Tato adinnaṃ parivajjayeyya
kiñci kvaci sāvako bujjhamāno.
Na hāraye harataṃ nānujaññā.
Sabbaṃ adinnaṃ parivajjayeyya.
A disciple should avoid taking
anything from anywhere knowing it (to belong to another).
One should not steal nor incite another to steal.
One should completely avoid theft.
Sutta Nipāta 2.397
The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipāta, translated by John D. Ireland
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
Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā
Ātāpino jhāyato brāhmaṇassa,
Athassa kaṅkhā vapayanti sabbā
Yato pajānāti sahetudhammaṃ.
When things become manifest
To the ardent meditating brahmin,
All one’s doubts then vanish since one understands
Each thing along with its cause.
Udāna 1.1
The Udāna and the Itivuttaka, trans. John D. Ireland
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
Attā hi attano nātho,
attā hi attano gati.
Tasmā saṃyamamattānaṃ
assaṃ bhadraṃva vāṇijo.
One is one’s own protector,
one is one’s own refuge.
Therefore, one should control oneself,
even as a trader controls a noble steed.
Dhammapada 25.380
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Kodhaṃ chetvā sukhaṃ seti,
kodhaṃ chetvā na socati.
Kodhassa visamūlassa
madhuraggassa brāhmaṇa;
vadhaṃ ariyā pasaṃsanti
tañhi chetvā na socatī.
Slay anger and you will be happy,
slay anger and you will not sorrow.
For the slaying of anger in all its forms
with its poisoned root and sweet sting —
that is the slaying the nobles praise;
with anger slain one weeps no more.
Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.187
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika
Sukhaṃ yāva jarā sīlaṃ,
sukhā saddhā patiṭṭhitā,
sukho paññāya paṭilābho,
pāpānaṃ akaraṇaṃ sukhaṃ.
Good is virtue until life’s end,
good is faith that is steadfast,
good is the acquisition of wisdom,
and good is the avoidance of evil.
Dhammapada 23.333
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
The 1975 cycle will continue to precipitate momentous choices for individuals and societies. What are the vital elements in this decisive choosing, and what will be the chief consequences? There is in the life of every human being a series of minor choices which add up to a crucial choice, but often it is made with incomplete knowledge of its critical nature. To grow and to age is to recognize with increasing clarity that all events in the past have had their irreversible consequences. Therefore, within any shallow philosophy centered essentially on the physical body and premised upon a single incarnation, a personal sense of futility and fatalism looms large as one comes closer to the moment of death. As with individuals, so with civilizations. Civilizations are apt to conduct the deepest reflection upon their storied past in times of depression, either out of self-indulgent nostalgia or sheer bewilderment at their bygone glory. This has shadowed every great civilization in its hour of decline, and today we are witnessing this in Western Europe and in the nostalgic mood which is intermittent in the United States. Civilizations seek to cling to something of the past, and perceptive chroniclers like Toynbee in England or Jaspers in Switzerland sense that something went wrong as early as before 1914, that the seeds of today’s malaise lay far back in the past. When we look back to that past we surmise that a lot could have been avoided, that there were viable alternatives and missed opportunities. This is the sad state of societies as well as individuals who, because of narrowness of perspective and myopia in relation to the future, impose upon their lives a delusive dependence upon their own edited versions of a truncated past. But whenever human beings are willing to rethink their basic assumptions about themselves, about their shrouded past and about their cloudy future, then they do not need to edit. They do not have to limit unduly the horizon of their gaze.
This is difficult to understand initially. One might think in terms of the extreme example of a person with Promethean foresight who can discern in the cycles of this century long-term factors that go back a thousand years into the past and will go forward a thousand years into the future. In the Victorian Age, T.H. Huxley observed that in the myriad worlds around us there is no reason why there cannot be beings with an intelligence as far beyond our present level as ours is beyond that of the black beetle, and with a control over nature as far beyond our own as ours is beyond that of the snail. He also suggested that even ordinary human beings can look back and forward over a millennium and make broad projections. It is, in principle, possible for there to be beings in the universe who can see all pasts and all futures. The power of choice is partly a function of the scope of perspective. With wider perspectives our choices become more intelligent, but as they become more informed, we readily recognize that there are many factors that are constant. One cannot wish away causes generated over a long cycle. The more clearly a person sees what he cannot alter right now in this incarnation, the more effectively he can use his energies to alter what he can. All this requires a measure of balance, but most human beings are unable to choose wisely by clearly facing the alternatives before them. All too often they vainly hope that by proceeding in one direction, everything else will automatically come to them. Energy cannot move in all directions at once, and though there are many planes of matter, it is always the case that everything adds up in a mathematical universe. One’s capacity to choose is a function of one’s knowledge, not merely of particular causal chains but also of what is at the very core of the phenomenal process of becoming: breathing in and breathing out. Ideally, if one could comprehend the meaning of a single day, one would by analogy be able to understand what is enacted over a lifetime.
It has been taught that for the truly wise, each day is like a new incarnation. In small space they see the subtle motions of unbounded space. In a single moment they can grasp quintessentially the infinite possibilities that are spread out in eternal duration. They can retain in consciousness the freedom that belongs to those who are not rushing to manifest, while displaying a shrewd awareness of what it is possible to manifest with a due respect for the feelings of others, for collective strengths and weaknesses, for the limits and possibilities of the current cycle. Theosophical teaching offers the vast perspective of eighteen million years of human history and also of the sixth sub-race which will emerge far in the future but which must clearly have some relationship to the fifth sub-race – now visibly on the decline – that flowered forth in Europe and partly in America. At this point of time there is, by analogy and correspondence, a critical moment of choice bearing upon the alternatives that confront our intelligence. The ratiocinative mind has become adept, because of modern upbringing and so-called education, because of so much dichotomous thinking since Aristotle, at rationalizing its wants, desires and limitations. Now we find at a global level the logical limit of this rationalizing mind, which insists there is not enough room or food on earth for all human beings on our globe. This no-exit barrier in thinking arises because of assumptions that were too limited from the start. It hinges upon a view of the universe which is incompatible with the vast resources of the creative imagination, with the inventiveness displayed in the last three centuries in building up the structures of applied science and sophisticated civilization. Even this is merely a recent example of the immense resourcefulness of the human race over many millennia. The type of thinking which is inductive, inferential and dichotomous, functioning within the perspective of a closed universe or of a one-life system, has become sterile and has no real answers to the awesome problems of our time.
Hermes, August 1978
Raghavan Iyer
Sace labhetha nipakaṃ sahāyaṃ
saddhiṃ caraṃ sādhuvihāridhīraṃ,
abhibhuyya sabbāni parissayāni,
careyya tenattamano satīmā.
If for company you find a wise and prudent friend
who leads a good life,
you should, overcoming all impediments,
keep their company joyously and mindfully.
Dhammapada 23.328
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Yo ca dhammamabhiññāya
dhammamaññāya paṇḍito,
rahadova nivāte ca
anejo vūpasammati.
Thoroughly understanding the Dhamma
and freed from longing through insight,
the wise one rid of all desire
is calm as a pool unstirred by wind.
Itivuttaka 3.92
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika
KRISHNA:
A man is said to be confirmed in spiritual knowledge when he foresaketh every desire which entereth into his heart, and of himself is happy and content in the Self through the Self. His mind is undisturbed in adversity; he is happy and contented in prosperity, and he is a stranger to anxiety, fear and anger. Such a man is called a Muni. When in every condition he receives each event, whether favorable or unfavorable, with an equal mind which neither likes nor dislikes, his wisdom is established, and, having met good or evil, neither rejoiceth at the one, nor is cast down by the other. He is confirmed in spiritual knowledge, when, like a tortoise, he can draw in all his senses and restrain them from their wonted purposes. The hungry man loseth sight of every other object but the gratification of his appetite, and when he is become acquainted with the Supreme, he loseth all taste for objects of whatever kind. The tumultuous senses and organs hurry away by force the heart, even of the wise man who striveth after perfection. Let a man, restraining all these, remain in devotion at rest with me, his true self; for he who hath his senses and organs in control possesses spiritual knowledge.
— The Bhagavad-Gita, ch. H.
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
Sukhā matteyyatā loke,
atho petteyyatā sukhā,
sukhā sāmaññatā loke,
atho brahmaññatā sukhā.
In this world, good it is to serve one’s mother,
good it is to serve one’s father,
good it is to serve the monks and nuns,
and good it is to serve the holy ones.
Dhammapada 23.332
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṃ,
kusalassa upasampadā,
sacittapariyodapanaṃ —
etaṃ buddhāna sāsanaṃ.
To avoid all evil,
to cultivate good,
and to purify one’s mind —
this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
Dhammapada 14.183
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Yassa selūpamaṃ cittaṃ, ṭhitaṃ nānupakampati,
virattaṃ rajanīyesu,
kopaneyye na kuppati:
Yassevaṃ bhāvitaṃ cittaṃ,
kuto taṃ dukkhamessatī?
Whose mind is like rock, steady, unmoved,
dispassionate for things that spark passion,
unangered by things that spark anger:
When one’s mind is developed like this,
from where can there come suffering & stress?
Udāna 4.34
Translated from Pāli by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Pāpañce puriso kayirā,
na naṃ kayirā punappunaṃ.
Na tamhi chandaṃ kayirātha,
dukkho pāpassa uccayo.
Should a person commit evil,
let one not do it again and again.
Let one not find pleasure therein,
for painful is the accumulation of evil.
Dhammapada 9.117
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
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
Apādakehi me mettaṃ,
mettaṃ dvipādakehi me;
catuppadehi me mettaṃ,
mettaṃ bahuppadehi me.
I have love for the footless,
for the bipeds too I have love;
I have love for those with four feet,
for the many-footed I have love.
Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.67
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika
Māvamaññetha pāpassa, “Na mantaṃ āgamissati.”
Udabindunipātena, udakumbhopi pūrati.
Bālo pūrati pāpassa, thokaṃ thokampi ācinaṃ.
Think not lightly of evil, saying, “It will not come to me.”
Drop by drop is the water pot filled.
Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little,
fills oneself with evil.
Dhammapada 9.121
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Yo sahassaṃ sahassena
saṅgāme mānuse jine,
ekañca jeyyamattānaṃ
sa ve saṅgāmajuttamo.
Though one may conquer
a thousand times a thousand people in battle,
yet one indeed is the noblest victor
who conquers oneself.
Dhammapada 10.103
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Santaṃ tassa manaṃ hoti, santā vācā,
ca kamma ca, sammadaññā,
vimuttassa, upasantassa tādino.
Calm is one’s thought, calm one’s speech,
and calm one’s deed, who, truly knowing,
is wholly freed, perfectly tranquil and wise.
Dhammapada 7.96
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Selo yathā ekaghano vātena na samīrati,
evaṃ nindāpasaṃsāsu na samiñjanti paṇḍitā.
Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm,
even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame.
Dhammapada 6.81
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Hitānukampī sambuddho
yadaññamanusāsati,
anurodhavirodhehi
vippamutto tathāgato.
When the Buddha teaches others
he does so out of compassion,
because the Tathagata is wholly freed
from both favour and aversion.
Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.150
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika
Jayaṃ ve maññati bālo
vācāya pharusaṃ bhaṇaṃ,
jayañcevassa taṃ hoti
yā titikkhā vijānato.
The fool thinks one has won a battle
when one bullies with harsh speech,
but knowing how to be forbearing
alone makes one victorious.
Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.189
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika
Yo mātaraṃ pitaraṃ vā,
jiṇṇakaṃ gatayobbanaṃ —
pahu santo na bharati
taṃ parābhavato mukhaṃ.
Though being well-to-do,
not to support father and mother
who are old and past their youth —
this is a cause of one’s downfall.
Sutta Nipāta 1.98
Everyman’s Ethics: Four Discourses by the Buddha (WH 14), translated by Narada Thera
Kāyena saṃvutā dhīrā,
atho vācāya saṃvutā manasā saṃvutā dhīrā.
Te ve suparisaṃvutā.
The wise are controlled in bodily action,
controlled in speech and controlled in thought.
They are truly well-controlled.
Dhammapada 17.234
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita
