Selections from The Dhammapada – Chapters 9-13, Part 1 of 2

Buddha or Gautama Buddha, also known as Shakyamuni Buddha, was a great extraordinary spiritual Master from ancient India. He then shared the merits of His practice by providing a method for other sentient beings to be freed from the cycle of death and rebirth. Today, we are delighted to share with you “Selections from The Dhammapada, Chapters 9 and 10.”

CHAPTER 9 EVIL Verse 116 “One should make haste in doing good deeds; one should restrain one’s mind from evil; for the mind of one who is slow in doing good tends to take delight in doing evil.”

Verse 117 “If a man does evil, he should not do it again and again; he should not take delight in it; the accumulation of evil leads to dukkha (suffering).”

Verse 118 “If a man does what is good, he should do it again and again; he should take delight in it; the accumulation of merit leads to happiness.”

Verse 119-120 “Even an evil person may still find happiness so long as his evil deed does not bear fruit; but when his evil deed does bear fruit, he will meet with evil consequences. Even a good person may still meet with suffering so long as his good deed does not bear fruit: but when it does bear fruit, he will enjoy the benefits of his good deed.”

CHAPTER 10 THE ROD Verse 129 “All are afraid of the stick, all fear death. Putting oneself in another’s place, one should not beat or kill others.”

Verse 131-132 “He who seeks his own happiness by oppressing others, who also desire to have happiness, will not find happiness in his next existence. He who seeks his own happiness by not oppressing others, who also desire to have happiness, will find happiness in his next existence.”

Verse 133-134 “Do not speak harshly to anyone; those who are thus spoken to will retort. Malicious talk is indeed the cause of trouble and retribution will come to you. If you can keep yourself calm and quiet like a broken gong which is no longer resonant, you are sure to realize Nirvana; there will be no harshness in you.”

Verse 137-140 “He who does harm with weapons to those who are harmless and should not be harmed will soon come to any of these ten evil consequences: He will be subject to severe pain, or impoverishment, or injury to the body, or serious illness, or lunacy, or misfortunes following the wrath of the king, or wrongful and serious accusations, or loss of relatives, or destruction of wealth, or the burning down of his houses by fire or by lightning. After the dissolution of his body, the fool will be reborn in the plane of continuous suffering.”

Verse 143-144 “Rare in this world is the kind of person who out of a sense of shame restrains from doing evil and keeps himself awake. Be diligent and get alarmed by endless rounds of rebirths (samsara). By faith, morality, effort, concentration, discernment of the Dharma, be endowed with knowledge and practice of morality, and with mindfulness, leave this immeasurable suffering (of the cycle of birth, death and rebirth,) behind.”