From the Dhammapada
The
Dhammapada is a collection of 423 Buddhist aphorisms or teachings intended to provide ethical guidance. The poetic and sometimes profound sayings of the
Dhammapada, which can be translated as "Way of Truth," are attributed to Buddha, who founded Buddhism in India in the 6th century BC. These writings, part of the sacred Sutra Pitaka, illustrate the Buddhist dhamma, or moral system. The following excerpt deals with the human mind and the consequences of immoral actions.
From the
Dhammapada
The Mind
33 The mind is wavering and restless, difficult to guard and restrain: let the wise man straighten his mind as a maker of arrows makes his arrows straight.
34 Like a fish which is thrown on dry land, taken from his home in the waters, the mind strives and struggles to get free from the power of Death.
35 The mind is fickle and flighty, it flies after fancies wherever it likes: it is difficult indeed to restrain. But it is a great good to control the mind; a mind self-controlled is a source of great joy.
36 Invisible and subtle is the mind, and it flies after fancies wherever it likes; but let the wise man guard well his mind, for a mind well guarded is a source of great joy.
37 Hidden in the mystery of consciousness, the mind, incorporeal, flies alone far away. Those who set their mind in harmony become free from the bonds of death.
38 He whose mind is unsteady, who knows not the path of Truth, whose faith and peace are ever wavering, he shall never reach fullness of wisdom.
39 But he whose mind in calm self-control is free from the lust of desires, who has risen above good and evil, he is awake and has no fear.
40 Considering that this body is frail like a jar, make your mind strong like a fortress and fight the great fight against MARA, all evil temptations. After victory guard well your conquests, and ever for ever watch.
41 For before long, how sad! this body will lifeless lie on the earth, cast aside like a useless log.
42 An enemy can hurt an enemy, and a man who hates can harm another man; but a man's own mind, if wrongly directed, can do him a far greater harm.
43 A father or a mother, or a relative, can indeed do good to a man; but his own right-directed mind can do to him a far greater good.
Good and Evil
116 Make haste and do what is good; keep your mind away from evil. If a man is slow in doing good, his mind finds pleasure in evil.
117 If a man does something wrong, let him not do it again and again. Let him not find pleasure in his sin. Painful is the accumulation of wrongdoings.
118 If a man does something good, let him do it again and again. Let him find joy in his good work. Joyful is the accumulation of good work.
119 A man may find pleasure in evil as long as his evil has not given fruit; but when the fruit of evil comes then that man finds evil indeed.
120 A man may find pain in doing good as long as his good has not given fruit; but when the fruit of good comes then that man finds good indeed.
121 Hold not a sin of little worth, thinking 'this is little to me'. The falling of drops of water will in time fill a water-jar. Even so the foolish man becomes full of evil, although he gather it little by little.
122 Hold not a deed of little worth, thinking 'this is little to me'. The falling of drops of water will in time fill a water-jar. Even so the wise man becomes full of good, although he gather it little by little.
123 Let a man avoid the dangers of evil even as a merchant carrying much wealth, but with a small escort, avoids the dangers of the road, or as a man who loves his life avoids the drinking of poison.
124 As a man who has no wound on his hand cannot be hurt by the poison he may carry in his hand, since poison hurts not where there is no wound, the man who has no evil cannot be hurt by evil.
125 The fool who does evil to a man who is good, to a man who is pure and free from sin, the evil returns to him like the dust thrown against the wind.
126 Some people are born on this earth; those who do evil are reborn in hell; the righteous go to heaven; but those who are pure reach NIRVANA.
127 Neither in the sky, nor deep in the ocean, nor in a mountain-cave, nor anywhere, can a man be free from the evil he has done.
128 Neither in the sky, nor deep in the ocean, nor in a mountain-cave, nor anywhere, can a man be free from the power of death.
Source: The Dhammapada. Translated by Mascaro, Juan. Penguin Books.
