The Dhammapada

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EvilPoet

I am what I am
Registered Senior Member
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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)
 
'With our thoughts we make the
world. "

i dont agree with that
it exists irrespective of the presence of an observer
 
The nature of Monkey was... irrepressible!

MONKEY!!!


Born from an egg on a mountain top...
 
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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