The World
Don’t follow wrong laws; don’t be thoughtless; don’t believe false doctrines. Don’t follow the way of the world.
Wake up! Don’t be lazy. Follow the right path, avoid the wrong. You will be happy here as well as hereafter.
Look on the world as a bubble; look on it as a mirage. Then the King of Death cannot even see you. Come look at this world! Is it not like a painted royal chariot? The wise see through it, but not the immature.
When those who are foolish become wise, they give light to the world like the full moon breaking through the clouds. When their good deeds overcome the bad, they give light to the world like the moon breaking free from behind the clouds.
In this dark world, few can see. Like birds that free themselves from the net, only a few find their way to heaven. Swans fly on the path of the sun by their wonderful power; the wise rise above the world, after conquering Mara and his train.
He who transgresses the central law of life, who speaks falsely or scoffs at the life to come, is capable of any evil.
Misers do not go to the world of the gods; they do not want to give. The wise are generous, and go to a happier world.
Better than ruling this world, better than attaining the realm of the gods, better than being lord of all the worlds, is one step taken on the path to nirvana.
- Gautama Buddha, from ‘The Dhammapada.’ (Translation by Eknath Easwaran.)
Wake up! Don’t be lazy. Follow the right path, avoid the wrong. You will be happy here as well as hereafter.
Look on the world as a bubble; look on it as a mirage. Then the King of Death cannot even see you. Come look at this world! Is it not like a painted royal chariot? The wise see through it, but not the immature.
When those who are foolish become wise, they give light to the world like the full moon breaking through the clouds. When their good deeds overcome the bad, they give light to the world like the moon breaking free from behind the clouds.
In this dark world, few can see. Like birds that free themselves from the net, only a few find their way to heaven. Swans fly on the path of the sun by their wonderful power; the wise rise above the world, after conquering Mara and his train.
He who transgresses the central law of life, who speaks falsely or scoffs at the life to come, is capable of any evil.
Misers do not go to the world of the gods; they do not want to give. The wise are generous, and go to a happier world.
Better than ruling this world, better than attaining the realm of the gods, better than being lord of all the worlds, is one step taken on the path to nirvana.
- Gautama Buddha, from ‘The Dhammapada.’ (Translation by Eknath Easwaran.)
