Just as sharp-bladed grass,
if wrongly held,
wounds the very hand that holds it–
the contemplative life, if wrongly grasped,
drags you down to hell.
- Dhammapada [22]
Monthly Archives: August 2010
DAILY WISDOM 20/08/2010
Like a fish pulled from its home in the water
& thrown on land:
this mind flips & flaps about
to escape Mara’s sway.Hard to hold down, nimble,
alighting wherever it likes:
the mind.
Its taming is good.
The mind well-tamed brings ease.
- Dhammapada [3]
DAILY WISDOM 19/08/2010
Drinking the nourishment,
the flavour,
of seclusion & calm,
one is freed from evil, devoid
of distress,
refreshed with the nourishment
of rapture in the Dhamma.
- Dhammapada [16]
DAILY WISDOM 18/08/2010
Attentiveness is the path to true life;
Indifference is the path to death.
The attentive do not die;
The indifferent are as if they are dead already.
- Dhammapada
DAILY WISDOM 17/08/2010
Don’t give way to heedlessness
or to intimacy
with sensual delight–
for a heedful person,
absorbed in jhana,
attains an abundance of ease.
- Dhammapada [2]
DAILY WISDOM 16/08/2010
Gains:
don’t treat your own with scorn,
don’t go coveting those of others.
A monk who covets those of others
attains no concentration.Even if he gets next to nothing,
he doesn’t treat his gains with scorn.
Living purely, untiring:
he’s the one
that the devas praise.
- Dhammapada [15]
DAILY WISDOM 15/08/2010
Focus not on the rudeness of others,
not on what they’ve done
or left undone,
but on what you
have & haven’t done yourself.
- Dhammapada [4]
DAILY WISDOM 14/08/2010
If somebody meditates with a wholesome attitude, with right attention and mindfulness, then whether he has expectations or not he will gain insight. It’s like filling a bowl with oil seeds and pressing them or milking a cow by pulling the udder or filling a jar with cream and churning it. It’s the right method.
- Majjhima Nikaya
DAILY WISDOM 13/08/2010
Guard against anger
erupting in mind;
in mind, be restrained.
Having abandoned mental misconduct,
live conducting yourself well
in mind.Those restrained in body
–the enlightened–
restrained in speech & in mind
–enlightened–
are the ones whose restraint is secure.
- Dhammpada [17]
DAILY WISDOM 12/08/2010
It is good to control your words and thoughts. The seeker who is in control feels free and joyful. Listen to that seeker who guards his tongue and speaks wisely. Such a one is humble and does not exalt himself.
- Dhammapada