The Dhammapada is an ancient source of wisdom.
The title comes from the Sanskrit world 'dharma' (dhamma in Pali), simply meaning the way of the universe, it's law of being, while 'pada' in both languages is a foot or a step.
The Dhammapada expresses both the law of the universe and how we can live in alignment with it while on earth.
What The Dhammapada Says
** HAPPINESS **
It is our duty to free ourselves from hate, disease, and restlessness. This is not to be done by rejecting the world, but by cultivating love, health, and calmness within. The ideal state is to "feed on joy", joy that can be self-generated, flowing from an ever-reliable source; one no longer has to rely on the events and conditions of the world for happiness. Self-contained, we see ambition and acquisition to be inferior to happiness.
**NON-ATTACHMENT**
Sorrow arises from what is dear, as does fear. For someone free from liking, there is no sorrow, so how could there be fear? But how can we not have likes and dislikes? Perhaps it is impossible, but we should know that strong desires have a price. It makes sense that if we are attached to something, we have an attendant fear of its loss. By witnessing the transitory nature of the world, and accepting whatever comes to us, we can reduce attachment and therefore fear and misery.
** SELF-MASTERY **
Discipline is all-important. The following verses speak for themselves: "By energy, vigilance, self-control, and self-mastery, the wise one may make an island that a flood cannot sweep away" ... "He who can be alone and rest alone and is never weary of his great work, he can live in joy, when master of himself, by the edge of the forest of desire."
** ENLIGHTENMENT **
The idea of leaving normal life behind and becoming a hermit can sometimes seem very attractive! But the Dhammapada says that taking solitary refuge is a sign of egocentrism or fear. We are better off dealing gracefully with the challenges of work and family life - through them we can become enlightened. Thomas Clearly, a Buddhist scholar, says that the key to teaching of The Dhammapada is "being in the world but not off the world."
**AVOID RETRIBUTION**
The following two statements are possibly the most profound in The Dhammapada, with implications for every aspect of human life and relationships:
"For hate is not conquered by hate, hate is conquered by love. This is a law eternal." ... "Overcome anger by non-anger, overcome evil by good. Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth."
Note that there is nothing in these statements about taking action; they simply mean that whatever is done must be consciously chosen, not an "emotional response."
** ACCEPT CRITICISM **
"They disparage one who remains silent, the disparage one who talks a lot, and they even disparage one who talks in moderation. There is no-one in the world who is not disparaged."
You can never please everyone! The main thing is to concentrate on your own work, your integrity - to be independent of the good opinion of others.
** THE PATH **
A conventional translation of the fifth saying in Chapter 20, "The Path," would be: "All is transient, all is sorrow. When one sees this, one is above misery. This is the clear path." Western culture has interpreted these statements as implying that life is suffering.
In fact, and as Clearly argues in his translation, Buddhism is inherently optimistic, believing that an individual, and humanity overall, can rise above its folly, fear, and aggression.
"When one sees by insight that all conditioned states are miserable, one then wearies of misery; this is the path to purity."
If we are independent of mind and do not let ourselves become robotic reflections of our environment, life will not equate suffering. Nirvana is not obliteration of the world of the senses, but being able to live within it in total independence. In Pali, 'nirvana' means "extinction" - of the afflictions of greed, hate, conceit, delusion,
doubt, and arbitrary opinion.
The famous "four statements" are central to Buddhism because they are the recipe for ending suffering:
*That misery or sorrow is a conditioned state.
*That it has a cause.
*That it has an end.
*That the way to end it is through practice of the eightfold path to Nirvana.
The eightfold path involves:
1. Accurate perception.
2. Accurate thinking.
3. Accurate speech.
4. Appropriate action.
5. Appropriate way of making a living ("right livelihood").
6. Precise effort.
7. Mindfulness.
8. Meditation.
Somehow we expect spiritual truths to be complicated, only understood by a keen theological mind. The sayings from The Dhammapada shows us just how unintellectual it all is. What may seem like empty platitudes are accurate instructions for the best imaginable life.
"There is the perfume of sandalwood, of rose-bay, of blue lotus and jasmine; but far above the perfume of those flowers, the perfume of virtue is supreme"
"Come and look at this world. It is like a royal painted chariot wherein fools sink. The wise are not imprisoned in the chariot."
"He who in early days was unwise but later found Wisdom, he sheds a light over the world like that of the moon when free from clouds."
"Better than a hundred years not seeing the Path supreme is one single day of life if one sees the Path supreme."
