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Essential Buddhist Literature
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- Spiritwalk Readings: Buddhist Literature
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Essential Buddhist Literature
The Dhammapada
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
- Understanding Dukkha
Buddhist Literature on
the Internet
The Dhammapada
(The Buddha's Path of Wisdom)
- The Dhammapada consists of 423 verses in Pali uttered by the Buddha
- on some 305 occasions for the benefit of a wide range of human
beings.
- These sayings were selected and compiled into one book as being
worthy
- of special note on account of their beauty and relevance for moulding
the lives
- of future generations of Buddhists.
-
- The four hundred verses of the Dhammapada clarify the nature of mind,
- the self, desire, ignorance, the qualities of the Buddha and Dharma,
- and the path of liberating knowledge ~ an inspiring compendium of
First Turning teachings.
- The text is divided into 26 chapters and the stanzas are arranged
according to subject matter.
-
- The entire text in various versions is available at these
sites.
- There are numerous translations of the Dhammapada, so these sites are
not necessarily
- redundant.
http://www.serve.com/cmtan/Dhammapada/
- http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/sigs/religion/buddhism/introduction/sutras/dhammapada.html
http://members.tripod.com/~MaxwellC/
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/dhamma/dham-hp.htm
The Random Dhammapada Quote Page http://www.netrover.com/~lwebb/dhamma.html

Here are some selctions from this key text in Buddhism ~ The
Dhammapada
Be awake
- Love yourself and be awake ~
- today, tomorrow, always.
- First establish yourself in the way,
- then teach others,
- and so defeat sorrow.
-
- To straighten the crooked
- you must first do a harder thing ~
- straighten yourself.
- You are the only master.
- who else?
- Subdue yourself,
- and discover your master.
Live in Joy
- Live in Joy,
- In love,
- Even among those who hate.
-
- Live in joy,
- In health,
- Even among the afflicted.
-
- Live in joy,
- In peace,
- Even among the troubled.
-
- Look within.
- Be still.
- Free from fear and attachment,
- Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
~
- There is no fire like greed
- No crime like hatred,
- No sorrow like separation,
- No sickness like hunger of heart,
- And no joy like the joy of freedom.
-
- Health, contentment and trust
- Are your greatest possessions,
- And freedom your greatest joy.
-
- Look within.
- Be still.
- Free from fear and attachment,
- Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
~ from the Dhammapada
Words of the Buddha
adapted from Jack Kornfield, Teachings of the
Buddha
- Understanding Dukkha
-
- Then the Lord addressed the monks thus: "Monks, it is
through not understanding,
- not penetrating the Four Noble Truths that I as well as you
have for a long time
- run on and gone round the cycle of birth-and-death.
-
- What are they?
- By not understanding the Noble Truth of Dukkha we have fared
on,
- by not understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Dukkha,
- by not understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of
Dukkha,
- by not understanding the Noble Truth of the Path Leading to
the Cessation of Dukkha,
- we have fared on round the cycle of birth-and-death.
-
- And by the understanding, by the penetration of the same
Noble Truth of Dukkha,
- of the Origin of Dukkha, of the Cessation of Dukkha and of
the Path Leading to the Cessation of Dukkha, the craving for becoming has been cut off,
the support of becoming has been destroyed,
- there is no more re-becoming."
-
- -- Mahaparinibbana Sutta
- (Digha Nikaya 16; Maurice Walshe
translation, with dukkha left untranslated)


Samyutta
Nikaya LVI.11
Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta
Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion
- Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN LVI.11) -- Setting the
Wheel of Dhamma in Motion.
- This is the Buddha's first discourse, delivered shortly after his
Awakening to the group
- of five monks with whom he had practiced the austerities in the
forest for many years.
- The sutta contains the essential teachings of the Four Noble Truths
and the Noble
- Eightfold Path. Upon hearing this discourse, the monk Kondañña
attained the first stage
- of Awakening, thus giving birth to the ariya sangha (Noble Sangha).

- I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the
- Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed
the group of five monks:
- "There are these two extremes that are
not to be indulged in by one who has gone
- forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with
reference to sensual
- objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which
is devoted to
- self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of
these extremes, the
- middle way realized by the Tathagata -- producing vision, producing
knowledge --
- leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
-
- "And what is the middle way realized by the
Tathagata that -- producing vision,
- producing knowledge -- leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to
self-awakening,
- to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right
resolve, right speech,
- right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
right concentration. This is
- the middle way realized by the Tathagata that -- producing vision,
producing knowledge --
- leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
-
- "Now this, monks, is the noble truth of
stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful,
- death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, &
despair are stressful;
- association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the
loved is stressful,
- not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five
aggregates of clinging/
- sustenance are stressful.
-
- "And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of
stress: the craving that makes
- for further becoming -- accompanied by passion & delight,
relishing now here & now there --
- i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for
non-becoming.
-
- "And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress:
the remainderless
- fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, &
letting go of that very craving.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way of practice
leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path -- right view,
right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness, right concentration.
- "Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge
arose, illumination arose
- within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the
noble truth of stress'...
- 'This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended'...'This noble
truth of stress has been comprehended.'
-
- "Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge
arose, illumination arose
- within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the
noble truth of the origination
- of stress'...'This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be
abandoned'...'This noble
- truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.'
-
- "Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge
arose, illumination arose
- within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the
noble truth of the
- cessation of stress'...'This noble truth of the cessation of stress
is to be directly
- experienced'...'This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been
directly experienced.'
-
- "Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge
arose, illumination arose
- within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the
noble truth of the way
- of practice leading to the cessation of stress'...'This noble truth
of the way of practice
- leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed'...'This noble
truth of the way of
- practice leading to the cessation of stress has been developed.'
-
- "And, monks, as long as this knowledge & vision of mine --
with its three rounds & twelve permutations concerning these four noble truths as they
actually are present -- was not
- pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened to the right
self-awakening unexcelled in
- the cosmos with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its
contemplatives & priests, its
- royalty & commonfolk. But as soon as this knowledge & vision
of mine -- with its three
- rounds & twelve permutations concerning these four noble truths
as they actually are
- present -- was truly pure, then I did claim to have directly awakened
to the right
- self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its deities, Maras &
Brahmas, with
- its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk.
Knowledge & vision arose in me:
- 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no
further becoming.'"
-
-
- That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the group of five monks
delighted at his
- words. And while this explanation was being given, there
arose to Ven. Kondañña the
- dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: Whatever is subject to origination is
all subject to
- cessation.
-
- And when the Blessed One had set the Wheel of Dhamma in motion, the
earth deities
- cried out: "At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the
Blessed One has set in
- motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by
priest or
- contemplative, deity, Mara or God or anyone in the
cosmos." On hearing the earth
- deities' cry, the deities of the Four Kings' Heaven took up the
cry...the deities of the Thirty-three...the Yama deities...the Tusita deities...the Nimmanarati deities...the
Paranimmita-vasavatti deities...the deities of Brahma's retinue took up the cry: "At
- Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in
motion the
- unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by priest or
contemplative,
- deity, Mara, or God or anyone at all in the cosmos."
-
- So in that moment, that instant, the cry shot right up to the Brahma
worlds. And this
- ten-thousand fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while
a great, measureless
- radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the effulgence of the
deities.
-
- Then the Blessed One exclaimed: "So you really know, Kondañña?
So you really know?"
- And that is how Ven. Kondañña acquired the name Añña-Kondañña
-- Kondañña who knows.
http://world.std.com/~metta/

Links to Buddhist Literature
on the Internet
a Handful of Leaves: Readings in Theravada Buddhism
http://world.std.com/~metta/
Free Buddhist Books http://rdz.acor.org/lists/vipassana/
freeBooks.html
Zen Buddhist Texts Web Page http://www.io.com/
~snewton/zen/index.html
The Electronic Bodhidharma www.iijnet.or.jp/iriz/
irizhtml/irizhome.htm
Dhammapada Sites
http://www.serve.com/cmtan/Dhammapada/
- http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/sigs/religion/buddhism/introduction/sutras/dhammapada.html
http://members.tripod.com/~MaxwellC/
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/dhamma/dham-hp.htm
The Random Dhammapada Quote Page http://www.netrover.com/~lwebb/dhamma.html

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