Reflection offered in 2017

Riches mostly ruin the foolish,
but not those who seek the beyond.
Just as they dismiss the well-being of others and cause harm,
fools also ruin themselves.

Dhammapada v. 355

Reflection offered in 2017

Those who speak much
are not necessarily possessed of wisdom.
The wise can be seen to be at peace with life
and free from all enmity and fear.

Dhammapada v. 258

Reflection offered in 2017

Beware of devious thinking
and be aware of all that you dwell upon.
Renounce all unruly thought
and cultivate that which is wholesome.

Dhammapada v. 233

Reflection offered in 2017

If you find a good companion
of integrity and wisdom,
you will overcome all dangers
in joyous and caring company.

Dhammapada v. 328

Reflection offered in 2017

Hasten towards doing what is wholesome.
Restrain your mind from evil acts.
The mind that is slow to do good
can easily find pleasure in evil-doing.

Dhammapada v. 116

Reflection offered in 2017

Resembling a withered leaf,
you have the messenger
of death at your side.
Although a long journey lies ahead,
you have still made no provision.

Dhammapada v. 235

Reflection offered in 2017

Becoming lost in enjoyment brings sorrow;
becoming lost in enjoyment brings fear.
Being free in your experience of enjoyment means sorrow ceases,
so how could there be any fear?

Dhammapada v. 214

Reflection offered in 2017

Just as a sweet-smelling and beautiful lotus
can grow from a pile of discarded waste,
the radiance of a true disciple of the Buddha
outshines dark shadows cast by ignorance.

Dhammapada v. 58-59

Reflection offered in 2017

Come, view this world.
See it as an ornate festive carriage.
See how fools are entranced by their visions,
yet for the wise there is no attachment.

Dhammapada v. 171

Reflection offered in 2017

I say that those who contain anger
as a charioteer controls
a speeding chariot
are fully in charge of their lives;
others are merely keeping
their hands on the reins.

Dhammapada v. 222

Reflection offered in 2017

You should follow the ways
of those who are steadfast,
discerning, pure and aware,
just as the moon follows the path of the stars.

Dhammapada v. 208

Reflection offered in 2017

Let the dread of endless mediocrity
spur you into great effort,
like a well-trained horse
encouraged by the mere touch of the whip.
Relinquish the burden of endless struggle
with unapologetic confidence,
with purity of action, effort, concentration,
and by conscious and disciplined commitment
to the path.

Dhammapada v. 144

Reflection offered in 2017

Mistaking the false for the real
and the real for the false,
one suffers a life of falsity.

Dhammapada v. 11

Reflection offered in 2017

As a bee gathering nectar
does not harm or disturb
the colour and fragrance of the flower,
so do the wise move through the world.

Dhammapada v. 49

Reflection offered in 2017

Those possessed of profound wisdom,
who see what accords with the Way and what does not,
those who have attained to the peak of possibility,
I call great beings.

Dhammapada v. 403

Reflection offered in 2017

There are those who discover
they can completely abandon confused reactions
and become patient as the earth;
unmoved by anger, unshaken as a pillar,
unperturbed as a clear and quiet pool.

Dhammapada v. 95

Reflection offered in 2016

As a beautiful flower without fragrance
is disappointing,
so are wise words
without right action.

Dhammapada v. 51

Reflection offered in 2016

Hunger is the greatest affliction,
conditionality the greatest source of despair.
The wise, seeing this as it is,
realize liberation, the greatest joy.

Dhammapada v. 125

Reflection offered in 2016

Some are reborn as humans;
evil-doers are reborn in hell.
Doers of good are reborn in bliss.
and the pure enter the trackless land.

Dhammapada v. 126

Reflection offered in 2016

If you intentionally harman innocent person,
someone who is pure and blameless,
the harm will come back to you
like fine dust thrown into the wind.

Dhammapada v. 125