Sayings of Buddha on "Wrongs".
Rendered in haiku form.
This is ninth in the series. Check back for the earlier ones!
The image was originally Humphrey Bogart, because despite his faults, his character always comes good, but then it was changed to "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird" by Frida Kahlo.
Rendered in haiku form.
This is ninth in the series. Check back for the earlier ones!
The image was originally Humphrey Bogart, because despite his faults, his character always comes good, but then it was changed to "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird" by Frida Kahlo.
Directions:
Do good without thought,
Quickly! For if you are slow,
Doubt will catch you up.
If a man does wrong,
He should not repeat the wrong,
Or delight in it.
Set your heart on good.
Do it over and over
And be filled with joy.
A fool is happy
Till his wrongs turn against him
And lead to suffering.
The good may suffer
But in time, goodness bears fruit
And reaps sweet reward.
Don’t make light your wrongs,
For a jug fills drop by drop
Till brim with folly.
Don’t put down your strengths,
For a jug fills drop by drop
Till brim with virtue.
Valuing good deeds
And joy in those of others
Brings you joy also.
As merchants beware
Of dark ways where bandits hide,
So beware of wrongs.
As men who love life
Shun dangerous roads and poisons,
So the wise shun wrongs.
Poison cannot harm
The hand with no wound, so too
The pure bear no harm.
He who harms the pure,
The harm will blow back at him
Like dust in the wind.
Some are born in hell,
Some on earth, some in heaven,
But the pure aren’t born.
Nowhere in this world,
Not in sky or sea or cave
Can you hide from sin.
Nowhere in this world,
Not in sky or sea or cave
Can you hide from death.
Quickly! For if you are slow,
Doubt will catch you up.
If a man does wrong,
He should not repeat the wrong,
Or delight in it.
Set your heart on good.
Do it over and over
And be filled with joy.
A fool is happy
Till his wrongs turn against him
And lead to suffering.
The good may suffer
But in time, goodness bears fruit
And reaps sweet reward.
Don’t make light your wrongs,
For a jug fills drop by drop
Till brim with folly.
Don’t put down your strengths,
For a jug fills drop by drop
Till brim with virtue.
Valuing good deeds
And joy in those of others
Brings you joy also.
As merchants beware
Of dark ways where bandits hide,
So beware of wrongs.
As men who love life
Shun dangerous roads and poisons,
So the wise shun wrongs.
Poison cannot harm
The hand with no wound, so too
The pure bear no harm.
He who harms the pure,
The harm will blow back at him
Like dust in the wind.
Some are born in hell,
Some on earth, some in heaven,
But the pure aren’t born.
Nowhere in this world,
Not in sky or sea or cave
Can you hide from sin.
Nowhere in this world,
Not in sky or sea or cave
Can you hide from death.
Do good without thought,
ReplyDeleteQuickly! For if you are slow,
Doubt will catch you up.
If a man does wrong,
He should not repeat the wrong,
Or delight in it.
Love it!
He who harms the pure,
ReplyDeleteThe harm will blow back at him
Like dust in the wind.
Some are born in hell,
Some on earth, some in heaven,
But the pure aren’t born.
so many pearls.
where do the pure come from ? are they engendered by the less pure that change their ways? or are there no pure people at all?
ReplyDeleteThe image is Humphrey Bogart, because despite his faults, his character always comes good.-- to wit- lauren bacall.
ReplyDeleteLittle lights that shine, as reminders. Doesn't mean that they haven't committed their share of, mistakes, but they are little lights, to motivate us, to find our own little lights, inside.
ReplyDeleteTanks Rose, wacky avatar!
ReplyDeleteAh, I don't know if I believe in them either Billy, but they are the "arahants" who have mastered themselves, attained the ultimate Nibbana and are completely enlightened beings. The "sage" or wise meanwhile are those on the path towards enlightenment, often helping others along the way.
"the pure aren't born" can either be interpreted as meaning they are not re-born, and this is their final incarnation... for those who believe in it, but a more advanced interpretation might be that they are not born in every moment into the cycle of suffering (called samsara) because they have totally abandoned the ego.
There was actually a previous installment all about them called "Buddha on the Master"...
http://jamintoo.multiply.com/recipes/item/29
if someone called me an arahant from nibbana my first reaction wouldnt be very enlightened.
ReplyDeleteLol, they have gone beyond the concept of "me" and "mine" completely, so they wouldn't take offence, lol. Also, they've got free pass to do what they like, and break all the rules, because there is no "I" doing evil or breaking rules. The result of this is that there are people who have claimed to have been enlightened and then done some very unenlightened things. Like Osho, who should be judged by his work and not by his personal life. And if one as advanced as Osho can fall back in old age, it does raise the question of whether this concept of perfect enlightenment which cannot be taken away can really exist? Or are must we always be striving to "do better"...
ReplyDelete