The East: Confucianism Taoism Buddhism
The West: Stoicism Epicureanism Christianity
The East: Confucianism
Taoism Buddhism
The West: Stoicism
Epicureanism Christianity
BOOKS 1-9 BOOKS 10-18 BOOKS 19-26
I: THE TWIN TRUTHS
For the proper understanding of Buddhism these opening stanzas are all-important. One of the Buddha's key-thoughts was what modern psychologists call the "law of apperception": the value of things depends upon our attitude to them.
Part of Gautama's work of reform was a "transvaluation of values," a shifting of emphasis; and, like the Stoics, he taught the indifference of the things of sense. "Men are disturbed," said Epictetus, "not by things, but by the view they take of things."
1. Mind it is which gives to things their quality, their foundation, and their being: whoso speaks or acts with impure mind, him sorrow dogs, as the wheel follows the steps of the draught-ox.
2. Mind it is which gives to things their quality, their foundation, and their being: whoso speaks or acts with purified mind, him happiness accompanies as his faithful shadow.
3. "He has abused me, beaten me, worsted me, robbed me"; those who dwell upon such thoughts never lose their hate.
4. "He has abused me, beaten me, worsted me, robbed me "; those who dwell: not upon such thoughts are freed of hate.
5. Never does hatred cease by hating; by not hating does it cease: this is the ancient law.
6. If some there are who know not by such hatred we are perishing, and some there are who know it, then by their knowledge strife is ended.
7. As the wind throws down a shaky tree, so Mara (Death) o’erwhelms him who is a seeker after vanity, uncontrolled, intemperate, slothful, and effeminate.
8. But whoso keeps his eyes from vanity, controlled and temperate, faithful and strenuous, Mara cannot overthrow, as the wind beating against a rocky crag.
9. Though an impure man don the pure yellow robe (of the Bhikkhu), himself unindued with temperance and truth, he is not worthy of the pure yellow robe.
10. He who has doffed his impurities, calm and clothed upon with temperance and truth, he wears the pure robe worthily.
11. Those who mistake the shadow for the substance, and the substance for the shadow, never attain the reality, following wandering fires (lit. followers of a false pursuit).
12. But if a man knows the substance and the shadow as they are, he attains the reality, following the true trail.
13. As the rain pours into the ill-thatched house, so lust pours into the undisciplined mind.
14. As rain cannot enter the well-thatched house, so lust finds no entry into the disciplined mind.
15. Here and hereafter the sinner mourns: yea mourns and is in torment, knowing the vileness of his deeds.
16. Here and hereafter the good man is glad: yea is glad and rejoices, knowing that his deeds are pure.
17. Here and hereafter the sinner is in torment: tormented by the thought "I have sinned"; yea rather tormented when he goes to hell.
18. Here and hereafter the good man rejoices; rejoices as he thinks "I have done well": yea rather rejoices when he goes to a heaven.
19. If a man is a great preacher of the sacred text, but slothful and no doer of it, he is a hireling shepherd, who has no part in the flock.
20. If a man preaches but a little of the text and practises the teaching, putting away lust and hatred and infatuation; if he is truly wise and detached and seeks nothing here or hereafter, his lot is with the holy ones.
II: ZEAL
Zeal or earnestness (appamādo) plays an important part in Buddhist Ethics. The way is steep, therefore let the wayfarer play the man.
Zeal may be displayed either in strenuous mind-culture or in deeds of piety—these are the equivalents of "Faith" and "Works" in the Buddhist system.
21. Zeal is the way to Nirvāna. Sloth is the day of death. The zealous die not: the slothful are as it were dead.
22. The wise who know the power of zeal delight in it, rejoicing in the lot of the noble.
23. These wise ones by meditation and reflection, by constant effort reach Nirvāna, highest freedom.
24. Great grows the glory of him who is zealous in meditation, whose actions are pure and deliberate, whose life is calm and righteous and full of vigour.
25. By strenuous effort, by self-control, by temperance, let the wise man make for himself an island which the flood cannot overwhelm.
26. Fools in their folly give themselves to sloth: the wise man guards his vigour as his greatest possession.
27. Give not yourselves over to sloth, and to dalliance with delights: he who meditates with earnestness attains great joy.
28. When the wise one puts off sloth for zeal, ascending the high tower of wisdom he gazes sorrowless upon the sorrowing crowd below! Wise himself, he looks upon the fools as one upon a mountain-peak gazing upon the dwellers in the valley.
29. Zealous amidst the slothful, vigilant among the sleepers, go the prudent, as a racehorse outstrips a hack.
30. By zeal did Sakra reach supremacy among the gods. Men praise zeal; but sloth is always blamed.
31. A Bhikkhu who delights in zeal, looking askance at sloth, moves onwards like a fire, burning the greater and the lesser bonds.
32. A Bhikkhu who delights in zeal, looking askance at sloth, cannot be brought low, but is near to Nirvāna.
III: THE MIND
33. This trembling, wavering mind, so difficult to guard and to control—this the wise man makes straight as the fletcher straightens his shaft.
34. As quivers the fish when thrown upon the ground, far from his home in the waters, so the mind quivers as it leaves the realm of Death.
35. Good it is to tame the mind, so difficult to control, fickle, and capricious. Blessed is the tamed mind.
36. Let the wise man guard his mind, incomprehensible, subtle, and capricious though it is. Blessed is the guarded mind.
37. They will escape the fetters of Death who control that far-wandering, solitary, incorporeal cave-dweller, the mind.
38. In him who is unstable and ignorant of the law and capricious in his faith, wisdom is not perfected.
39. There is no fear in him, the vigilant one whose mind is not befouled with lust, nor embittered with rage, who cares nought for merit or demerit.
40. Let him who knows that his body is brittle as a potsherd, make his mind strong as a fortress; let him smite Mara with the sword of wisdom, and let him guard his conquest without dalliance.
41. Soon will this body lie upon the ground, deserted, and bereft of sense, like a log cast aside.
42. Badly does an enemy treat his enemy, a foeman his foe: worse is the havoc wrought by a misdirected mind.
43. Not mother and father, not kith and kin can so benefit a man as a mind attentive to the rights.
IV: FLOWERS
44. Who shall conquer this world, and the realm of Death with its attendant gods? Who shall sort the verses of the well-preached Law, as a clever weaver of garlands sorts flowers?
45. My disciple shall conquer this world and Death with its attendant gods: it is he who shall sort the verses of the well-preached Law as a clever garland-maker sorts flowers.
46. Let him escape the eye of Mara, regarding his body as froth, knowing it as a mirage, plucking out the flowery shafts of Mara.
47. He who is busy culling pleasures, as one plucks flowers, Death seizes and hurries off, as a great flood bears away a sleeping village.
48. The Destroyer treads him underfoot as he is culling worldly pleasures, still unsated with lusts of the flesh.
49. As a bee taking honey from flowers, without hurt to bloom or scent, so let the sage seek his food from house to house.
60. Be not concerned with other men's evil words or deeds or neglect of good: look rather to thine own sins and negligence (lit. "sins of commission and omission": things done and undone).
51. As some bright flower—fair to look at, but lacking fragrance—so are fair words which bear no fruit in action.
52. As some bright flower, fragrant as it is fair, so are fair words whose fruit is seen in action.
53. As if from a pile of flowers one were to weave many a garland, so let mortals string together much merit.
54. No scent of flower is borne against the wind, though it were sandal, or incense or jasmine: but the fragrance of the holy is borne against the wind: the righteous pervade all space (with their fragrance).
55. More excellent than the scent of sandal and incense, of lily and jasmine, is the fragrance of good deeds.
56. A slight thing is this scent of incense and of sandal-wood, but the scent of the holy pervades the highest heaven.
57. Death finds not the path of the righteous and strenuous, who are set free by their perfect wisdom.
58, 59. As on some roadside dung-heap, a flower blooms fragrant and delightful, so amongst the refuse of blinded mortals shines forth in wisdom the follower of the true Buddha.
V: THE FOOL
60. Long is the night to the watcher, long is the league to the weary traveller: long is the chain of existence to fools who ignore the true Law.
61. If on a journey thou canst not find thy peer or one better than thyself, make the journey stoutly alone: there is no company with a fool.
62. "I have sons and wealth," thinks the fool with anxious care; he is not even master of himself, much less of sons and wealth.
63. The fool who knows his folly is so far wise: but the fool who reckons himself wise is called a fool indeed.
64. Though for a lifetime the fool keeps company with the wise, yet does he not learn righteousness, as spoon gets no taste of soup.
65. If but for a moment the thoughtful keep company with the wise, straightway he learns righteousness, as tongue tastes soup.
66. Fools and dolts go their way, their own worst enemies; working evil which bears bitter fruit.
67. That is no good deed which brings remorse, whose reward one receives with tears and lamentation.
68. But that is the good deed which brings no remorse, whose reward the doer takes with joy and gladness.
69. Honey sweet to the fool is his sin—until it ripens: then he comes to grief.
70. If once a month the fool sips his food from a blade of the sacred grass—his is no fraction of the Arahat's worth.
71. Evil does not straightway curdle like milk, but is rather like a smouldering fire which attends the fool and burns him.
72. When the fool's wisdom bears evil fruit it bursts asunder his happiness, and smashes his head.
73, 74. If one desire the praise of knaves, or leadership amongst the Bhikkhus, and lordship in the convents, and the reverence of the laity, thinking "Let layman and religious alike appreciate my deeds; let them do my bidding and obey my prohibitions," if such be his fond imaginings, then will ambition and self-will wax great.
75. One is the road leading to gain, another is that leading to Nirvāna: knowing this, let the Bhikkhu, the follower of Buddha, strive in solitude, not seeking the praise of men.
VI: THE WISE MAN
76. Look upon him who shows you your faults as a revealer of treasure: seek his company who checks and chides you, the sage who is wise in reproof: it fares well and not ill with him who seeks such company.
77. Let a man admonish, and advise, and keep others from strife! So will he be dear to the righteous, and hated by the unrighteous.
78. Avoid bad friends, avoid the company of the evil: seek after noble friends and men of lofty character.
79. He who drinks in the law lives glad, for his mind is serene: in the law preached by the Noble the sage ever finds his joy.
80. Engineers control the water; fletchers straighten the arrow; carpenters fashion their wood. Sages control and fashion themselves.
81. As some massive rock stands unmoved by the storm-wind, so the wise stand unmoved by praise or blame.
82. As a deep lake, clear and undefiled, so are sages calmed by hearing the law.
83. Freely go the righteous; the holy ones do not whine and pine for lusts; unmoved by success or failure, the wise show no change of mood.
84. Desire not a son for thyself nor for another, nor riches nor a kingdom; desire not thy gain by another's loss; so art thou righteous, wise, and good.
85. Few amongst men are they who reach the farther shore: the rest, a great multitude, stand only on the bank.
86. The righteous followers of the well-preached law, these are the mortals who reach the far shore. But hard is their journey through the realm of Death.
87, 88. Leaving the way of darkness, let the sage cleave to the way of light: let him leave home for the homeless life, that solitude so hard to love (Nirvāna). Putting away lust and possessing nothing, let the sage cleanse himself from every evil thought.
89. They are serene in this world, whose mind is perfected in that clear thought which leads to Arahatship, whose delight is in renunciation, free from taints, and lustrous.
VII: THE ARAHAT
90. No remorse is found in him whose journey is accomplished, whose sorrow ended, whose freedom complete, whose chains are all shaken off.
91. The mindful press on, casting no look behind to their home-life; as swans deserting a pool they leave their dear home.
92. Some there are who have no treasure here, temperate ones whose goal is the freedom which comes of realising that life is empty and impermanent: their steps are hard to track as the flight of birds through the sky.
93. He whose taints are purged away, who is indifferent to food, whose goal is the freedom which comes of realising life's emptiness and transciency, is hard to track as the flight of birds in the sky.
94. Even the gods emulate him whose senses are quiet as horses well-tamed by the charioteer, who has renounced self-will, and put away all taints.
95. No more will he be born whose patience is as the earth's, who is firm as a pillar and pious, pure as some unruffled lake.
96. Calm is the thought, calm the words and deeds of such a one, who has by wisdom attained true freedom and self-control.
97. Excellent is the man who is not credulous, who knows Nirvāna, who has cut all bonds, destroyed the germs of rebirth, cast off lust.
98. In the village or the jungle, on sea or land, wherever lives the Arahat, there is the place of delight.
99. Pleasant are the glades where the herd come not to disport themselves: there shall the Holy take their pleasure, who seek not after lust.
VIII: THE THOUSANDS
100. Better than a thousand empty words is one pregnant word, which brings the hearer peace.
101. Better than a thousand idle songs is a single song, which brings the hearer peace.
102. Better it is to chant one verse of the law, that brings the hearer peace, than to chant a hundred empty songs.
103. If one were to conquer a thousand thousand in the battle—he who conquers self is the greatest warrior.
104, 105. Self-conquest is better than other victories: neither god nor demi-god, neither Mara nor Brahma, can undo the victory of such a one, who is self-controlled and always calm.
106. If month by month throughout a hundred years one were to offer sacrifices costing thousands, and if for a moment another were to reverence the self-controlled—this is the better worship.
107. If one for a hundred years tended the sacred fire in the glade, and another for a moment reverenced the self-controlled, this is the better worship.
108. Whatsoever sacrifice or offering a man makes for a full year in hope of benefits, all is not worth a quarter of that better offering—reverence to the upright.
109. In him who is trained in constant courtesy and reverence to the old, four qualities increase: length of days, beauty, gladness, and strength.
110. Better than a hundred years of impure and intemperate existence is a single day of moral, contemplative life.
111. Better is one day of wise and contemplative life than a thousand years of folly and intemperance.
112. Better one day of earnest energy than a hundred years of sloth and lassitude.
113. Better one day of insight into the fleeting nature of the things of sense, than a hundred years of blindness to this transiency.
114. Better one day of insight into the deathless state (Nirvāna), than a hundred years of blindness to this immortality.
115. Better one day of insight into the Supreme Law, than a hundred years of blindness to that Law.
IX: VICE
116. Cling to what is right: so will you keep the mind from wrong. Whoso is slack in well-doing comes to rejoice in evil.
117. If one offends, let him not repeat his offence; let him not set his heart upon it. Sad is the piling up of sin.
118. If one does well, let him repeat his well-doing: let him set his heart upon it. Glad is the storing up of good.
119. The bad man sees good days, until his wrong-doing ripens; then he beholds evil days.
120. Even a good man may see evil days till his well-doing comes to fruition; then he beholds good days.
121. Think not lightly of evil "It will not come nigh me." Drop by drop the pitcher is filled: slowly yet surely the fool is saturated with evil.
122. Think not lightly of good "It will not come nigh me." Drop by drop the pitcher is filled: slowly yet surely the good are filled with merit.
123. A trader whose pack is great and whose caravan is small shuns a dangerous road; a man who loves his life shuns poison: so do thou shun evil.
124. He who has no wound can handle poison: the unwounded hand cannot absorb it. There is no evil to him that does no evil.
125. Whoso is offended by the inoffensive man, and whoso blames an innocent man, his evil returns upon him as fine dust thrown against the wind.
126. Some go to the womb; some, evil-doers, to hell; the good go to heaven; the sinless to Nirvāna.
127. Not in the sky, nor in mid-ocean, nor in mountain-cave can one find sanctuary from his sins.
128. Not in the sky, not in mid-ocean, not in mountain-cave can one find release from the conquering might of death.
BOOKS 1-9 BOOKS 10-18 BOOKS 19-26
a project of John Trapp
