Loving Kindness and Compassion
- Being angry is like holding on to hot coal with the intent to throw it, it only burns oneself.
- If a man foolishly does me wrong, I will return him the protection of my ungrudging love; the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go from me; the fragrance of goodness always comes from me, and the harmful air of evil goes to him. A wicked man who reproaches a virtuous one is like one who looks up and spits at heaven; the spittle soils not the heaven, but comes back and defiles his own person.
- Gifts are great, the founding of temples is meritorious, meditations and religious exercises pacify the heart, comprehension of the truth leads to Nirvana- but greater than all is loving kindness.
- He who struggles in the interest of self, so that he himself may be great or powerful or rich or famous, will have no reward, but he who struggles for righteousness and truth, will have great reward, for even in defeat will be a victory. Self is not a fit vessel to receive any great success; self is small and brittle its contents will soon split. Truth, however, is large enough to receive yearnings and aspirations of all selves and when the selves break like soap bubbles, their contents will be preserved and in the truth will lead a life everlasting.
- All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are unto them, and do not kill, or cause slaughter.
- How much confusion of thought comes from our interest in self, and from our vanity when thinking "I am so great," or "I have done this wonderful deed?"The thought of ego stands between your reason and truth; banish it, and then you will see things as they are.
- He who knows the nature of self and understands how the senses act, finds no room for selfishness, and thus will attain peace unending.
- The shoot springs from the see; the seed is not the shoot; both are not one in the same, but successive phases in a continuous growth. Such ins the birth of animated life.
- He who has found there is no self, will let go all the lusts and desires of egotism.
- Since there is no self, there can not be any after life of a self. But since there are deeds and since deeds continue, be careful with your deeds.
- Where self is, truth cannot be; yet when truth comes, self will disappear. Self is death, truth is life.
- People are in bondage because they have not yet removed the idea of the ego.
- I exhort you to avoid the ten evils. 1) Kill not, but have regard for life. 2) Steal not and do not rob, but help everybody to be master of the fruits of labor. 3) Abstain from impurity, and lead a life of chastity. 4) Lie no, be truthful. Speak the truth with discretion, fearlessly and in a loving heart. 5) Invent not evil reports, and do not repeat them. Carp not, but look for the good sides of your fellow beings. 6) Swear not, but speak decently, and with dignity. 7) Waste not time with gossip, but speak to the purpose to keep silence. 8) Covet not, nor envy, but rejoice at the fortunes of other people. 9) Cleanse your heart of malice and cherish no hatred, not even against your enemies; but embrace all living beings with kindness. 10) Free your mind of ignorance and be motivated to learn the truth, lest you fall prey either to skepticism or to errors. Skepticism will make you indifferent and errors will lead you astray.
- And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, hatred is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil; evil things are the root of evil.
- Surely if living creatures saw the results of all their evil deeds, they would turn away from them in disgust. But selfhood blinds them and they cling to desires.
- Indulge in lust but a little, and lust like a child will grow.
- And what is the origin of suffering? It is lust, passion, and the thirst for existence that yearns for pleasure everywhere, leading to continual rebirth.
- Since it is impossible to escape the results of our deeds, let us practice good works. Let us guard our thoughts that we do no evil, for as we sow so shall we reap. There are ways from light into darkness and from darkness into light.
- Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart "it will not come onto me." Even by the falling of water drops a pot is filled; the fool becomes full of evil, even if it's little by little. Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart "it will not come unto me." Even by the falling of water drops a pot is filled; the wise man becomes full of good, even if it's little by little.
- There was a man born blind, and he said: I do not believe in the world of light and appearance. There are no colors, bright or somber. There is no sun, no moon, no stars. No one has witnessed those things. His friends remonstrated with him, but he clung to his opinion: What you say that you see are illusions. If colors existed I should be able to touch them. They have no substance and are not real. Everything real has weight, but I do not feel weight where you see colors.
- Where does wisdom dwell? Is wisdom a locality? Is there no wisdom, no enlightenment, no righteousness, and no salvation because Nirvana is not a locality?
- Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than living in heaven, better than the lordship over all the worlds, is the fruit of holiness. I have recognized the illusory nature of wealth and I will not take poison as food. Will a fish that has been baited still covet the hook? or an escaped bird love the net?
- His heart is cleansed free from all defilements and free from all illusion. He is like a lotus which grows in the water, yet not a drop of the water adheres to its petals.
- There is O monks, a state where there is neither water, nor heat, nor air; neither infinity of space nor infinity of consciousness, nor nothingness, nor perception nor non-perception; neither this world nor that world, neither sun nor moon. It is the uncreate. That I term neither death nor birth. It is without stability, without change; it is eternal which never originates and never passes away. This is the end of sorrow.
- A man that stands a lone, having decided to obey the truth may be weak and slip back into his old ways. Therefore, stand ye together, assist one another, and strengthen one another's efforts.
- There is no distinction between the layman and the hermit, if both have banished the thought of self.
- Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give if you are asked; by these three steps you will become divine. You must make the efforts yourselves. The Tathagatas (Buddhas) are only teachers."
- Neither abstinence from fish and flesh, nor going naked, nor shaving head, nor dressing in rough garment, nor sacrificing to God, will cleanse a man who is not free from delusions. Anger, drunkenness, obstinacy, bigotry, deception, envy, self-praise, disparagement, superciliousness and evil intentions, constitute uncleanness.
- Lead others, not by violence, but by righteousness and equity. He who possesses virtue and intelligence, who is just, speaks the truth, and does what is his own business, him the world will hold dear. As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower, or its color or scent, so let a sage dwell in the community.
- If a traveler does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with fools.
- Mind foreruns conditions, mind is the chief mind-made are they; if one speaks or acts with wicked mind, then pain follows him a a wagon-wheel follows the hoof of a draught animal.
- By oneself is evil done, by oneself is one defiled, By oneself is evil not done, by oneself is one purified. Both defilement and purity depend on oneself. No one is purified by another.
- Life is instantaneous and living is dying. Just as the chariot-wheel in rolling rolls only at one point of the tire, and in resting rests at one point; in the same way the life of a living being lasts only for the period of one thought.
- By birth is not one an outcast (lowest caste in ancient India), By birth is not one a brahmin (highest caste in ancient India), By deeds is one an outcast, By deeds is one a brahmin.