Attachment arises from (wrong) conceptions, so know them as attachment's root. Avoid conceptualizations and attachment will not arise.
- Dhammapada
If you desire joy,
Completely forsake all attachment.
By forsaking completely all attachment
A most excellent ecstasy is found.
So long as (you) follow attachment
Satisfaction is never found.
Who ever reverses attachment
With wisdom attains satisfaction.
- Buddha
Whoever destroys living beings,
speaks false words, who in the world
takes that which is not given to him,
or goes too with another's wife,
or takes distilled, fermented drinks --
whatever man indulges thus
extirpates the roots of himself
even here in this very world.
- Dhammapada: 246-247
Rare is birth as a human being. Hard is the life of mortals. Hard it is to obtain the chance to listen to the Dhamma. Rare is the appearance of the Buddhas.
- Dhammapada
There's no fire like passion,
no seizure like anger,
no snare like delusion,
no river like craving.
- Dhammapada 251
Develop the mind of equilibrium.
You will always be getting praise and blame,
but do not let either affect the poise of the mind:
follow the calmness, the absence of pride.
Sutta Nipata
I was born into the world as the king of truth for the salvation of the world. The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to which I devote myself is truth. The topic of my conversation is truth. My thoughts are always in the truth. For lo! my self has become the truth. Whosoever comprehendeth the truth will see the Blessed One, for the truth has been preached by the Blessed One.
- Buddha
The Discourse of Loving Kindness
by the Buddha
This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness and who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: in gladness and in safety may all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to be born, omitting none,
May all beings be at ease.
Let none deceive another or despise any being in any state.
Let none, through anger of ill-will wish harm upon another.
Like a mother protects her child, her only child with her life,
So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings.
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies and downwards to the depths,
Outwards and unbounded, free from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.
From the Tathagata chapter of the Udanavarga; Gareth Sparham translator:
"Like people on a mountain peak look down on all below;
So too, those pure-hearted and free from pain,
Who reach the height of the Dharma abode,
Look down on all those suffering with the burdensome pain of birth and death,
And open the door to immortality.
You who want to hear, remove all doubt."
Wise Company gives good Advantage:
The blessed Buddha on Noble Friendship:
I am a friend and helper to all,
I am sympathetic to all living beings.
I develop a mind full of love & one
who always delight in harmlessness.
I gladden my mind, fill it with joy,
and make it immovable and unshakable.
I develop these divine states of mind
not cultivated by simple men.
Theragatha 648-9
I am a friend of the footless,
I am a friend of the bipeds;
I am a friend of those with four feet,
I am a friend of the many-footed.
May not the footless harm me,
may not the bipeds harm me,
may not those with four feet harm me,
and may not those with many feet harm me.
AN II 72
A friend who always lends a hand,
a friend both in sorrow and joy,
a friend who offers good counsel,
a friend who sympathizes too.
These are the four kinds of true friends:
one who is wise, having understood,
will always cherish and serve such friends
just as a mother tends her only child.
DN III, 188
Among tigers, lions, leopards & bears I lived on the wood.
No one was frightened of me, nor did I fear anyone.
Uplifted by such universal friendliness, I enjoyed the forest.
Finding great solace in such silent solitude.
Suvanna-sama Jataka 540
And how does a bhikkhu abide with his mind imbued with friendliness
extending over one direction? Just as he would feel friendliness on
seeing a dearly favourite person, so he extends loving-kindness
to all beings in all directions, as above so below.
Abhidhamma Pitaka: Appamaća-vibhanga
Bhikkhus, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not worth
one sixteenth part of the release of mind by universal friendliness;
in shining, glowing and beaming radiance such release of mind by
universal friendliness far excels & surpasses them all...
Itivuttaka 27
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
- Buddha
One should give up anger. One should abandon pride. One should overcome all fetters. Sorrow cannot touch one who does not cling to mind and body, and is thus passionless.
- Dhammapada
All conditioned dharmas [phenomena]
are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows,
like dew drops and a lightning flash:
contemplate them thus.
- Diamond Sutra
I, the great Seer, am the protector and father of all beings, and all creatures who, childlike, are captivated by the pleasures of the triple world, are my sons.
- Saddharma Pundarika Sutra
"Mere suffering is, not any sufferer is found
The deeds exist, but no performer of the deeds:
Nibbana is, but not the man that enters it,
The path is, but no wanderer is to be seen.
No doer of the deeds is found,
No one who ever reaps their fruits,
Empty phenomena roll on,
This view alone is right and true.
No god, no Brahma, may be called,
The maker of this wheel of life,
Empty phenomena roll on,
Dependent on conditions all."
- Visuddhimagga XVI 90
Editor's note: Pls do not misunderstand that there is no karma and karmic fruits, but there is no Self - all phenomena are empty, depending on conditions do they arise. [conditioned arisings]
The fool thinks he has won a battle when he bullies with harsh speech,
but knowing how to be forbearing alone makes one victorious.
- Samyutta Nikaya I, 163
Just as a mother would protect with her life her own son, her only son,
so one should cultivate an unbounded mind towards all beings, and loving-kindness towards all the world.
One should cultivate an unbounded mind, above and below and across, without obstruction, without enmity, without rivalry.
Standing, or going, or seated, or lying down, as long as one is free from drowsiness, one should practice this mindfulness.
This, they say, is the holy state here.
Sutta Nipata
Other people's faults are easily seen. One can winnow out other people's faults like chaff. One hides one's own faults though, like a dishonest gambler hides an unlucky throw. - 252 Dhammapada
The reputation of him who is energetic, mindful, pure in deed, considerate, self-controlled, right-living, and heedful steadily increases.
Shakyamuni Buddha
> The Dhammapada, chapter 2, verse 24
There are three attachments that are especially deep-seated in the minds of all: greed, anger and infatuation, which are based on lust, fear and pride. Back of these lies discrimination and desire which is procreative and is accompanied with excitement, avariciousness, and love of comfort and desire for eternal life; and, following, is a succession of rebirths on the five paths of existence and a continuation of attachments. But if these attachments are broken off, no signs of attachment nor of detachment will remain because they are based on things that are non-existent; when this truth is clearly understood the net of attachment is cleared away.
Shakyamuni Buddha
> The Lankavatara Sutra
People who are content, although they might sleep on the ground are peaceful and happy.
Those who are not content, although they might abide in the heavens, are still dissatisfied.
Those who are not content, even if they are wealthy, still they are poor.
Those who are content, although they might be poor, they are truly rich.
Those who are discontent are always dragged along by their five sense organs, and are pitied by those who are content.
Shakyamuni Buddha
> Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching
One thought of hatred/anger opens one million doors of obstructions. - Avatamsaka Sutra
When you yourself know:
'These things are good; these things are not blameable;
These things are praised by the wise;
Undertaken and observed,
These things lead to your welfare and happiness',
Then enter upon and abide in them.
- Buddha
Can we all give An Eternal Now a round of appreciation for enriching our minds with these wonderful verses?
It's like giving a sermon BUT where is the audience? At least there is no way of knowing that, doesn't it!
Keep up to good work!
