The Dhammapada

by Eknath Easwaran

If all of the New Testament had been lost, it has been said, and only the Sermon on the Mount had managed to survive these two thousand years of history, we would still have all that is necessary for following the teachings of Jesus the Christ. The body of Buddhist scripture is much more voluminous than the Bible, but I would not hesitate to make a similar claim: if everything else were lost, we would need nothing more than the Dhammapada to follow the way of the Buddha.

Dhammapada means something like “the path of dharma” – of truth, of righteousness, of the central law that all of life is one. The Buddha did not leave a static structure of belief that we can affirm and be done with. His teaching is an ongoing path, a “way of perfection” which anyone can follow to the highest good. The Dhammapada is a map for this journey.

An ancient saying declares that ahimsa paramo dharma: the essence of dharma, the highest law of life, is to do no harm to any living creature.

Actions in harmony with dharma bring good karma and add to health and happiness. Selfish actions, at odds with the rest of life, bring unfavorable karma and pain. In this view, no divine agency is needed to punish or reward us; we punish and reward ourselves.

And as Jesus rose out of the tradition of the prophets and yet transcends all traditions and breaks all molds, the Buddha, though he broke with the rituals and authority of the Vedas, stands squarely in the tradition of the Upanishads.

The early Buddhists were not biographers or historians, any more than the early Christians were. Their first passion, when their teacher was no longer with them in the body, was to record not what they knew of his past but what he had taught. Of the Buddha’s life before illumination, therefore, the scriptures record only isolated fragments.

“The First Truth, brothers, is the fact of suffering. All desire happiness, sukha: what is good, pleasant, right, permanent, joyful, harmonious, satisfying, at ease. Yet all find that life brings duhkha, just the opposite: frustration, dissatisfaction, incompleteness, suffering, sorrow. Life is change, and change can never satisfy desire. Therefore everything that changes brings suffering.

“The Second Truth is the cause of suffering. It is not life that brings sorrow, but the demands we make on life. The cause of duhkha is selfish desire: trishna, the thirst to have what one wants and to get one’s own way. Thinking life can make them happy by bringing what they want, people run after the satisfaction of their desires. But they get only unhappiness, because selfishness can only bring sorrow.

Suffering because life cannot satisfy selfish desire is like suffering because a banana tree will not bear mangoes. “There is a Third Truth, brothers. Any ailment that can be understood can be cured, and suffering that has a cause has also an end.

“The Fourth Truth, brothers, is that selfishness can be extinguished by following an eightfold path: right understanding, right purpose, right speech, right conduct, right occupation, right effort, right attention, and right meditation. If dharma is a wheel, these eight are its spokes.

“Similarly, Malunkyaputra, I do not teach whether the world is eternal or not eternal; whether it is finite or infinite; whether the soul and the body are the same or different; whether a person who has attained nirvana exists after death or does not, or whether perhaps he both exists and does not exist, or neither exists nor does not. I teach how to remove the arrow: the truth of suffering, its origin, its end, and the Noble Eightfold Path.”

“What I know,” the Buddha said, “is like the leaves on that tree; what I teach is only a small part. But I offer it to all with an open hand. What do I not teach? Whatever is fascinating to discuss, divides people against each other, but has no bearing on putting an end to sorrow. What do I teach? Only what is necessary to take you to the other shore.”

the Buddha’s description tallies not only with Hindu authorities like Patanjali but also with Western mystics like John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Augustine, and Meister Eckhart. What the Buddha is giving us is something of universal application: a precise account of levels of awareness beneath the everyday waking state.

In the Buddha’s universe a personal, separate self is an illusion, just as substance is an illusion to the atomic physicist. Distinctions between an “outside world” and an “inner realm” of the mind are arbitrary. Everything in human experience takes place in one field of forces, which comprises both matter and mind.

“Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.” These simple lines are both the subtlest and the most practical in the Dhammapada. The words are too rich for any translation to convey their full meaning. Literally they say, “Mind is the forerunner of all dharmas. All follow the mind; all are made out of mind.”

We have grown used to the idea that there is much more “out there” than we can be aware of. But this is not what the Buddha is saying. He drops the convention of “out there” altogether. Everything in experience is mind. What we call “things” are objects in consciousness: not that they are imaginary, but their characteristics are mental constructions.

What the Buddha is telling us is precisely parallel to what the quantum physicists say: when we examine the universe closely, it dissolves into discontinuity and a flux of fields of energy. But in the Buddha’s universe the mind-matter duality is gone; these are fields in consciousness.

Yet, somehow, there is continuity. “I wasn’t the same then,” we object, “but that wasn’t a different person either.” The Buddha replies, “That is the relationship between you in this life and ‘you’ in a past life: you are not the same, but neither are you different. Death is only the temporary end of a temporary phenomenon.” To those who grasp this, death loses its fear. It is not the end, only a door into another room.

Those who attain the island of nirvana can live thereafter in the sea of change without being swept away. They know what life is and know that there is something more. Lacking nothing, craving nothing, they stay in the world solely to help and serve. We cannot say they live without grief; it is their sensitiveness to the suffering of others that motivates their lives. But personal sorrow is gone. They live to give, and their capacity to go on giving is a source of joy so great that it cannot be measured against any sensation the world offers.

“Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.” That is the essence of the Buddha’s universe and the whole theme of the Dhammapada. If we can get hold of the thinking process, we can actually redo our personality, remake ourselves.

Buddhist scriptures are divided into three pitakas or “baskets.” By far the largest and most important of these is the Sutra Pitaka (in Pali, Sutta Pittaka) or “basket of discourses,” which consists mostly of talks by the Buddha or one of his direct disciples. The Dhammapada, though not considered a sutra, is included in this collection. The other two collections are the Vinaya Pitaka or “basket of discipline,” containing the rules of the monastic order, and the Abhidharma Pitaka or “basket of metaphysics,” containing works analyzing the philosophy behind the Buddha’s teachings.

1 Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it. 2 Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

5 For hatred can never put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law.

6 People forget that their lives will end soon. For those who remember, quarrels come to an end.

13 As rain seeps through an ill-thatched hut, passion will seep through an untrained mind.14 As rain cannot seep through a well-thatched hut, passion cannot seep through a well-trained mind.

19 Those who recite many scriptures but fail to practice their teachings are like a cowherd counting another’s cows. They do not share in the joys of the spiritual life. 20 But those who know few scriptures yet practice their teachings, overcoming all lust, hatred, and delusion, live with a pure mind in the highest wisdom. They stand without external supports and share in the joys of the spiritual life.

As an archer aims an arrow, the wise aim their restless thoughts, hard to aim, hard to restrain.

38 They are not wise whose thoughts are not steady and minds not serene, who do not know dharma, the law of life. 39 They are wise whose thoughts are steady and minds serene, unaffected by good and bad. They are awake and free from fear.

50 Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do.

51 Like a lovely flower, full of color but lacking in fragrance, are the words of those who do not practice what they preach. 52 Like a lovely flower full of color and fragrance are the words of those who practice what they preach.

61 If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone. There is no companionship with the immature. 62 They think, “These children are mine; this wealth is mine.” They cannot even call themselves their own, much less their children or wealth.

69 Sweet are selfish deeds to the immature until they see the results; when they see the results, they suffer.

72 Even if they pick up a little knowledge, the immature misuse it and break their heads instead of benefiting from it.

73 The immature go after false prestige – precedence of fellow monks, power in the monasteries, and praise from all. 74 “Listen, monks and householders, I can do this; I can do that. I am right and you are wrong.” Thus their pride and passion increase.

76 If you see someone wise, who can steer you away from the wrong path, follow that person as you would one who can reveal hidden treasures. Only good can come out of it.

81 As a solid rock cannot be moved by the wind, the wise are not shaken by praise or blame.

83 Good people keep on walking whatever happens. They do not speak vain words and are the same in good fortune and bad. 84 If one desires neither children nor wealth nor power nor success by unfair means, know such a one to be good, wise, and virtuous.

100 Better than a speech of a thousand vain words is one thoughtful word which brings peace to the mind. 101 Better than a poem of a thousand vain verses is one thoughtful line which brings peace to the mind. 102 Better than a hundred poems of vain stanzas is one word of the dharma that brings peace to the mind.

106 Better than performing a thousand rituals month by month for a hundred years is a moment’s homage to one living in wisdom. 107 Better than tending the sacrificial fire in the forest for a thousand years is a moment’s homage to one living in wisdom.

110 Better to live in virtue and wisdom for one day than to live a hundred years with an evil and undisciplined mind. 111 Better to live in goodness and wisdom for one day than to lead an ignorant and undisciplined life for a hundred years. 112 Better to live in strength and wisdom for one day than to lead a weak and idle life for a hundred years. 113 Better to live in freedom and wisdom for one day than to lead a conditioned life of bondage for a hundred years.

In Buddhism there is no one sitting in judgment to punish us for wrong actions, nor is there anyone to reward us for our good works. Instead, reward and punishment issue from the self-fulfilling law of karma, which permeates every aspect of the Buddha’s teachings. Put simply, the law of karma states that as we sow, so shall we reap: everything we do, say, or even think has consequences, good or bad, and sooner or later those consequences must come back to us.

If we continue to commit a mistake – say, an outburst of anger – each repetition makes it easier to make the same mistake again, so that gradually anger becomes part of our character. That is very close to what the Buddha means by a samskara: a habit of thinking which karmically locks us into patterns of behavior over which we have less and less control with every succeeding repetition.

Because it is easiest to follow the worn path of stimulus and response, harmful samskaras are easy to form and to get trapped in. Actively asserting the responses that do not come naturally – forgiveness, patience, compassion in the face of hatred – is the only way to avoid gradually succumbing to evil (116): that is, to avoid becoming internally laced with harmful samskaras.

116 Hasten to do good; refrain from evil. If you neglect the good, evil can enter your mind.

121 Let no one think lightly of evil and say to himself, “Sorrow will not come to me.” Little by little a person becomes evil, as a pot is filled by drops of water. 122 Let no one think lightly of good and say to himself, “Joy will not come to me.” Little by little a person becomes good, as a pot is filled by drops of water.

133 Speak quietly to everyone, and they too will be gentle in their speech. Harsh words hurt, and come back to the speaker. 134 If your mind is still, like a broken gong, you have entered nirvana, leaving all quarrels behind you.

145 As irrigators guide water to their fields, as archers aim arrows, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their lives.

152 A man who does not learn from life grows old like an ox: his body grows, but not his wisdom.

155 Those who have not practiced spiritual disciplines in their youth pine away like old cranes in a lake without fish. 156 Like worn-out bows they lie in old age, sighing over the past.

Though probably the most brilliant intellect of his time, the Buddha maintained no intellectual positions whatever. They would be counter to his only purpose, which was to inspire greater effort in spiritual practice. How can intellectual opinions about the unity of life help a person as long as he believes he is a separate ego? What difference does his opinion about eternity make as long as he is still caught up in time? By offering no metaphysical supports, the Buddha prompts us to plunge deep in meditation and see for ourselves what we discover.