The Dhammapada

Discussion in 'Eastern Philosophy' started by EvilPoet, Oct 8, 2002.

  1. EvilPoet I am what I am Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,007
    1 Choice

    We are what we think.
    All that we are arises with our
    thoughts.
    With our thoughts we make the
    world.
    Speak or act with an impure mind
    And trouble will follow you
    As the wheel follows the ox that draws
    the cart.

    We are what we think
    All that we are arises with our
    thoughts.
    With our thoughts we make the
    world.
    Speak or act with a pure mind
    And happiness will follow you
    As your shadow, unshakable.

    "Look how he abused me and
    beat me,
    How he threw me down and robbed
    me."
    Abandon such thoughts, and live in
    love.

    In this world
    Hate never yet dispelled hate.
    Only love dispels hate.
    This is the law,
    Ancient and inexhaustible.
    You too shall pass away.
    Knowing this, how can you quarrel?

    How easily the wind overturns a frail
    tree.
    Seek happiness in the senses,
    Indulge in food and sleep,
    And you too will be uprooted.

    The wind cannot overturn a mountain.
    Temptation cannot touch the man
    Who is awake, strong and humble,
    Who masters himself and minds
    the law.

    If a man's thoughts are muddy,
    If he is reckless and full of deceit,
    How can he wear the yellow robe?

    Whoever is master of his own nature,
    Bright, clear and true,
    He may indeed wear the yellow robe.

    Mistaking the false for the true
    And the true for the false,
    You overlook the heart
    And fill yourself with desire.

    See the false as false,
    The true as true.
    Look into your heart.
    Follow your nature.

    An unreflecting mind is a poor roof.
    Passions, like the rain, floods the house.
    But if the roof is strong, there is
    shelter.

    Whoever follows impure thoughts
    Suffers in this world and the next.
    In both worlds he suffers.
    And how greatly
    When he sees the wrong he has done.

    But whoever follows the law
    Is joyful here and joyful there.
    In both worlds he rejoices
    And how greatly
    When he sees the good he has done.

    For great is the harvest in this world,
    And greater still in the next.

    However many holy words you read,
    However many you speak,
    What good will they do you
    If you do not act upon them?

    Are you a shepherd
    Who counts another man's sheep,
    Never sharing the way?

    Read a few words as you like
    And speak fewer
    But act upon the law.

    Give up the old ways----
    Passion, enmity, folly.
    Know the truth and find peace.
    Share the way.

    Pgs. 1-6

    A Historical note:
    The Dhammapada is a collection of the sayings of the Buddha (563-483 B.C.E.).
    They were probably first gathered in northern India in the third century before
    Christ, and originally written down in Sri Lanka in the first century before Christ.
    Dhamma means law, justice, righteousness, discipline, truth; pada means path,
    step, foot, foundation. The Dhammapada was transmitted and recorded in Pali,
    the canonical language of southern Buddhism, and it has become the principle
    scripture for Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

    Source:
    Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha
    (Shambhala Pocket Classics)
     
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  3. spookz Banned Banned

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    'With our thoughts we make the
    world. "

    i dont agree with that
    it exists irrespective of the presence of an observer
     
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  5. Adam §Þ@ç€ MØnk€¥ Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,415
    The nature of Monkey was... irrepressible!

    MONKEY!!!


    Born from an egg on a mountain top...
     
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  7. spookz Banned Banned

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    6,390
    pigsy!!!
     
  8. Adam §Þ@ç€ MØnk€¥ Registered Senior Member

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    I am the Great Sage, equal of Heaven!
     
  9. EvilPoet I am what I am Registered Senior Member

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    Monkey see, Monkey do

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    "I am the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven."
    -Sun Wu-Kung


    The Money King and the Water Demon

    Once upon a time, far away in a deep forest, there was a nation
    of 80,000 monkeys. They had a king who was unusually large, as
    big as a fawn. He was not only big in body, he was also 'large in
    mind'. After all, he was the Bodhisatta - the Enlightenment Being.

    One day, he advised his monkey nation by saying, "My subjects,
    there are poisonous fruits in this deep forest, and ponds
    possessed by demons. So if you see any unusual fruit or
    unknown pond, do not eat or drink until you ask me first." Paying
    close attention to their wise king, all the monkeys agreed to
    follow his advice.

    Later on, they came to an unknown pond. Even though they
    were all tired out and thirsty from searching for food, no one
    would drink without first asking the monkey king. So they sat in
    the trees and on the ground around the pond.

    When he arrived, the monkey king asked them, "Did anyone drink
    the water?" They replied, "No, your majesty, we followed your
    instructions." He said, "Well done."

    Then he walked along the bank, around the pond. He examined
    the footprints of the animals that had gone into the water, and
    saw that none came out again! So he realized this pond must be
    possessed by a water demon. He said to the 80,000
    monkeys, "This pond is possessed by a water demon. Do not
    anybody go into it."

    After a little while, the water demon saw that none of the
    monkeys went into the water to drink. So he rose out of the
    middle of the pond, taking the shape of a frightening monster.
    He had a big blue belly, a white face with bulging green eyes,
    and red claws and feet. He said, "Why are you just sitting
    around? Come into the pond and drink at once!"

    The monkey king said to the horrible monster, "Are you the water
    demon who owns this pond?" "Yes, I am," said he. "Do you eat
    whoever goes into the water?" asked the king. "Yes, I do," he
    answered, "including even birds. I eat them all. And when you
    are forced by your thirst to come into the pond and drink, I will
    enjoy eating you, the biggest monkey, most of all!" He grinned,
    and saliva dripped down his hairy chin.

    But the monkey king with the well-trained mind remained calm.
    He said, "I will not let you eat me or a single one of my followers.
    And yet, we will drink all the water we want!" The water demon
    grunted, "Impossible! How will you do that?" The monkey king
    replied, "Each one of the 80,000 of us will drink using bamboo
    shoots as straws. And you will not be able to touch us!"

    Of course, anyone who has seen bamboo knows there is a
    difficulty. Bamboo grows in sections, one after another, with a
    knot between each one. Any one section is too small, so the
    demon could grab the monkey, pull him under and gobble him up.
    But the knots make it impossible to sip through more than one
    section.

    The monkey king was very special, and that is why so many
    followed him. In the past, he had practiced goodness and trained
    his mind with such effort and attention, that he had developed
    very fine qualities of mind. This is why he was said to be 'large in
    mind', not because he simply had a 'big brain'.

    The Enlightenment Being was able to keep these fine qualities in
    his mind, and produce a very unlikely event - a miracle. First, he
    took a young bamboo shoot, blew through it to make the knots
    disappear, and used it to sip water from the pond. Then, amazing
    as it may sound, he waved his hand and all the bamboo growing
    around that one pond lost their knots. They became a new kind
    of bamboo.

    Then, all his 80,000 followers picked bamboo shoots and easily
    drank their fill from the pond. The water demon could not believe
    his green eyes. Grumbling to himself, he slid back under the
    surface, leaving only gurgling bubbles behind.

    The moral is: "Test the water before jumping in."

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