Trembling and quivering is the mind, Difficult to guard and hard to restrain. The person of wisdom sets it straight, As a fletcher does an arrow. The Dhammapadaintroduced the actual utterances of the Buddha nearly twenty-five hundred years ago, when the master teacher emerged from his long silence to illuminate for his followers the substance of humankind's deepest and most abiding concerns. The nature of the self, the value of relationships, the importance of moment-to-moment awareness, the destructiveness of anger, the suffering that attends attachment, the ambiguity of the earth's beauty, the inevitability of aging, the certainty of deaththese dilemmas preoccupy us today as they did centuries ago. No other spiritual texts speak about them more clearly and profoundly than does theDhammapada. In this elegant new translation, Sanskrit scholar Glenn Wallis has exclusively referred to and quoted from the canonicalsuttasthe presumed earliest discourses of the Buddhato bring us the heartwood of Buddhism, words as compelling today as when the Buddha first spoke them. On violence:All tremble before violence./ All fear death./ Having done the same yourself,/ you should neither harm nor kill. On ignorance:An uninstructed person/ ages like an ox,/ his bulk increases,/ his insight does not. On skillfulness:A person is not skilled/ just because he talks a lot./ Peaceful, friendly, secure/ that one is called "skilled." In 423 verses gathered by subject into chapters, the editor offers us a distillation of core Buddhist teachings that constitutes a prescription for enlightened living, even in the twenty-first century. He also includes a brilliantly informative guide to the versesa chapter-by-chapter explication that greatly enhances our understanding of them. The text, at every turn, points to practical applications that lead to freedom from fear and suffering, toward the human state of spiritual virtuosity known asawakening. Glenn Wallis's translation is an inspired successor to earlier versions of thesuttas. Even those readers who are well acquainted with theDhammapadawill be enriched by this fresh encounter with a classic text From the Hardcover edition.

GLENN WALLIS has a Ph.D. in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Harvard. He is assistant professor of religion at the University of Georgia and the author of Mediating the Power of Buddhas and numerous articles.


From the Hardcover edition.

Buddha: THE DHAMMAPADA

CHAPTER ONE

ji

Contrasting Pairs

ymkvGgo

Preceded by mind

are phenomena,

led by mind,

formed by mind.

If with mind polluted

one speaks or acts,

then pain follows,

as a wheel follows

the draft ox’s foot.(1)*

Preceded by mind

are phenomena,

led by mind,

formed by mind.

If with mind pure

one speaks or acts,

then ease follows,

as an ever-present shadow.(2)*

“He berated me! He hurt me!

He beat me! He deprived me!”

For those who hold such grudges,

hostility is not appeased.(3)

“He berated me! He hurt me!

He beat me! He deprived me!”

For those who forgo such grudges,

hostility ceases.(4)

In this world

hostilities are never

appeased by hostility.

But by the absence of hostility

are they appeased.

This is an interminable truth.(5)*

Some do not understand

that we are perishing here.

Those who understand this

bring to rest their quarrels.(6)

Living with an eye to pleasure,

unrestrained in the sense faculties,

immoderate in eating, indolent, and idle—

M¯ara overcomes such a person,

as the wind overcomes a weak tree.(7)*

Living without an eye to pleasure,

well restrained in the sense faculties,

moderate in eating, faithful, and energetic—

M¯ara does not overcome such a person,

as the wind, a rocky hill.(8)*

A stained person

who would wear the yellow-stained robe,

although neither honest nor restrained,

is not worthy of the yellow-stained.(9)*

But a person

who has dispelled his stain,

well set on virtuous ways,

both honest and restrained,

that one is worthy of the yellow-stained.(10)*

Those who hold the worthless to be of value,

and see in the valuable the worthless,

do not attain the valuable,

pasturing, as they are, in the field of wrong intention.(11)*

But having understood the valuable as the valuable,

and the worthless as the worthless,

they attain the valuable,

pasturing, as they are, in the field of right intention.(12)*

Just as rain pierces

a poorly roofed house,

so passion pierces

an uncultivated mind.(13)*

Just as rain cannot pierce

a well-roofed house,

so passion cannot pierce

a well-cultivated mind.(14)*

In this world he grieves.

In the world beyond he grieves.

In both worlds, the harm doer grieves.

He grieves, he is struck down by sorrow,

having seen the impurity of his own actions.(15)*

In this world he rejoices.

In the world beyond he rejoices.

In both worlds, the virtuous person rejoices.

He rejoices, he is uplifted,

having seen the purity of his own actions.(16)*

In this world he suffers.

In the world beyond he suffers.

In both worlds, the harm doer suffers.

Thinking, “I have acted destructively!” he suffers.

Taking an unfortunate rebirth,

he suffers even more.(17)*

In this world he is delighted.

In the world beyond he is delighted.

In both worlds, the virtuous person is delighted.

Thinking, “I have created value!” he is delighted.

Taking a fortunate rebirth,

he is delighted even more.(18)*

Although reciting many religious texts,

if one does not practice accordingly,

he is a heedless man.

Like a cowherd counting the cows of others,

he has no share in the religious life.(19)*

Although reciting but little from religious texts,

if one is good, he lives in harmony with the teachings.

Abandoning passion, hatred, and delusion,

he possesses proper understanding, perfect purity of mind.

Showing no attachment to this world or beyond,

he has a share in the religious life.(20)*

Guide page 103


From the Hardcover edition.

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Excerpted from The Dhammapada: Verses on the Way by Buddha, Glenn Wallis
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.