Dhammapada - The Pairs by camupash

The Illustrated

Dhammapada Chapter I "The Pairs"

Zentrum f端r Zen-Buddhismus Z端rich, Switzerland

Introduction About the Dhammapada "Dhammapada is one of the best known books of the Pitaka. It is a collection of the teachings of the Buddha expressed in clear, pithy verses. These verses were culled from various discourses given by the Buddha in the course of forty-five years of his teaching, as he travelled in the valley of the Ganges (Ganga) and the sub-mountain tract of the Himalayas. These verses are often terse, witty and convincing. Whenever similes are used, they are those that are easily understood even by a child, e.g., the cart's wheel, a man's shadow, a deep pool, flowers. Through these verses, the Buddha exhorts one to achieve that greatest of all conquests, the conquest of self; to escape from the evils of passion, hatred and ignorance; and to strive hard to attain freedom from craving and freedom from the round of rebirths. Each verse contains a truth (dhamma), an exhortation, a piece of advice." more... The word «Dhammapada» consists of two Pali words: «Dhamma» and «pada». «Dhamma» is translated as «Cosmic Law» or «Universal Truth». «Pada» is often translated as «path». «Dhammapada» then becomes «the path of the Universal Truth» or «the path of the Cosmic Law». About the translation One of the earliest translations of the Dhammapada from the Pali was that of Max Muller. You can find it here. It is Muller's version of the Dhammapada that we will be illustrating, questioning and commenting on in this volume. You will find that not all of the verses have been illustrated (9, 10, 17,18). That is by design. About the purpose of this volume This volume has only one purpose and that is to help the reader come to an understanding of the ideas the Buddha expressed in the Dhammapada verses. The only way to come to an understanding of the Buddha's teachings is to work with them in one's own life. For many people images are a powerful aid in bringing about an understanding of an idea. Our hope is that the Dhammapada verses + the images + the questions + the quotations will help you gain your own understanding, the Buddha's understanding, of these profound ideas. Take the words and images into your contemplations, into your meditations, work with them, observe your mind, be amazed. :) May your life go well. Robert Zentrum für Zen-Buddhismus Zürich, Switzerland April, 2015 1

This digital book is distributed without cost. "The Dhammapada" translated by Max Muller is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. The images are the property of the: Zentrum f端r Zen-Buddhismus Z端rich, Switzerland April 2015

Meditation ...it's not what you think! "The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgement." J. Krishnamurti "Meditation is one of the most extraordinary things, and if you do not know what it is you are like the blind man in a world of bright colour, shadows and moving light. It is not an intellectual affair, but when the heart enters into the mind, the mind has quite a different quality: it is really, then, limitless, not only in its capacity to think, to act efficiently, but also in its sense of living in a vast space where you are part of everything. Meditation is the movement of love. It isn't the love of the one or of the many. It is like water that anyone can drink out of any jar, whether golden or earthenware: it is inexhaustible. And a peculiar thing takes place which no drug or self-hypnosis can bring about: it is as though the mind enters into itself, beginning at the surface and penetrating ever more deeply, until depth and height have lost their meaning and every form of measurement ceases. In this state there is complete peace not contentment which has come about through gratification but a peace that has order, beauty and intensity. It can all be destroyed, as you can destroy a flower, and yet because of its very vulnerability it is indestructible. This meditation cannot be learned from another. You must begin without knowing anything about it, and move from innocence to innocence. The soil in which the meditative mind can begin is the soil of everyday life, the strife, the pain, and the fleeting joy. It must begin there, and bring order, and from there move endlessly. But if you are concerned only with making order, then that very order will bring about its own limitation, and the mind will be its prisoner. In all this movement you must somehow begin from the other end, from the other shore, and not always be concerned with this shore or how to cross the river. You must take a plunge into the water, not knowing how to swim. And the beauty of meditation is that you never know where you are, where you are going, what the end is. " J. Krishnamurti Meditation 1969, part 4

The Buddha

Species: Human; Gender: Male Anyone who has spent any time reading Buddhist thought is told from the very beginning that the Buddha never claimed to be anything other than a human being. He never claimed to have been sent by or have been inspired by anyone or anything celestial, for any purpose. Now one can simply read this claim of the Buddha and say “oh well that's nice”. Or one can stop and examine the ramifications of this seemingly simple statement. In other words, the Buddha had no messages from above or below to convey to the greatunwashed, no rules to be observed under pain of..., no guilt and groveling, no sin; mortal or venial, no threats of excommunication, inquisition or jihad, no eternal damnation in heaven or in hell and most importantly no reason for mankind to go to war for or against another man's conceptualized gods. If one stops for a moment and thinks about it, this one buddhist idea can take a big load off one's mind, consciously and unconsciously. Fully understanding this idea of 'guilt-free' would result in a complete restructuring of ones way of thinking and consequently ones way of dealing with oneself and with others. The actualization of a guiltfree life could, I would imagine, be quite a burden for some people who rely on a measure of guilt in their daily psychic diet. But their realization that this guilt is only an acquired habitual behavior would soon remove this poison from their psychic metabolism. By claiming to be strictly human and not inspired by some god, the Buddha presented humanity with the idea that one can achieve the state of 'happiness, joy, nirvana' on one's own without the need for the intercession, interference, dis/approval of someone or something else. One does not need a god in order to live a good life, a completely human life, a life not bound in psychological pain and suffering. All it requires is that we use our own innate intelligence and rely on our own inner compass. We are here as humans. The intention is to live a completely-human life on this earth, one moment at a time. This becoming 'completely human' has nothing to do with trying to get out of this world because someone has told us that 'paradise is somewhere else, not here'. We are fed this other world pap along with ersatz mother's milk from day one of our existence, beginning our bodily journey by being dunked in a tub of cold water and ending with bodily death and the unspoken question 'what was that all about?' Implicit in the idea – that the world is what it is and it's we that create a heaven or a hell out of it – is that one has all the tools to transcend both heaven and hell and abide in silence. 4

This is what the Buddha proved for himself and it is what he tells us we have the power to accomplish for ourselves. There is, however, very little that prepares us to use these tools in a societal structure that depends on belief systems for its existence. The 'original sin' that attaches to us at birth is in actuality a belief system. It captures us early in life and we do not, normally, offer any resistance because we don't recognize it as an impediment. We come into this life with a mortgage that needs to payed off. This mortgage having been created and maintained by an organization comprised of other mortgagees, other human beings. It is a closed loop system. It is a merry-go-round and one is being taken for a ride. The Buddha is essentially saying, 'get off the merry-go-round'. Siddhattha Gotama got off his merry-go-round when he was 29 years old so the story goes. It was at this age that he left his world of material wealth, his wife and family and struck out into the world of self discovery. We all have, at one time or another in our lives, the opportunity to do the same. The opportunity may not manifest in such a dramatic fashion as with the Buddha – leaving home and family, but the call is there none the less. It is suited to the circumstances of ones life and most often it does not require a major life change only an acknowledgement and a sincere commitment. What does one commit to? One commits to staying awake, to remaining aware of one's thoughts and to the consequences of one's thoughts. We may have more than one opportunity to jump off the merry-go-round, more than just one 'wake up call.' Whether or not one responds is one's own private business. Only you can know whether or not you have excused yourself from the journey of selfdiscovery because you were too busy doing more important things. The Buddha spent six years in the company of various teachers before he came to the conclusion that a teacher can take one only so far – to complete the journey one has to do it by oneself. A teacher is only a guide – 'a finger pointing at the moon', the menu and not the meal. We too have to make the same decision somewhere along the line. As J. Krishnamurti said “Truth is a pathless land.” And in truth it is not so much a decision as a natural progression of our getting off the merry-go-round and it manifests in the readiness of time when one is tune with oneself – so one must pay attention. The using of someone or something as a means of self discovery is an oxymoron. It presupposes that the someone or something external to one knows one better than one knows oneself. It is in the 'turning inward' as opposed to the 'turning outward' that one begins to know oneself. It is then that one begins to discover that one has all that is needed to make one's own way. We are complete is what the Buddha discovered for himself and we do not require any outward accolades or spiritual voodoo to lift ourselves from misery to joy in this life. This means, in one sense, that there is a purpose to this life beyond the normal get-up5

go-to-work-come home-go-to-bed-repeat-until-dead routine we have accepted as de rigueur. Life is other than the transient sensual gratification that accrues to us from closets full of animate and inanimate objects. A dispassionate look at the world today confirms how far we have strayed from our humanity. How many of us today are willing to look deep into the eyes of a 'selfie' and see the emptiness of our existence? This life is all that you have. These are the cards you have been dealt and it is up to you to play the hand. Forget about re-incarnation. Forget about doing it over. Assuming that the the idea of re-incarnation has merit, do you really want to re-incarnate into the psychological world you are living in today? Why do you think that your psychological state with all its built in fears and angers and jealousies would be any different than it is today? You don't know any other way to live. What are you going to change it into? There is no point of looking for the promised land if you can't come to terms with the promised land you have been put into. If one cannot 'die on the cushion' to ones fears, angers, etc while one is in this life what makes one think one will do it in the next assuming there is a next. Ridiculous, isn't it? But this leaves us in a dilemma doesn't it? We have to take responsibility for our own 'salvation' so to say. We have to tend the garden and pull out desire by its very roots; because desire is the root of fear, anger, greed etc. But that is a lot of work. It means being aware, all the time. It means questioning, all the time. It means not being a slave to our senses, all the time. For many of us it's more than we wish to deal with because we will make a project out of it and we have enough projects going on in our lives as it is. But it is not a project, it is simply, as an old Zen master told his students; â&#x20AC;&#x153;when I eat, I eat and when I sleep, I sleepâ&#x20AC;?. It is not something one does in addition to all that one is doing at present. Instead it is in the manner that one does all that one is doing at present. The Buddha has demonstrated in the conduct of his life that we as humans have the opportunity to find our own way through the thickets and thorns of life in this world. He was human, albeit an exceptional human, but somewhere along the line he started his journey understanding no more than you or I. Is that not enough of an incentive for us to begin our own quest to find that which has not been lost? What will it take? What did the Buddha teach? The ideas that the Buddha presented to his disciples were not new and were not his alone. The Buddha based his teachings on the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the inspirational ideas of Snkhya philosophy. As the Buddha himself states in the Nagara sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya, (SN p.74) " !

"As a person discovers an ancient path to a lost city. I have discovered this ancient ! ! path leading to Nibbanna.â&#x20AC;?

The discovery of “this ancient path leading to Nibanna (Nirvana).” is rooted in the actualization of Patanjali's definition of Yoga, "

"… is stopping the movement of the formed mind."

Yoga is another word for Union. And Union, in this sense, is the transcendence of duality. When the mind is not split into 'yes or no', 'right or wrong', 'black or white', this is the state of Union(Yoga). The 'yes or no' state creates the illusion of a thinker, thinking thoughts. It creates the fata morgana of a separate self – Ich. The Ashtavakra Gita is purported to be a conversation between the sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka. In one of the verses Ashtavakra tells King Janaka: ! ! ! !

“Right and wrong, pleasure and pain, exist in mind only. They are not your concern. You neither do nor enjoy. You are free.”

The 'You' spoken of by Ashtavakra is who one is without the 'I'. The 'I' is the thinker thinking thoughts of 'right and wrong', 'pleasure and pain'. One cannot be free in this 'I' state because one is bound by thought. Thought is the past, as memory, brought to life again in our daily existence, in our contact with reality. It is our re-action to the ever moving world we live in. What one 'does' has already been thought. That is why it is called a re-action and not an action. What you 'do enjoy' is the opposite of what you 'nor enjoy'. And where does the 'do' or 'nor' originate? In thought? The 'You' that is free is the state of nirvana. It is to be experienced. It is that experience that the Buddha pointed to with his words to his followers. "

"Subhuti, ... I am only using the words as words." Diamond Sutra

It is never the experience itself that is brought into word. It is the description of the experience and it is dependent on the recollection and vocabulary of the one doing the describing. The words are not meant to be believed. They are meant to tell one that one has the capability to experience a similar state of being. It has nothing to do with belief or disbelief and therefore nothing to do with words, thought or thinking. We stated earlier that the Buddha was familiar with the ideas found in the Yoga Sutras along with the various teachings of the Upanishads as these teachings existed long before the Buddha lived. His teachers, whoever they were, must have presented him with the words of these teachings as they did their other students. It was probably no different than it is today in that regard. The students were exposed to the teachings of the masters. They nodded their agreement and got on with their busy lives. 7

Every once in a while though, comes a student that hears the words, stops h/is/er personal merry-go-round, and says 'these are only words and only words they will remain, unless I experience them for myself.' And this is exactly what the Buddha did. And from that experience he was able to say to his students that one is one's own refuge. One is one's own master. He told his disciples to never to seek refuge in or help from anybody else. One is one's own master. This was the Buddha's main teaching. Think about this for a moment. What is this man telling us about life and living? "

"Master your senses, What you taste and smell,

What you see, what you hear. In all things be a master

Of what you do and say and think.

Be free."

-Dhammapada: "The Seeker" Byrom Translation To be one's own master means one is responsible for oneself. None other is responsible for one. One cannot blame one's state on anyone else, mother, father, wife, husband, etc. One must experience for one's self how freeing it is to quit manipulating one's life in a way that everything is a result of someone else's mis/behavior to one. When one quits lying to oneself, quits creating excuses, quits creating fantasies, about one's self and about others the world begins to turn in a totally new fashion. How much time do we spend each day preening our psychological 'selfies'? What a waste of time and energy. What fools we are. We never experience the world as it is because we are always crafting it into our own image. "

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are what we think.

All that we are arises with our thoughts.

With our thoughts we make the world.â&#x20AC;?

-Dhammapada: "The Pairs" Byrom Translation When one is one's own refuge one does not espouse a personal world view. One lives neither in a sand-castle or a sky-castle. There are no walls that define this refuge, no commandments. The gates are gate-less. There are no demands on others to make their lives subservient to ones wishes. One does not live in fear and therefore one has no desire to control every life situation. This is a life free of anger. If life is desire-less of what use is anger? This refuge is not a jail where the jailor and jailed are the thinker and the thought. This refuge only exists when all thoughts of refuge have disappeared. When one has become totally invulnerable because of one's total vulnerability like the grass as it bends, without breaking, in one direction and then in another in the ever changing wind. There is no push and there is no pull. Life is what it is and one's ideas about what life is or should be are not present. 8

"Do not turn away what is given you

Not reach out for what is given to others,

Lest you disturb your quietness.

Give thanks

For what had been given to you,

However little.

Be pure, never falter.

You have no name and no form.

Why miss what you do not have?"

-Dhammapada: "The Seeker" Byrom Translation

Get on with it! Time passes so quickly. You have everything you need to work out your own emancipation, your own salvation. The gods of men aren't going to save you. Find that which has never been lost. Find it in silence. Find it in meditation. Find it in your relations with others. Find it in yourself. Of course, if I am not ready to take responsibility for my life, I can avoid the entire issue in a totally socially acceptable fashion. I can give the responsibility to someone else, build a little altar, put a statue of some-being-in-charge on it, burn some incense sticks, maybe light a couple of candles and craft the ritual into a belief system. When I do that it is no longer necessary to be responsible for myself as long as I believe someone is going to save me. The Buddha 'talked the talk and did the walk'. And because we believe his words to be true it is only necessary for us 'to do the talk', to believe, and keep the candles burning bright. No worries. It is the ultimate cop-out. We abdicate to someone else's thought system when we believe. We no longer question. We accept someone else's authority as our guiding principle. We do it so often in our lives that we hardly give it any thought. It is one of the pitfalls of our naturally dualistic thought process. When I choose to believe in one set of ideas over another, I am more willing to accept, uncritically, ideas that support my original choice of ideas because it enhances my 'feel-good' quotient. We give up the act of critical thinking for the act of collecting supportive material. Why do we do this? Why do we accept another's ideas unquestioningly? Why do we think someone knows me better than I know myself? Could it

be because I don't know anything about who I am? Could it be because I've never really taken responsibility for myself? " " "

"Are you quiet?

Quieten your body.

Quieten your mind.

You want nothing.

Your words are still.

You are still.

By your own efforts

Waken yourself, watch yourself.

And live joyfully.

You are the master,

You are the refuge."

-Dhammapada: "The Seeker" Byrom Translation

Fini The Buddha, Siddhattha Gotama lived on this earth for 80 years. His devoted disciple Ananda knew the end was approaching for the Master. He asked the Buddha if he had any final instructions to pass onto the Sangha. The Buddha compassionate as ever said these words to Ananda: ! ! !

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ananda, dwell making yourselves your island, making yourselves, not anyone else, ! ! your refuge; making the Dhamma your island, the Dhamma your refuge, nothing ! ! else your refuge.â&#x20AC;?

-Digha-nikaya, ed. Nanavas Thera (Colombo, 1929)

The Pairs

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

If you are not what you think, then what are you?

All that we are is founded on our thoughts.

Is there any part of 'you' that is not a product of your thought?

All that we are is made up of our thoughts.

Is there any place in your world that does not have an object in it?

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

How much of my thinking is devoted to being hateful, or spiteful or angry with or toward someone or something? 15

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

"I think, therefore I am." R. Descartes

.... I think not, therefore I am not ?

All that we are is founded on our thoughts.

Do you know what your "founding" thoughts were/are ? Do your "founding" thoughts change ? .... "Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star." Confucius

All that we are is made up of our thoughts.

"...And a thing is not seen because it is visible, but conversely, visible because it is seen..." Socrates

If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, ...

Have you ever experienced a "pure thought" ? Have you ever experienced "happiness" ? Is "happiness" the result of a "someone" or a "something" ?

"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," â&#x20AC;&#x201D;in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease.

"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." Confucius

"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," â&#x20AC;&#x201D;in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease.

"Things that are done, it is needless to speak about... things that are past, it is needless to blame." Confucius

For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time.

Find one example in your life where hate dissipated hate.

Hatred ceases by love, this is the Law, ancient and unchangeable.

Why do we always need someone to hate? Why?

We must all come to an end here, in this world. Why do we quarrel?

Why do we always need to quarrel? Why?

As the wind uproots a weak tree, so will temptation overthrow the one that does not master his senses, appetites and desires. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde Painting by Ivan Albright

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I knew nothing but shadows and I thought them to be real.â&#x20AC;? Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

As the wind cannot uproot a mountain, neither can temptation overthrow the one that has mastered his senses, appetites and desires.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;But then one regrets the loss even of one's worst habits. Perhaps one regrets them the most. They are such an essential part of one's personality.â&#x20AC;? Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

They who see truth in untruth, who see untruth in truth, never abide in truth, but in their vain desires.

...ism = Belief System Belief System = fossilized Thought fossilized Thought = fossilized Mind No? Prove it to be different.

They who know truth in truth, and untruth in untruth, abide in truth, and not in their vain desires.

"Truth is a pathless land." J. Krishnamurti

As rain breaks in through a poorly roofed house, desire will break into a fragmented mind.

How will you ever have peace of mind, if you do not take the time to look at your thoughts, the way you think, what you think about ?

As rain does not break in through a well roofed house, desire will not break into a meditative mind.

How will you ever find peace of mind, if you do not become aware of the nonsense that occupies your mind every moment ? The nonsense that is euphemistically called 'thinking'.

The wicked mourn in this world, and in the next; they mourn in both. They mourn and suffer when they see the evil of their own work.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.â&#x20AC;? Lao-Tze

The non-wicked delight in this world, and in the next; they delight in both. They delight and rejoice when they see the purity of their own work.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.â&#x20AC;? Khalil Gibran

The thoughtless man, the one that "talks the Dharma talk" but does not "walk the Dharma walk" is no more than a talking head. He is a man walking in circles.

"If you wish to know the truth, then hold to no opinions for or against anything. To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind." Hsin-hsin Ming:â&#x20AC;¨ Verses on the Faith-Mind

The thoughtful man, the one that has forsaken "talking the talk" and is only interested in "walking the Dharma path" has no need for talking. He is a man not walking in circles.

Reactions are founded in thought and are bounded by thought. An action is not founded in thought and it is not bounded by thought. We usually 'react' and not 'act'. .... "All know the way; few actually walk it." Bodhidharma

The Pairs 1. All that we are is the result of what we have thought. All that we are is founded on our thoughts. All that we are is made up of our thoughts. 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. 2. All that we are is the result of what we have thought. All that we are is founded on our thoughts. All that we are is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. 3. «He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,» —in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease. 4. «He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,» —in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease. 5. For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is the Law, ancient and unchangeable. 6. We must all come to an end here, in this world. Why do we quarrel? 7. As the wind uproots a weak tree, so will temptation overthrow the one that does not master his senses, his appetites and his desires. 8. As the wind cannot uproot a mountain, neither can temptation overthrow the one that has mastered his senses, his appetites and his desires. 9. To wear the yellow robe of renunciation before one sweeps one’s own house clean, is to play the fool.

10. To wear the yellow robe of renunciation after one sweeps his own house clean , is to walk in the Dharma. 11. They who see truth in untruth, who see untruth in truth, never abide in truth, but in their vain desires. 12. They who know truth in truth, and untruth in untruth, abide in truth, and not in their vain desires. 13. As rain breaks in through a poorly roofed house, desire will break into a fragmented mind. 14. As rain does not break in through a well roofed house, desire will not break into a meditative mind. 15. The wicked mourn in this world, and in the next; they mourn in both. They mourn and suffer when they see the evil of their own work. 16. The non-wicked delight in this world, and in the next; they delight in both. They delight and rejoice when they see the purity of their own work. 17. The wicked suffer in this world, and in the next; they suffer in both. They suffer when they think of the evil they have done; they suffer more when going on the evil path.

18. The non-wicked are happy in this world, and they are happy in the next; they are happy in both. They are happy when they think of the good they have done; they are still more happy when going on the good path. 19. The thoughtless man, the one that «talks the Dharma talk» but does not «walk the Dharma walk» is no more than a talking head. He is a man walking in circles. 20. The thoughtful man, the one that has forsaken «talking the talk» and is only interested in «walking the Dharma path» has no need for talking. He is a man not walking in circles. .... This version of the Dhammapada "The Pairs" is taken for the most part from the translation by Max Muller. The wording, but not the essence, of some of the verses was altered for this publication.

Questions to ask yourself When asked by someone, 'who are you?', how do you respond? When you talk to yourself, who are you talking to? Can you separate the 'thinker' from 'thinking' from 'thought'? If you stopped thinking, who would you be? If you stopped thinking, how would you know you had stopped thinking? How much of 'you' is the memory of what other people think of you? How much of 'you' is dependent on your belief systems? How much of 'you' is dependent on how you wish others to see you? How much of 'you' has been thought into existence by 'you'? What does it mean to re-cognize an object? What does your mind do with an idea it has never heard expressed before? What does your mind do when presented with an object you have no name for? What does an 'attitude' express? Does one 'have an attitude' or is one the 'attitude'? When you say 'I am angry' what part of 'you' is angry and what part of 'you' is not angry? Find one example in your life where hate contributed to your mental/physical well-being. Find one example in your life where hate solved any of your problems. Why do we need someone or something to hate? Do you know the feeling of non-hating? Are hate and love the opposite of each other?