mature.
But when the evil has matured,
The evildoer
Will meet with misfortune.
A doer of good may meet evil fortune
As long as the good
Has yet to mature.
But when the good has matured,
The doer of good
Will meet with good fortune.
Don't disregard evil, thinking,
"It won't come back to me!"
With dripping drops of water
Even a water jug is filled.
Little by little,
A fool is filled with evil.
Don't disregard merit, thinking,
"It won't come back to me!"
With dripping drops of water
Even a water jug is filled.
Little by little,
A sage is filled with merit.
As a merchant
Carrying great wealth in a small caravan
Avoids a dangerous road;
As someone who loves life
Avoids poison;
So should you avoid evil deeds.
A hand that has no wounds
Can carry poison;
Poison does not enter without a wound.
There are no evil consequences
For one who does no evil.
Like fine dust thrown against the wind,
Evil comes back to the fool
Who harms a person who is
Innocent, pure, and unblemished.
Some are reborn in a womb;
Evildoers are reborn in hell.
People of good conduct go to heaven;
Those without toxins
Are fully released in Nirvana.
You will not find a spot in the world -
Not in the sky, not in the ocean,
Not inside a mountain cave -
Where you will be free from your evil karma.
You will not find a spot in the world -
Not in the sky, not in the ocean,
Not inside a mountain cave -
Where death will not overtake you.
...excerpt from The Dhammapada
Continue to Chapter Ten...
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