Category: Current Events

Sukhā virāgatā loke,
Kāmānaṃ samatikkamo;
Asmimānassa yo vinayo —
etaṃ ve paramaṃ sukhaṃ.

Blissful is passionlessness in the world,
The overcoming of sensual desires;
But the abolition of the conceit I am —
That is truly the supreme bliss.

Udāna 2.11
The Udāna and the Itivuttaka, trans. John D. Ireland

Bahumpi ce saṃhita bhāsamāno,
na takkaro hoti naro pamatto,
gopova gāvo gaṇayaṃ paresaṃ,
na bhāgavā sāmaññassa hoti.

Much though one recites the sacred texts,
but acts not accordingly,
that heedless one is like a cowherd
who only counts the cows of others —
one does not partake of the blessings of the holy life.

Dhammapada 1.19
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Idha socati pecca socati;
pāpakārī ubhayattha socati.
So socati so vihaññati,
disvā kammakiliṭṭhamattano.

The evil-doer grieves here and hereafter;
one grieves in both the worlds.
One laments and is afflicted,
recollecting one’s own impure deeds.

Dhammapada 1.15
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Asāre sāramatino
sāre cāsāradassino,
te sāraṃ nādhigacchanti,
micchāsaṅkappagocarā.

Those who mistake the unessential to be essential
and the essential to be unessential,
dwelling in wrong thoughts,
never arrive at the essential.

Dhammapada 1.11
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Sa vedagū,
Vūsitabrahmacariyo,
Lokantagū,
Pāragatoti vuccatī.

One who is a master of knowledge,
Who has lived the holy life,
Is called one gone to the world’s end,
One who has reached the further shore.

Itivuttaka 4.109
The Udāna and the Itivuttaka, trans. John D. Ireland

Yañca kāmasukhaṃ loke,
yañcidaṃ diviyaṃ sukhaṃ,
taṇhakkhayasukhassete,
kalaṃ nāgghanti soḷasiṃ.

Any sensual bliss in the world,
any heavenly bliss,
isn’t worth one sixteenth-sixteenth
of the bliss of the ending of craving.

Udāna 2.12
Translated from Pāli by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve
apassaṃ udayabbayaṃ
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo
passato udayabbayaṃ.

Better it is to live one day
seeing the rise and fall of things
than to live a hundred years
without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.

Dhammapada 8.113
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve
dussīlo asamāhito
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo
sīlavantassa jhāyino.

Better it is to live
one day virtuous and meditative
than to live a hundred years
immoral and uncontrolled.

Dhammapada 8.110
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Sukho viveko tuṭṭhassa,
sutadhammassa passato.
Abyāpajjaṃ sukhaṃ loke —
pāṇabhūtesu saṃyamo.

Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees.
Non-affliction is happiness in the world —
harmlessness towards all living beings.

Udāna 2.11
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika

Sabbadā sīlasampanno,
paññavā susamāhito;
ajjhattacintī satimā,
oghaṃ tarati duttaraṃ.

In every virtue all-accomplished,
with wisdom full and mind composed,
looking within and ever mindful–
thus one crosses the raging flood.

Sutta Nipāta 1.176
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika

Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā;
manoseṭṭhā manomayā.
Manasā ce pasannena
bhāsati vā karoti vā,
tato naṃ sukhamanveti
chāyāva anapāyinī.

Mind precedes all things;
mind is their chief, mind is their maker.
If one speaks or does a deed
with a mind that is pure within,
happiness then follows along
like a never departing shadow.

Dhammapada 1.2
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and
translated by Ven. S. Dhammika

Kāmaṃ kāmayamānassa,
tassa ce taṃ samijjhati, addhā pītimano hoti.
Laddhā macco yadicchati.
Tassa ce — kāmayānassa, chandajātassa — jantuno
te kāmā parihāyanti,
sallaviddhova ruppati.

If one, longing for sensual pleasure,
achieves it, yes, one’s enraptured at heart.
The mortal gets what one wants.
But if for that person — longing, desiring —
the pleasures diminish,
one’s shattered, as if shot with an arrow.

Sutta Nipāta 4.772, 4.773
Translated from Pāli by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Attānañce piyaṃ jaññā
na naṃ pāpena saṃyuje,
na hi taṃ sulabhaṃ hoti
sukhaṃ dukkaṭakārinā.

If you hold yourself dear
then don’t fetter yourself with evil,
for happiness isn’t easily gained
by one who commits a wrong-doing.

Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.115
Translated from Pāli by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Sabbā āsattiyo chetvā,
vineyya hadaye daraṃ,
upasanto sukhaṃ seti,
santiṃ pappuyya cetasā.

With all one’s attachments cut,
with the heart’s pining subdued,
calm and serene and happy is one,
for one has attained peace of mind.

Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.242
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika