The Dhammapada
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Read between August 5, 2019 - June 16, 2020
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Experience promises happiness, but it delivers only constant change.
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He knew first-hand that a man can have everything and still be dissatisfied; but he had also seen – it was his fourth Noble Sight – that one can also have nothing and live in joy. Clearly joy was an internal state, with no necessary connection with external conditions.
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If one truly understands that life’s very nature is change, then the burning desire to wrest permanence from a world of passing sensations begins to die; and as it dies, the mind begins to taste its natural state, which is joy: not a sensation, but a state of consciousness unaffected by pleasure and pain (373).
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The path to joy lies not in depending on external conditions, but in undoing the conditioning of pleasure and pain which excites the mind to search for satisfaction in the world outside.
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Conquest breeds hatred, for the conquered live in sorrow. Let us be neither conqueror nor conquered, and live in peace and joy.
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There is no fire like lust, no sickness like hatred, no sorrow like separateness, no joy like peace. 203No disease is worse than greed, no suffering worse than selfish passion. Know this, and seek nirvana as the highest joy.
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the pleasant contains the unpleasant.
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Don’t run after pleasure and neglect the practice of meditation. If you forget the goal of life and get caught in the pleasures of the world, you will come to envy those who put meditation first.
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Don’t get selfishly attached to anything, for trying to hold on to it will bring you pain.
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Conquer anger through gentleness, unkindness through kindness, greed through generosity, and falsehood by truth.
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There is an old saying: “People will blame you if you say too much; they will blame you if you say too little; they will blame you if you say just enough.” No one in this world escapes blame.
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The key concept here is ashrava, translated as “compulsion” in verse 253. Its literal meaning, “outflow,” suggests a compulsive, only partially conscious seepage of vitality and mental energy into external desires and activities. Like toothpaste squeezed inadvertently from a tube, energy drained by an ashrava has nowhere to go but out; it is completely wasted. The example given here is focusing compulsively on another’s faults and becoming angered by them – an activity which consumes a good deal of energy but accomplishes nothing. Other examples might be any compulsive habit or strong, ...more
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Resentment and fixation on others’ faults is a perfect example of how a heady ashrava can brew in the unconscious until a person reels under its influence, losing control whenever a situation or person provokes him.
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As rust consumes the iron which breeds it, evil deeds consume those who do them.
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They dig their own graves who kill, lie, get drunk, or covet the wealth or spouse of another.
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Those who drink to intoxication are digging up their own roots.
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Do not envy others for the gifts they receive, or you will have no peace of mind by day or night. 250 Those who have destroyed the roots of jealousy have peace of mind always.
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There is no fire like lust, no jailer like hate, no snare like infatuation, no torrent like greed.
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when one keeps dwelling on the faults of others, his own compulsions grow worse, making it harder to overcome them.
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There is no path in the sky; there is no refuge in the world for those driven by their desires. All is change in the world, but the disciples of the Buddha are never shaken.
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Dharma is the very underpinning of existence, the underlying unity of life, the essential support of all; it stands for the cosmic order – the order of an indivisible whole –
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One is not wise because he talks a good deal. They are wise who are patient, and free from hate and fear. 259 Dharma is not upheld by talking about it. Dharma is upheld by living in harmony with it,
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Not by rituals and resolutions, nor by much learning, nor by celibacy, nor even by meditation can you find the supreme, immortal joy of nirvana until you have extinguished your self-will.
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Don’t try to build your happiness on the unhappiness of others. You will be enmeshed in a net of hatred.
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293 Those who meditate and keep their senses under control never fail to do what ought to be done, and never do what ought not to be done. Their suffering will come to an end.
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294 Kill mother lust and father self-will, kill the kings of carnal passions, and you will be freed from sin. 295 The true brahmin has killed mother lust and father self-will; he has killed the kings of carnal passions and the ego that obstructs him on the path. Such a one is freed from sin.
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Abiding joy will be yours when all selfish desires end.
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The mental state is paramount; it can make life hell or heaven whatever the surroundings.
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314 Refrain from evil deeds, which cause suffering later. Perform good deeds, which can cause no suffering.
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Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts. Pull yourself out of bad ways as an elephant raises itself out of the mud.
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333 It is good to live in virtue, good to have faith, good to attain the highest wisdom, good to be pure in heart and mind. Joy will be yours always.
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It is selfish desire, bound up with passion and greed, which produces separate existence and leads to future births, and which keeps lingering pleasurably here and there: that is, the desire for sense pleasure (kama-trishna), the desire for birth in a world of separateness (bhava-trishna), and the desire for extinction (vibhava-trishna). (Samyutta Nikaya V.421)
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Bhava-trishna is the urge to go on upholding and strengthening one’s individuality, in pursuit not only of wealth, fame, and power but also of beliefs, opinions, and dogmas.
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Nirvana is release from trishna itself, from the torment and conditioning of selfish desire; its characteristic features are joy, vitality, good health, and the highest of all purposes in life, the desire and capacity to give – all the things that make life worth living.
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Vibhava-trishna, by contrast, is the oppressive desire for self-oblivion or self-destruction, prompted in Buddhist psychology by the revulsion with life that comes as the fruits of selfishness turn rotten or bitter. This self-destructive urge is often not consciously expressed, but when it does find expression, it in no way ends one’s separate existence; it only draws a temporary cover of oblivion over the burdens and stresses of selfish behavior. A person who jumps off a bridge to end his life, the Buddha would say, simply gets reborn to face the same desperate situation all
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347 Like a spider caught in its own web is a person driven by fierce cravings. Break out of the web, and turn away from the world of sensory pleasure and sorrow.
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355 Wealth harms the greedy, but not those who seek nirvana. Of little understanding, the greedy harm themselves and those around them. 356 Greed ruins the mind as weeds ruin fields. Therefore honor those who are free from greed. 357 Lust ruins the mind as weeds ruin fields. Therefore honor those who are free from lust. 358 Hatred ruins the mind as weeds ruin fields. Therefore honor those who are free from hatred.
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367 Free from the desire to possess people and things, he does not grieve over what is not.
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That one I call a brahmin who fears neither prison nor death. Such a one has the power of love no army can defeat.
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408 That one I call a brahmin who is ever true, ever kind. 409 Such a one never asks what life can give, only ‘What can I give life?’
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419 That one I call a brahmin who is free from I, me, and mine, who knows the rise and fall of life. Such a one is awake and will not fall asleep again.
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421 Possessing nothing, desiring nothing for their own pleasure, their own profit, they have become a force for good, working for the freedom of all.
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