The Gospel of Buddha

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* By oneself evil is done; by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is

left undone; by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong

to oneself, no one can purify another.

 

* You yourself must make an effort. The Tathagatas are only

preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the

bondage of Maya.

 

* He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise; who, though

young and strong, is full of sloth; whose will and thoughts are weak;

that lazy and idle man will never find the way to enlightenment.

 

* If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; the

truth guards him who guards himself.

 

* If a man makes himself as he teaches others to be, then, being

himself subdued, he may subdue others; one's own self, is indeed,

difficult to subdue.

 

* If some men conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, and

if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of conquerors.

 

* It is the habit of fools, be they laymen or members of the clergy,

to think, " this is done by me. May others be subject to me. In this

or that transaction, a prominent part should be played by me " . Fools

do not care for the duty to be performed or the aim to be reached,

but think of their self alone. Everything is but a pedestal of their

vanity.

 

* Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is

beneficial and good, that is very difficult.

 

* If anything is to be done, let a man do it, let him attack it

vigorously.

 

* Before long, alas! this body will lie on the earth, despised,

without understanding, like a useless log; yet our thoughts will

endure. They will be thought again, and will produce action. Good

thoughts will produce good actions and bad thoughts will produce bad

actions.

 

* Earnestness is the path of immortality, thoughtlessness the path of

death. Those who are in earnest do not die; those who are thoughtless

are as if dead already.

 

* Those who imagine they find truth in untruth, and see untruth in

truth, will never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires. They who

know truth in truth, and untruth in untruth, arrive at truth, and

follow true desires.

 

* As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break

through an unreflecting mind. As rain does not break through a well-

thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.

 

* Well-makers lead the water wherever they like; fletchets bend the

arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves;

wise people falter not amidst blame and praise. Having listened to

the law, they become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake.

 

* If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as

the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.

 

* An evil deed is better left undone, for a man will repent of it

afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it one will

not repent.

 

* If a man commits a wrong, let him not do it again; let him not

delight in wrongdoing; pain is the outcome of evil. If a man does

what is good, let him do it again; let him delight in it; happiness

is the outcome of good.

 

* Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart, " It will not

come nigh unto me " . As by the falling of water-drops, a water-pot is

filled, so the fool becomes full of evil, though he gathers it little

by little.

 

* Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart, " It will not

come nigh unto me " . As by the falling of water-drops, a water-pot is

filled, so the wise man becomes full of good, though he gathers it

little by little.

 

* He who lives for pleasure only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate

in his food, idle, and weak, him Maya, the tempter, will certainly

overthrow, as the wind throws down a weak tree. He who lives without

looking for pleasures, his senses well controlled, moderate in his

food, faithful and strong, him Maya will certainly not overthrow, any

more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain.

 

* The fool who knows his foolishness, is wise at least so far. But a

fool who thinks himself wise, he is a fool indeed.

 

* To the evil-doer, wrong appears sweet as honey; he looks upon it as

pleasant so long as it bears no fruit; but when its fruit ripens,

then he looks upon it as wrong. And so the good man looks upon the

goodness of the Dharma as a burden and an evil so long as it bears no

fruit; but when its fruit ripens, then he sees its goodness.

 

* A hater may do great harm to a hater, or an enemy to an enemy; but

a wrongly-directed mind will do greater mischief unto itself. A

mother, a father, or any other relative will do much good; but a well-

directed mind will do greater service unto itself.

 

* He, whose wickedness is very great, brings himself down to that

state where his enemy wishes him to be. He himself is his greatest

enemy. Thus a creeper destroys the life of a tree on which it finds

support.

 

* Do not direct thy thought to what gives pleasure, that thou mayest

not cry out when burning " This is pain " . The wicked man burns by his

own deeds, as if burnt by fire.

 

* Pleasures destroy the foolish; the foolish man, by his thirst for

pleasures, destroys himself as if he were his own enemy. The fields

are damaged by hurricanes and weeds; mankind is damaged by passion,

by hatred, by vanity, and by lust.

 

* Let no man ever take into consideration whether a thing is pleasant

or unpleasant. The love of pleasure begets grief and the dread of

pain causes fear; he, who is free from the love of pleasure and the

dread of pain, knows neither grief nor fear.

 

* He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to

meditation, forgetting the real aim of life and grasping at pleasure,

will in time envy him who has exerted himself in meditation.

 

* The fault of others is easily noticed, but that of oneself is

difficult to perceive. A man winnows his neighbour's faults like

chaff; but his own fault he hides, as a cheat hides the false die

from the gambler.

 

* If a man looks after the faults of others and is always inclined to

take offence, his own passions will grow, and he is far from the

destruction of passions.

 

* Not about the perversities of others, not about their sins of

commission or omission, but about his own misdeeds and negligences

alone should a sage be worried.

 

* Good people shine from afar, like the snowy mountains; bad people

are concealed, like arrows, shot by night.

 

* If a man by causing pain to others, wishes to obtain pleasure for

himself, he, entangled in the bonds of selfishness, will never be

free from hatred.

 

* Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good;

let him overcome the greedy by liberality; the liar by truth!

 

* For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by

not-hatred, this is an old rule.

 

* Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked; by

these three steps thou wilt become divine.

 

* Let a wise man blow off the impurities of his self, as a smith

blows off the impurities of silver, one by one, little by little, and

from time to time.

 

* 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 colour or scent, so let a sage dwell in the community.

 

* If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his

equal, let him firmly keep to him solitary journey; there is no

companionship with fools.

 

* Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is

tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true religion.

 

* Better than living a hundred years, not seeing the highest truth,

is one day in the life of a man who sees the highest truth.

 

* Some form their Dharma arbitrarily and fabricate it artificially;

they advance complex speculations and imagine that good results are

attainable only by the acceptance of their theories; yet the truth is

but one; there are not different truths in the world. Having

reflected on the various theories, we have gone into the yoke with

him who has shaken off all sin. But shall we be able to proceed

together with him?

 

* The best of ways is the eightfold path. This is the path. There is

no other that leads to the purifying of intelligence. Go on this

path! Everything else is the deceit of Maya, the tempter. If you go

on this path, you will make an end of pain! says the Tathagata. The

path was preached by me, when I had understood the removal of the

thorn in the flesh.

 

* Not only by discipline and vows, not only by much learning, do I

learn the happiness of release which no worldling can know. Bhikkhu,

be not confident as long as thou hast not attained the extinction of

thirst. The extinction of evil desire is the highest religion.

 

* The gift of religion exceeds all gifts; the sweetness of religion

exceeds all sweetness; the delight in religion exceeds all delights;

the extinction of thirst overcomes all pain.

 

* Few are there among men who cross the river and reach the goal. The

great multitudes are running up and down the shore; but there is no

suffering for him who has finished his journey.

 

* As the lily will grow full of sweet perfume and delight upon a heap

of rubbish, thus the disciple of the truly enlightened Buddha shines

forth by his wisdom among those who are like rubbish, among the

people that walk in darkness.

 

* Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us! Among men

who hate us let us dwell free from hatred!

 

* Let us live happily then, free from all ailments among the ailing!

Among men who are ailing let us dwell free from ailments!

 

* Let us live happily, then, free from greed among the greedy! Among

men who are greedy let us dwell free from greed!

 

* The sun is bright by day, the moon shines by night, the warrior is

bright in his armour, thinkers are bright in their meditation; but

among all the brightest with splendour day and night is the Buddha,

the Awakened, the Holy Blessed.