Translated from the…
The Value of Reflection
13. As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.
14. As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.
Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 10: The Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata,
by Max Müller and Max Fausböll, [1881], at:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1003.htm
Further reading: https://buddhismnow.com/2013/11/13/reflective-mind-by-ajahn-sumedho/
Watch Your Thoughts
1. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.
2. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
3. ‘He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,’–in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease.
4. ‘He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,’–in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease.
Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 10: The Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata,
by Max Müller and Max Fausböll, [1881], at:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1003.htm
Comment: I’ve seen quotes based on the above ending with a sentence like “With our thoughts we shape the world,” maybe “our world,” is a better fit. Though I can’t find anywhere anyone translated what the Buddha said and came up with a sentence like that. Here is a thoughtful commentary on the versus https://fakebuddhaquotes.com/we-are-shaped-by-our-thoughts-we-become-what-we-think/ To your happiness!
Responsibility
165. By oneself the evil is done, by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself, no one can purify another.
Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 10: The Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata,
by Max Müller and Max Fausböll, [1881], at:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1009.htm
THE VENERABLE (ARHAT)
– Free From Pride, Free From Appetites –
90. There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey, and abandoned grief, who has freed himself on all sides, and thrown off all fetters.
91. They depart with their thoughts well-collected, they are not happy in their abode; like swans who have left their lake, they leave their house and home.
92. Men who have no riches, who live on recognised food, who have perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvâna), their path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
93. He whose appetites are stilled, who is not absorbed in enjoyment, who has perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvâna), his path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
94. The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free from appetites.
Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 10: The Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata,
by Max Müller and Max Fausböll, [1881], at:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1009.htm
Have for Friends the Best of Men
76. If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs, follow that wise man; it will be better, not worse, for those who follow him.
77. Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper!–he will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will be hated.
78. Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men.
Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 10: The Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata, by Max Müller and Max Fausböll, [1881], at sacred-texts.com
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1008.htm
Look Through Things
8. ‘If a Bhikkhu should desire, Brethren, that he should be victorious over (spiritual) danger and dismay, that neither danger nor dismay should ever overcome him, that he should master and subdue every danger and dismay, let him then fulfil all righteousness, let him be devoted to that quietude of heart which springs from within, let him not drive back the ecstasy of contemplation, let him look through things, let him be much alone!’
ÂKANKHEYYA SUTTA
Translated from Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids
Oxford, the Clarendon Press [1881]
Vol. XI of The Sacred Books of the East
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe11/sbe1106.htm
Be Much Alone
19.[1] ‘If a Bhikkhu should desire, Brethren, by the destruction of the great evils (Âsavas[2]), by himself, and even in this very world, to know and realise and attain to Arahatship, to emancipation of heart, and emancipation of mind, let him then fulfil all righteousness, let him be devoted to that quietude of heart which springs from within, let him not drive back the ecstasy of contemplation, let him look through things, let him be much alone!’
ÂKANKHEYYA SUTTA
Translated from Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids
Oxford, the Clarendon Press [1881]
Vol. XI of The Sacred Books of the East
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe11/sbe1106.htm
So You Should Train Yourselves
“Monks, it is just as if a donkey were following right after a herd of cattle, saying, ‘I too am a cow! I too am a cow!’ Its color is not that of a cow, its voice is not that of a cow, its hoof is not that of a cow, and yet it still keeps following right after the herd of cattle, saying, ‘I too am a cow! I too am a cow!’ In the same way, there is the case where a certain monk follows right after the Saṅgha of monks, saying, ‘I too am a monk! I too am a monk!’ He doesn’t have the other monks’ desire for undertaking the training in heightened virtue, doesn’t have their desire for undertaking the training in heightened mind [concentration], doesn’t have their desire for undertaking the training in heightened discernment, and yet he still keeps following right after the Saṅgha of monks, saying, ‘I too am a monk! I too am a monk!’
“So you should train yourselves: ‘Strong will be our desire for undertaking the training in heightened virtue; strong will be our desire for undertaking the training in heightened mind; strong will be our desire for undertaking the training in heightened discernment.’ That is how you should train yourselves.”
From: The Donkey Gadrabha Sutta (AN 3:83)
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN3_83.html
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Phra Ajaan Geoff)
Meant for free distribution only. The author and copyright holder of the content on this site considers any sale, including by non-profit entities for non-profit purposes, to be ‘Commercial’ and a copyright violation.
Last Words
Then the Blessed One addressed the monks, “Now, then, monks, I exhort you: All fabrications are subject to decay. Bring about completion by being heedful.” Those were the Tathagata’s last words.
“Maha-parinibbana Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Total Unbinding” (DN 16), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.5-6.than.html .
8. And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: “Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!”
“Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha” (DN 16), translated from the Pali by Sister Vajira & Francis Story. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html
Neither Pushing Forward or Staying In Place
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There he addressed the monks: “Monks!”
“Yes, lord,” the monks responded to him.
The Blessed One said: “Monks, I will teach you a statement & its analysis. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak.”
“As you say, lord,” the monks responded to him.
The Blessed One said, “A monk should investigate in such a way that, his consciousness neither externally scattered & diffused, nor internally positioned, he would from lack of clinging/sustenance be unagitated. When—his consciousness neither externally scattered & diffused, nor internally positioned—from lack of clinging/ sustenance he would be unagitated, there is no seed for the conditions of future birth, aging, death, or stress.”
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said it, he—the One Well-Gone—got up from his seat and went into his dwelling.
From: An Analysis of the Statement Uddesa-vibhaṅga Sutta (MN 138)
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Phra Ajaan Geoff)
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN138.html
Meant for free distribution only. The author and copyright holder of the content on this site considers any sale, including by non-profit entities for non-profit purposes, to be ‘Commercial’ and a copyright violation.
Comment: The full meaning of the Buddha’s statement is given in the complete Sutta. Follow the link above.