Buddha Words

Just as a tree, though cut down, sprouts up again if its roots remain uncut and firm, even so, until the craving that lies dormant is rooted out, suffering springs up again and again.

—Dhammapada 338

Light the Lamp of Wisdom in Your Heart.

I kindle the light within my self.
It is the constant light of wisdom.
My mind is always concentrated.
I live my enlightened life with a liberated mind.

The light should be kindled in your heart.
A well-trained mind shines brightly.

the Dhamma of the Buddha is the lake with the shores of virtue.
Living with a still mind is always praised by the noble people.
Those skilled Dhamma practitioners bathe in that lake.
They cross to the far shore without getting wet.

- Buddha, SN 7.9 Sundarika Sutta

A List of Difficulties and an Exhortation to Cultivate

It is difficult to give when one is poor.
It is difficult to study the Way when one has wealth and status.
It is difficult to abandon life and face the certainty of death.
It is difficult to encounter the Buddhist sutras.
It is difficult to be born at the time of a Buddha.
It is difficult to be patient with lust and desire.
It is difficult to see fine things and not seek them.
It is difficult to be insulted and not become angry.
It is difficult to have power and not abuse it.
It is difficult to come in contact with things and have no thought of them.
It is difficult to get rid of pride.
It is difficult to practice equanimity of mind.
It is difficult not to gossip.
It is difficult to meet a Good and Wise Advisor.
It is difficult to see one's own nature and study the Dharma.
It is difficult to see a state and not be moved by it.
It is difficult to have a good understanding of skill-in-means.

- Sutra in Forty Two Sections

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Abhaya Paritta - The Danger-free Protection


Having revered the jewel of the Buddha,
the highest, most excellent medicine,
the welfare of human & heavenly beings: Through the Buddha’s majesty & safety, may all obstacles vanish. May your sufferings grow totally calm.

Having revered the jewel of the Dhamma,
the highest, most excellent medicine,
the stiller of feverish passion:
Through the Dhamma’s majesty & safety,
may all obstacles vanish.
May your fears grow totally calm.

Having revered the jewel of the Saṅgha,
the highest, most excellent medicine,
worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality:
Through the Saṅgha’s majesty & safety,
may all obstacles vanish.
May your diseases grow totally calm.

Are you oblivious to the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death?

There is no guarantee that you will survive, even past this very day! The time has come [for you] to develop perseverance in [your] practice.

For, at this singular opportunity, you could attain the everlasting bliss [of nirvāṇa]. So now is [certainly] not the time to sit idly, But, starting with [the reflection on] death, you should bring your practice to completion!

The moments of our life are not expendable, And the [possible] circumstances of death are beyond imagination.

If you do not achieve an undaunted confident security now, What point is there in your being alive, O living creature?

- Padmasambhava

Asubha: Protective Meditation on Impurities of the Body

Seeing this body as impure when it is dead, without consciousness, and also impure when alive with consciousness, one should meditate on its foulness.

The thirty-two impurities of one’s body are disgusting in colour, and sign, foul smell, position and space where impure parts connect together.

The impurities within the body are more disgusting than those that fall from it, since impurities that fall from body may touch even pure things, but inner impure parts rest just on impurities.

Like a worm born in filth, this body was also born in filth. Like a cesspit that is full, this body is full of filth.

Just as fat pours from an over flowing pot, likewise impure things always flow from this body. Like a cesspit full of filth, this body is the home to various kinds of worms.

This body suffers from boils, diseases, aches and pain like a wound that is incurable. It is extremely repulsive. This impure body indeed is subject to destruction.

The Supreme Dhamma King

I realized everything that should be realized.

I developed everything that should be developed.

I eliminated everything that should be eliminated.

I have attained the most supreme state. I am unbeatable.

I defeated the army of Māra. Having overcome all enemy powers, I live happily seeing no fear from any direction.

It is truly difficult to often have the appearance of such a rare being in the world.

Dear Brāhmin, I am an unsurpassed Dhamma surgeon. The Dhamma Wheel that I turn cannot be turned back by anyone in the world.

I am the Buddha.
I am the Supreme Buddha.

- Theragāthā 16.6

After seeing the Awakened One,
the Buddha, kinsman of the Sun,
they revere him from afar,
the one great of heart and intrepid

Homage to you, O thoroughbred!
Homage to you, supreme among men!
We bow to Gotama the victor,
We bow to Gotama the awakened!’

-Āṭānāṭiya Sutta

If a mortal desires sensual pleasure
and their desire succeeds,
they definitely become elated,
having got what they want.

But for that person in the throes of pleasure,
aroused by desire,
if those pleasures fade,
it hurts like an arrow’s strike.

One who, being mindful,
avoids sensual pleasures
like side-stepping a snake’s head,
transcends attachment to the world.

There are many objects of sensual desire:
fields, lands, and gold; cattle and horses;
slaves and servants; women and relatives.
When a man lusts over these,

the weak overpower him
and adversities crush him.
Suffering follows him
like water in a leaky boat.

That’s why a person, ever mindful,
should avoid sensual pleasures.
Give them up and cross the flood,
as a bailed-out boat reaches the far shore

—Kāma Sutta

Live the teachings yourself

A senior monk recently told me of an occasion when he was abused online over a certain teaching that he had given. His tone of voice as he told me the story was even and natural. It was immediately clear that his reason for telling me was not to defend himself or let off steam. He simply considered that the whole matter was instructional. Any impact on him or his reputation was incidental. What he wanted to impress upon me were the consequences of shoddy scholarship.

I have often felt that it is in seeing teachers embody the Dhamma that i have learnt the most in my life, more even than listening to their discourses. Criticism, especially unfair criticism, is hard to deal with. It is a blessing to be in the presence of one whose mind is such that harsh words aimed at them dissolve in the void, as if they were daubed in thin air.

People often ask me how to inspire their parents or children in Buddhadhamma. My advice is to first seek to live the teachings yourself. In words attributed to Anton Chekhov: "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass"

Ajahn Jayasāro

Thig 6:6 Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī

Awakened! Hero! Homage to you,
highest of all beings—
you who’ve released me
and many other people
from suffering!

I’ve comprehended all stress,
dried up craving, the cause,
developed the eightfold path,
and touched cessation.

Not knowing things as they were,
I wandered on without respite.
But now that I’ve seen the Blessed One,
this is my last body-heap.

Birth & wandering-on
are totally ended.
There is now
no further becoming.

I see the disciples gathered,
their persistence aroused,
resolute, constant
in strong exertion:
This is the worship of the Buddhas.

Truly for the benefit of the many
did Māyā give birth to Gotama,
thrusting away the mass of pain
of those mired in illness & death.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Thig/thig6_6.html

Saṁyutta Nikāya
SN 7.14 Mahāsāla Sutta:
Father

At the city of Sāvatthī…

Then a certain father of the brahmin caste wearing a dirty shabby outfit, went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side. The Buddha asked him, “Dear father, why are you wearing a dirty shabby outfit?”

“Master Gotama, I have four sons. At their wives’ order my sons chased me out from my house.”

“Well then, father, memorize these verses that I am going to teach you now and recite them when your sons are all seated in the assembly hall with a large crowd.”

The Buddha:

“I was overjoyed when my sons were born,
and wished for them the very best.
But at their wives’ order they chased me out,
as dogs chase out a pig.

“These nasty sons are mean,
though they called me dear dad.
They’re cruel demons in the shape of sons,
throwing me out as I’ve grown old.

“Like an old, useless horse,
led away from its fodder,
the elderly father of those fools,
begs for food at others’ homes.

“Even my walking stick is better,
than those disobedient sons,
because this stick drives off a wild bull,
and even a wild dog.

“It goes before me in the dark,
on uneven grounds it supports me.
By the wonderful power of this stick,
when I stumble, I stand firm again.”

Having memorized those verses taught by the Buddha, the father recited them when his sons were all seated in the assembly hall with a large crowd.

“I was overjoyed when my sons were born,
and wished for them the very best.
But at their wives’ order they chased me out,
as dogs chase out a pig.

“Like an old, useless horse,
led away from its fodder,
the elderly father of those fools,
begs for food at others’ homes.

“Even my walking stick is better,
than those disobedient sons,
because this stick drives off a wild bull,
and even a wild dog.

“These ungrateful sons are mean,
though they called me dear dad.
They’re cruel demons in the shape of sons,
throwing me out as I’ve grown old.”

Then those sons brought him back home, bathed him, and gave him two new cloths.

Then the father, taking one of the cloths, went to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha, “Master Gotama, as you know I am from the brahmin caste and according to our tradition we offer gifts to our teachers. Master Gotama is also one of my teachers now. May Master Gotama please accept my gift!”

So the Buddha accepted the cloth out of compassion. Then the father said to the Buddha, “Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent! Just as if someone turned upright, what was upside down, revealed what was hidden, pointed out the path to whoever was lost, or lit a lamp in the dark so people with good eyes could see what’s there, Master Gotama taught me the Dhamma, which is clear in many ways. I go for refuge to Master Gotama, to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha. From this day forth, may Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge to the Triple Gem for as long as I live.”

https://suttafriends.org/sutta/sn7-14/

Sabbitiyo vivajjantu
sabbarogo vinassatu
ma te bhavatuantarayo
sukhi dighayuko bhava

May all misfortunes be averted.
May all diseases be cured.
May you never face any danger.
May you live long and happily.

-Buddha, Āṭānāṭiya Paritta