Spiritual Gurus of India: Buddha

India is a country which is known for spirituality. India has been the birthplace of a lot of great spiritual masters such as Buddha, Vallalar, Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Shankaracharya, Ramana Maharishi etc. This blog is completely dedicated to the teachings of such great gurus who have brightened the lives of thousands of people by sharing the precious knowledge which they have attained. This blog would act as a platform to share the best of the teachings of such gurus who have indulged their lives selflessly in the spiritual growth of others.

Showing posts with label Buddha. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Dhammapada - Chapter 15 - Happy

The Chapter 15 of Dhammapada deals with happiness. To remain happy in life we should not hate anyone. People thrive for wordly pleasures. In the midst of such people, the one who doesn't make such efforts to pursue the wordly leads a happy life. A person should maintain equanimity in both victory and defeat. Only then he remains happy always. Further the verses say that lust and anger are the biggest enemies and there is no happiness beyond the supreme peace.

Health is the greatest wealth, contentment is the greatest wealth, trust is the greatest kinship and unbinding is the greatest bliss. One should associate with the noble ones and spend time with them. Associating with ignorant is worser than being with enemies.

This chapter contains 12 verses :

Verse 197:

How very happily we live,

free from hostility

among those who are hostile.

Among hostile people,

free from hostility we dwell.

Verse 198:

How very happily we live,

free from misery

among those who are miserable.

Among miserable people,

free from misery we dwell.

Verse 199:

How happily we live,

free from busyness

among those who are busy.

Among busy people,

free from busy people we dwell.

Verse 200:

How very happily we live,

we who have nothing,

We feed on rapture

like the Radiant Gods.

Verse 201:

Winning gives birth to hostility.

Losing, one lies down in pain.

The calmed he down with ease,

having set winning & losing aside.

Verse 202:

There is no fire like passion,

no loss like anger,

no pain like the aggregates,

no ease other than peace.

Verse 203:

Hunger: the foremost illness.

Fabrications: the foremost pain.

For one knowing this truth

as it actually is,

unbinding is the foremost ease.

Verse 204:

Freedom from illness : the foremost good fortune.

Contentment : the foremost wealth.

Trust : the foremost kinship.

Unbinding : the foremost ease.

Verse 205:

Drinking the nourishment, the flavor,

of seclusion and calm,

one is freed from evil, devoid of distress,

refreshed with the nourishment

of rapture in the Dhamma.

Verse 206:

It's good to see Noble Ones.

Happy their company - always.

Through not seeing any fools

constantly, constantly

one would be happy.

Verse 207:

For living with a fool,

one grieves a long time.

Painful is the communion with fools,

as with an enemy - always.

Happy is the communion

with the enlightened,

as with a gathering of kin.

Verse 208:

So: the enlightened man,

discerning, learned, enduring, dutiful,

noble, intelligent, a man of integrity :

follow him - one of this sort -

as the moon, the path

of zodiac stars.

Bookmark this post:

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Dhammapada - Chapter 14 - Awakened

Chapter 14 of Dhammapada elaborates the qualities of the Awakened, THE BUDDHA. The Buddha is one whose victory cannot be undone. There is nothing called craving in him and so he cannot be swayed away.

It is very difficult to take birth as a human. Even difficult is to get the teachings of the enlightened and it is very rare for the birth of a Buddha to occur. Abandoning all evil and purifying one's own mind by oneself - this is the teaching of Buddha.

Endurance of patience is the foremost austerity. One cannot attain renunciation if one hurts another. Only who does not harm others is a true saint.

The verses give guidelines on how one can progress in the path of spirituality:

Refrain from finding faults in others
Refrain from hurting others
Train yourself in the highest forms of discipline and conduct
Be moderate in eating food
Take delight in solitude
Engage in higher thoughts (meditation)
Stay away from sensual pleasure

The four noble truths are:

Life means suffering
The origin of suffering is attachment
The cessation of suffering is attainable
The path of the cessation of suffering (Eight fold Path)

There are 18 verses in this chapter and each of them is a gem:

Verse 179:

Whose conquest can't be undone,

whose conquest no one in the world can reach;

awakened, his pasture endless, pathless:

by what path will you lead him astray?

Verse 180:

In whom there is no craving

-the sticky ensnarer-

to lead him anywhere at all;

awakened, his pasture endless, pathless:

by what path will you lead him astray?

Verse 181:

They, the enlightened, intent on jhana,

delighting in stilling and renunciation,

self awakened and mindful:

even the devas view them with envy.

Verse 182:

Hard the winning of a human birth.

Hard the life of mortals.

Hard the chance to hear the true Dhamma.

Hard the arising of Awakened Ones.

Verse 183:

The non-doing of any evil,

the performance of what's skillful,

the cleansing of one's own mind:

this is the teaching of the Awakened.

Verse 184:

Patience endurance : the foremost austerity.

Unbinding: the foremost, so say the Awakened.

He who injures another is no contemplative.

He who mistreats another, no monk.

Verse 185:

Not disparaging, not injuring,

restraint in line with the Patimokkha,

moderation in food,

dwelling in seclusion,

commitment to the heightened mind :

this is the teaching of the Awakened.

Verse 186 - 187:

Not even if it rained gold coins

would we have our fill

of sensual pleasures.

'Stressful, they give little enjoyment' -

knowing this, the wise one

finds no delight

even in heavenly sensual pleasures.

He is one who delights

in the end of craving,

a disciple of the Righty

Self Awakened One.

Verse 188 - 192:

They go to many a refuge,

to mountains, to forests,

parks, trees and shrines :

people threatened with danger.

That's not the secure refuge,

not the supreme refuge,

that's not the refuge,

having gone to which,

you gain release

from all sufferings and stress.

But when, having gone

to the Buddha, Dhamma

and Sangha for refuge,

you see with right discernment

the four noble truths -

stress,

the cause of stress,

the transcending of stress,

and the noble eight fold path,

the way to the stilling of stress :

that's the secure refuge,

that's the supreme refuge,

that's the refuge,

having gone to which,

you gain release

from all suffering and stress.

Verse 193:

It's hard to come by

a thoroughbred of a man.

It's simply not true

that he's born everywhere.

Wherever he's born, an enlightened one,

the family prospers, is happy.

Verse 194:

A blessing : the arising of Awakened Ones.

A blessing : the teaching of true Dhamma.

A blessing : the concord of the Sangha.

The austerity of those in concord is a blessing.

Verse 195 - 196:

If you worship those worthy of worship,

- Awakened Ones or their disciples -

who've transcended complications,

lamentations and grief,

who are unendangered,

fearless and bound :

there is no measure for reckoning

that your merit is 'this much'.

Bookmark this post:

Dhammapada - Chapter 13 - World

This chapter emphasizes that one should not focus on the worldly things. One should not associate with people with false views. One should live only according to the reality and follow the path of Dhamma. Further, the verses explain the impermanence of life. It is compared to a mirage or a bubble. If one comes out of this illusion even the king of death cannot see him. If one comes out of his evil habits and cultivates good habits, he will illuminate the world. Wise people think beyond the worldly.

There are twelve verses in this chapter :

Verse 167:

Don't associate with lowly qualities.

Don't consort with heedlessness.

Don't associate with wrong views.

Don't busy yourself with the world.

Verse 168:

Get up! Don't be heedless.

Live the Dhamma well.

One who lives the Dhamma

sleeps with ease

in this world and the next.

Verse 169:

Live the Dhamma well.

Don't live it badly.

One who lives the Dhamma

sleeps with ease

in this world and the next.

Verse 170:

See it as a bubble,

see it as a mirage:

one who regards the world this way

the King of Death doesn't see.

Verse 171:

Come look at this world

all decked out

like a royal chariot,

where fools plunge in,

while those who know don't cling.

Verse 172:

Who once was heedless,

but later is not,

brightens the world

like the moon set free from a cloud.

Verse 173:

His evil-done deed

is replaced with skillfulness:

he brightens the world

like the moon set free from a cloud.

Verse 174:

Blinded this world -

how few here see clearly!

Just as birds who've escaped

from a net are few,

few are the people who make it to heaven.

Verse 175:

Swans fly the path of the sun;

those with the power fly through space;

the enlightened flee from the world,

having defeated the armies of Mara.

Verse 176:

The person who tells a lie,

who transgresses in this one thing,

transcending concern for the world beyond:

there is no evil he might not do.

Verse 177:

No misers go to the world of devas.

Those who don't praise giving are fools.

The enlightened express their approval for giving

and so find ease in the world beyond.

Verse 178:

Sole dominion over the earth,

going to heaven,

lordship over all the worlds:

the fruit of Stream-entry excels them.

Bookmark this post:

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Dhammapada - Chapter 12 - Self

The twelfth Chapter of Dhammapada focuses on the concept of SELF. The chapter starts of by saying that one should protect oneself in all the three stages of life - namely childhood, youth and old age by acquisition of virtue. One has the ability to advice another only when he establishes himself in proper virtues. One should be one's own savior and that can be achieved only through self discipline.

The extremely evil action of the person lacking in virtue is similar to that of the parasitic maluva creeper. The creeper grows on the tree and crushes it into destruction. The evil doer's action also crushes himself in that way. It can be observed that those actions which harm the self or others can be done easily while those actions which do good to the self or others are difficult to do.

It is important that one helps others but he should make sure that in the process of helping others he doesn't hinder his spiritual progress. At any point of time one should be well aware of his spiritual goals and strive hard towards achieving it.

There are 10 verses in this chapter:

Verse 157:

If you hold yourself dear

then guard, guard yourself well.

The wise person would stay awake

nursing himself

in any of the three watches of the night,

the three stages of life.

Verse 158:

First he'd settle himself

in what is correct,

only then teach others.

He wouldn't stain his name

: he is wise.

Verse 159:

If you'd mold yourself

the way you teach others,

then well trained,

go ahead and tame-

for , as they say,

what's hard to tame is

you yourself.

Verse 160:

Your own self is

your own mainstay,

for who else could your mainstay be?

With you yourself- well trained

you obtain the mainstay hard to obtain.

Verse 161:

The evil he himself has done

-self born, self created-

grinds down the dullard,

as a diamond, as a precious stone.

Verse 162:

When overspread by extreme vice-

like a sal tree by a vine-

you do to yourself

what an enemy would wish.

Verse 163:

They're easy to do-

things of no good

and of no use to yourself.

What's truly useful and good

is truly harder than hard to do.

Verse 164:

The teaching of those

who live the Dhamma,

worthy ones, noble:

whoever maligns it

- a dullard -

inspired by evil view-

bears fruit for his own destruction,

like the fruiting of the bamboo.

Verse 165:

Evil is done by oneself

by oneself is one defiled.

Evil is left undone by oneself

by oneself is one cleansed.

Purity and impurity are ones own doing.

No one purifies another.

No other purifies one.

Verse 166:

Don't sacrifice your own welfare

for that of another,

no matter how great.

Realizing your own true welfare,

be intent on just that.

Bookmark this post:

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Dhammapada - Chapter 11 - Ageing

First of all I would like to express my apologies for not updating my blog for a long time. Now we will continue our journey through Dhammapada.

Life's most traumatic experiences are OLD AGE, DISEASE and DEATH. These are the very experiences which awakened the Buddha and lead him to enlightenment. This chapter talks about the first of these - Ageing.

The verses explain the impermanence of this body. It gets diseased, loses its strength, and death puts an end to it. One has passion towards the body but after death this body is thrown away and one can see bones and skull strewn around. Seeing this nobody feels the lust. The human body decays but the experience of truth of never decays. The calm one experiences this truth. Buddha concludes this Chapter withe verse saying that most people spend their life squandering the precious days with no thought about the inevitable old age that will overtake them. Youth is allowed to slip by without having garnered either material or spiritual wealth. The Buddha's admonition to mankind in this passage, is that they must, in time, become mindful of the passage of time and the speedy fading of the glamor of youth.

There are 11 verses in this chapter.

Verse 146:

What laughter, why joy,

when constantly aflame?

Enveloped in darkness,

don't you look for lamp?

Verse 147:

Look at the beautiful image,

a heap of festering wounds, shored up:

ill, but the object of many resolves,

where there is nothing lasting or sure.

Verse 148:

Worn out is this body,

a nest of diseases, dissolving.

This putrid conglomeration

is bound to break up,

for life is hemmed in with death.

Verse 149:

On seeing these bones discarded

like gourds in the fall,

pigeon gray: what delight?

Verse 150:

A city made of bones,

plastered over with flesh and blood,

whose hidden treasures are:

pride and contempt,

ageing and death.

Verse 151:

Even royal chariots

well embellished

get run down,

and so does the body

succumb to old age.

But the Dhamma of the good

doesn't succumb to old age:

the good let the civilized know.

Verse 152:

This unlistening man

matures like an ox.

His muscles develop,

his discernment not.

Verse 153-154:

Through the round of many births I roamed

without reward, without rest,

seeking the house builder.

Painful is birth again and again.

House builder you are seen!

You will not build a house again.

All your rafters broken,

the ridge pole destroyed,

gone to the Unformed, the mind

has come to the end of craving.

Verse 155-156:

Neither living the chaste life

nor gaining wealth in their youth,

they away like herons

in a dried-up lake

depleted of fish.

Neither living the chaste life

nor gaining wealth in their youth,

they he around,

misfired the bow,

sighing over old times.

The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations (See all Buddhism Books)
The Dhammapada (Classics of Indian Spirituality) (See all Buddhism Sacred Writings Books)
Dhammapada, a collection of verses; being one of the canonical books of the Buddhists
The Dhammapada (See all Zen Books)
Dhammapada, a collection of verses; being one of the canonical books of the Buddhists

Bookmark this post:

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Dhammapada - Chapter 10 - The Rod

The 10th Chapter of Dhammapada is based on the concept of punishment. All are frightened of being hurt or any threat to one's life. To all life is dear. Seeing that others see the same way as oneself, equating others to oneself, refrain from harming or killing. People who like to be happy are in search of pleasure hurt others through various acts of violence for their own happiness. These victims too want to be happy as much as those who inflict pain on them. Those who inflict pain do not achieve happiness even in their next birth.

To know further read the verses that follow. There are 17 verses in this chapter:

Verse 129

All tremble at the rod,

all are fearful of death.

Drawing the parallel to yourself,

neither kill nor get others to kill.

Verse 130

All tremble at the rod,

hold their life dear.

Drawing the parallel to yourself,

neither kill nor get others to kill.

Verse 131

Whoever takes a rod

to harm living beings desiring ease,

when he himself is looking for ease,

will meet with no ease after death.

Verse 132

Whoever doesn't take a rod

to harm living beings desiring ease,

when he himself is looking for ease,

will meet with ease after death.

Verse 133

Speak harshly to no one,

or the words will be thrown

right back at you.

Contentious talk is painful,

for you get struck by rods in return.

Verse 134

If, like a flattened metal pot

you don't resound,

you have attained an Unbinding;

in you there's found

no contention.

Verse 135

As a cowherd with a rod

drives cows to the field,

so ageing and death

drive the life of living beings.

Verse 136

When doing evil deeds,

the fool is oblivious.

The dullard is tormented

by his own deeds,

as if burned by a fire.

Verse 137-140

Whoever, with a rod,

harasses an innocent man, unarmed,

quickly falls into any of the ten things:

harsh pains, devastation, a broken body,

grave illness, mental derangement, trouble

with the government, violent slander, relatives lost,

property dissolved, houses burned down.

At the break-up of the body

this one with no discernment,

reappears in hell.

Verse 141

Neither nakedness nor matted hair

nor mud nor the refusal of food

nor sleeping on the bare ground

nor dust and dirt nor squatting austerities

cleanses the mortal

who's not gone beyond doubt.

Verse 142

If, though adorned, one lives in tune

with the chaste life

-calmed, tamed and assured-

having put down the rod towards other beings,

he's a contemplative, a brahmin, a monk.

Verse 143

Who in the world

is a man constrained by conscience,

who awakens to censure

like a fine stallion to whip.

Verse 144

Like a fine stallion

struck with a whip,

be ardent and chastened.

Through conviction, virtue,

persistence, concentration, judgment,

consummate in knowledge and conduct,

mindful,

you will abandon this non-insignificant pain.

Verse 145

Irrigators guide the water.

Fletchers shape the arrow shaft.

Carpenters shape the wood.

Those of good practices control themselves.

For further reading:

The Dhammapada: With Introductory Essays, Pali Text, English Translation and Notes (Oxford India Paperbacks)
Dhammapada
The Still Point Dhammapada: Living the Buddha's Essential Teachings
The Voice of the Buddha: The Dhammapada and other key Buddhist teachings
The Book Of The Books: Discourses On The Dhammapada Of Gautam The Buddha (Book of the Books)

Bookmark this post:

Friday, January 21, 2011

Dhammapada - Chapter 9 - The Evil

The ninth chapter of Dhammapada focuses on the evils of doing evil and the merits of doing merit. It says - Any act which is virtuous, which is meritorious should be done quickly without a delay because if one were to perform meritorious action hesitantly, his mind would start taking delight in the evil. Sometimes a person may do evil but he should be careful enough not to do it again and again. Accumulation of evil is painful whereas accumulation of merit brings happiness. Evil seems sweet until it ripens.

Some tend to believe that evil can be taken lightly. Their attitude to wrong-doing is that they can get away with anything whatsoever. But evil accumulates little by little-very much like a water pot being filled drop by drop. Little by little the evil accumulates until he is filled by it.

The underlying message of this chapter is that one should always perform good deeds and keep away from evil activities.

There are 13 verses in this Chapter:

Verse 116

Be quick in doing what's admirable.

Restrain your mind from what is evil.

When you are slow in making merit,

evil delights the mind.

Verse 117

If a person does evil,

he shouldn't do it again and again,

shouldn't develop a penchant for it.

To accumulate evil brings pain.

Verse 118

If a person makes merit,

he should do it again and again,

should develop a penchant for it.

To accumulate merit brings ease.

Verse 119

Even the evil meet with good fortune

as long as their evil has yet to mature.

But when it's matured

that's when they meet with evil.

Verse 120

Even the good meet with bad fortune

as long as their good has yet to mature.

But when it's matured

that's when they meet with good fortune.

Verse 121

Don't be heedless of evil

(It won't come to me).

A water jar fills,

even with water falling in drops.

With evil, even if bit by bit,

habitually - the fool fills himself full.

Verse 122

Don't be heedless of evil

(It won't come to me).

A water jar fills,

even with water falling in drops.

With merit, even if bit by bit,

habitually - the enlightened one fills himself full.

Verse 123

Like a merchant with a small

but well laden caravan - a dangerous road,

like a person who loves life - a poison,

one should avoid - evil deeds.

Verse 124

If there's no wound on the hand,

that hand can hold poison.

Poison would penetrate

where there's no wound.

There's no evil for those

who don't do it.

Verse 125

Whoever harasses an innocent man,

a man pure, without blemish:

the evil comes right back to the fool

like fine dust thrown against the wind.

Verse 126

Some are born in the human womb,

evildoers in hell,

those on the good course go to heaven,

while those without effluent: totally unbound.

Verse 127

Not up in the air,

nor in the middle of the sea,

nor going into a cleft in the mountains

-nowhere on earth-

is a spot to be found

where you could stay and escape

your evil deed.

Verse 128

Not up in the air,

nor in the middle of the sea,

nor going into a cleft in the mountains

-nowhere on earth-

is a spot to be found

where you could stay and not

succumb to death.

Chapter 10 will be continued in the next blog post.

The Dhammapada (Book and Audio-CD Set): Teachings of the Buddha
The Dhammapada
The Way of the Buddha: The Illustrated Dhammapada (Gift Book)
Dhammapada: Essential Teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha (Tibetan Translation Series)
WISDOM OF THE BUDDHA: The Unabridged Dhammapada

Bookmark this post:

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Dhammapada - Chapter 8 - Thousands

Chapter 8 of Dhammapada is based on the theme of thousands. To sum up in one sentence, the core of this chapter is quality is better than quantity. One good thing is better than thousand bad things. Expressions replete with thousands of words are of no value. One meaningful word is more valuable, if hearing it one is pacified. A poem replete with thousands of verses is of no value if it has no useful meaning. One single stanza pregnant with wisdom is more valuable, if hearing it one is pacified. As in all the chapters this chapter also stresses the importance of self control. It says that a person who has conquered the Self is of more value than a person who has conquered thousands of men in a battle. Self conquest is greater than the conquest of others. The victory of one who conquers the Self cannot be turned into defeat. He remains a self controlled individual who lives ever disciplined.

Read on all the verses to get the whole content of this chapter. There are 16 verses in this chapter:

Verse 100

Better than if there were thousands

of meaningless words is

one meaningful word

that on hearing brings peace.

Verse 101

Better than if there were thousands

of meaningless verses is

one meaningful verse

that on hearing brings peace.

Verse 102

And better than chanting hundreds

of meaningless verses is

one Dhamma - saying

that on hearing brings peace.

Verse 103 - 105

Greater in battle

than the man who would conquer

a thousand - thousand men,

is who would conquer just one - himself.

Better to conquer yourself than others.

When you have trained yourself,

living in constant self control,

neither a deva nor a gandhabba,

nor a Mara banded with Brahmas,

could turn that triumph

back into defeat.

Verse 106

You could, month by month,

at a cost of thousands,

conduct sacrifices a hundred times

pay a single moment's homage

to one person, self cultivated.

Better than a hundred years of sacrifice

would that homage be.

Verse 107

You could, for a hundred years,

live in a forest tending a fire,

pay a single moment's homage

to one person, self cultivated.

Better than a hundred years of sacrifice

would that homage be.

Verse 108

Everything offered or sacrificed in the world

for an entire year by one seeking merit

doesn't come to a fourth.

Better to pay respect to those

who have gone the straight way.

Verse 109

If you are respectful by habit

constantly honoring the worthy,

four things increase:

long life, beauty, happiness, strength.

Verse 110

Better than one hundred years

lived without virtue, uncentered, is

one day lived by a virtuous person

absorbed in jhana.

Verse 111