Theragāthā (Psalms of the Brethren)

“Not for knowledge of past lives, nor even for clairvoyance; not for psychic powers, <j>or encompassing the minds of others, nor for knowing people’s <j>passing away and being reborn; not for purifying the power of clairaudience, did I have any wish.”

“His only shelter is the foot of a tree; shaven, wrapped in his outer robe, the senior monk foremost in wisdom, Upatissa himself practices absorption.

When in a meditation free of placing the mind, a disciple of the Buddha is at that moment blessed with noble silence.

As a rocky mountain is unwavering and well grounded, so when delusion ends, a monk, like a mountain, doesn’t tremble.”

“To the man who has not a blemish, who is always seeking purity, even a hair-tip of evil seems as big as a stormcloud.”

“I don’t long for death; I don’t long for life; I will lay down this body, aware and mindful.

I don’t long for death; I don’t long for life; I await my time, like a worker waiting for their wages.”

“Both what came before and what follows after are nothing but death, not freedom from death. Practice, don’t perish— don’t let the moment pass you by.

Just like a frontier city, is guarded inside and out, so you should ward yourselves— don’t let the moment pass you by. For if you miss your moment you’ll grieve when sent to hell.”

“Calm and still, thoughtful in counsel, not restless— he shakes off bad qualities as the gale shakes leaves off a tree.

Calm and still, thoughtful in counsel, not restless— he plucks off bad qualities as the gale shakes leaves off a tree.

Calm and free of despair, clear and unclouded, of good morals, intelligent: one would make an end of suffering.”

“Some householders, and even some renunciants, are not to be trusted. Some who were good later become bad; while some who were bad become good.”

“Sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness, and doubt: these are the five mental stains for a monk.”

“Whether they’re honored or not honored, or both, their immersion doesn’t waver as they abide in the immeasurables.

They persistently practice absorption with subtle view and discernment. Rejoicing in the ending of grasping, they’re said to be a true person.”

“The oceans and the earth, the mountains and the wind— no simile can do justice to the Teacher’s magnificent liberation.”

“The senior monk who keeps the wheel rolling, he is very wise and serene. Like earth, like water, like fire, he is neither attracted nor repelled.

He has attained the perfection of wisdom, so intelligent and thoughtful. He is bright, but seems to be dull; he always wanders, quenched.”

“I’ve served the Teacher and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions. The heavy burden is laid down, the leash to existence is eradicated.

Persist with diligence: this is my instruction. Come, I’ll be fully quenched— I am everywhere free.”

“The astute would not make friends with the slanderous or the hateful, with a miser or a gloater, for it’s bad to consort with reprobates.

The astute would make friends with the faithful and the pleasant, the wise and the learned, for it’s a blessing to consort with true persons.”

“See this fancy puppet, a body built of sores, diseased, obsessed over, in which nothing lasts at all.

See this fancy puppet, with its gems and earrings; it is bones swathed in skin, made pretty by its clothes.

Rouged feet and powdered face may be enough to beguile a fool, but not a seeker of the far shore.

Hair in eight braids and eyeshadow may be enough to beguile a fool, but not a seeker of the far shore.

A rotting body all adorned like a freshly painted makeup box may be enough to beguile a fool, but not a seeker of the far shore.”

“Gotama is learned, a brilliant speaker, the attendant to the Buddha. With burden put down, detached, Gotama made his bed.

Defilements ended, detached, he has got over clinging and become quenched. He bears his final body, having gone beyond birth and death.”

“Gotama stands firm on the path that leads to quenching, where the teachings of the Buddha, the Kinsman of the Sun, are grounded.”

“82,000 from the Buddha, and 2,000 more from the monks: 84,000 teachings I’ve learned, and these are what I promulgate.”

“A person of little learning ages like an ox— their flesh grows, but not their wisdom.

A learned person who, on account of their learning, looks down on someone of little learning, strikes me as like a blind man holding a lamp.

You should stay close to a learned person— don’t lose what you’ve learned. It is the root of the spiritual life, which is why you should memorize the teaching.

Knowing the sequence and meaning of the teaching, expert in the definition of terms, they make sure it is well memorized, and then examine the meaning.

Accepting the teachings, they become enthusiastic; making an attempt, they weigh up the teaching. When it’s time, they strive serene inside themselves.

If you want to understand the teaching, you should befriend that sort, who are learned and have memorized the teachings, wise disciples of the Buddha.

One who is learned <j>and has memorized the teaching, a keeper of the great seer’s treasury, is a visionary for the whole world, learned and honorable.

Delighting in the teaching, enjoying the teaching, contemplating the teaching, a mendicant who recollects the teaching doesn’t fall away from the true teaching.”

“When your body is pampered and heavy, while your remaining time is running out, greedy for physical pleasure, how can you be comfortable as an ascetic?”

“I’m completely disorientated! The teachings don’t spring to mind! With the passing of our good friend, everything seems dark.

When your friend has passed away, and your Teacher is past and gone, there’s no friend like mindfulness of the body.

The old have passed away, and I don’t agree with the new. Today I meditate alone like a bird snug in its nest.”

“Many visitors from abroad have come to visit. Don’t block the audience, let the congregation see me.”

“Lots of visitors from abroad have come to visit. The teacher grants them the opportunity, the Clear-eyed One doesn’t turn them away.”

“In the twenty five years that have passed since I became a trainee, no sensual perception has arisen in me: behold the clear rightness of the teaching!

In the twenty-five years since I became a trainee, no malicious perception has arisen in me: behold the clear rightness of the teaching!”

“For twenty-five years I attended on the Buddha with loving deeds, like a shadow that never left.

For twenty-five years I attended on the Buddha with loving words, like a shadow that never left.

For twenty-five years I attended on the Buddha with loving thoughts, like a shadow that never left.

While the Buddha was walking mindfully, I walked behind him. As he taught the Dhamma, knowledge arose in me.”

“I’m a trainee, who has more to do; my heart’s desire is still unfulfilled. Yet the Teacher, who was so compassionate to me, has become fully extinguished.

Then there was terror! Then they had goosebumps! When the Buddha, endowed with all fine qualities, was fully quenched.”

“Ānanda, who was learned <j>and had memorized the teaching, a keeper of the great seer’s treasury, a visionary for the entire world, has become fully quenched.

He was learned <j>and had memorized the teaching, a keeper of the great seer’s treasury, a visionary for the entire world, in thick of night he dispelled the dark.

He is the seer who remembered the teachings, and mastered their sequence, holding them firm. The senior monk who memorized the teaching, Ānanda was a mine of gems.”

“I’ve served the Teacher and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions. The heavy burden is laid down, now there’ll be no more future lives.”

“You shouldn’t live for the adulation of a following; it turns your mind, making it hard to get immersion. Seeing that popularity is suffering, you shouldn’t consent to a following.

A sage should not visit respectable families; it turns your mind, making it hard to get immersion. If you’re eager and greedy for flavors, you’ll miss the goal that brings such happiness.

They know it really is a bog, this homage and veneration in respectable families. Honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract, and hard for a reprobate to give up.”

“I came down from my lodging and entered the city for alms. I courteously stood by while a leper ate.

With his putrid hand he offered me a morsel. Putting the morsel in my bowl, his finger dropped off right there.

Sitting by a wall, I ate that lump of rice. I did not feel any disgust while eating or afterwards.

Anyone who makes use of leftovers for food, rancid urine as medicine, the root of a tree as lodging, and cast-off rags as robes, is at ease in any quarter.”

“Where some have fallen to ruin while climbing the mountain, there Kassapa ascends; an heir of the Buddha, aware and mindful, owing to his psychic powers.

Returning from almsround, Kassapa ascends the mountain, and practices absorption without grasping, with fear and dread given up.

Returning from almsround, Kassapa ascends the mountain, and practices absorption without grasping, quenched amongst those who burn.

Returning from almsround, Kassapa ascends the mountain, and practices absorption without grasping, his task completed, free of defilements.”

“Strewn with garlands of the musk-rose tree, these regions are so delightful, so lovely, echoing with the trumpeting of elephants: these rocky crags delight me!

Glistening, they look like blue stormclouds, with waters cool and streams so clear, and covered all in ladybugs: these rocky crags delight me!

Like the peak of a blue stormcloud, or like a fine bungalow, lovely, echoing with the trumpeting of elephants: these rocky crags delight me!

The rain comes down on the lovely flats, in the mountains frequented by seers. Echoing with the cries of peacocks, these rocky crags delight me!

It’s enough for me, who loves absorption, to remain resolute. It’s enough for me, a resolute monk who wants what’s best.

It’s enough for me, a resolute monk who loves comfort. It’s enough for me, resolute and unaffected, loving meditation.

Covered with flowers of flax, like the welkin covered with stormclouds, full of flocks of many different birds, these rocky crags delight me!

Empty of householders, frequented by herds of deer, full of flocks of many different birds, these rocky crags delight me!

The water’s clear and the rocks are broad, monkeys and deer are all around; festooned with dewy moss, these rocky crags delight me!”

“Even the music of a five-piece band can never give such pleasure as when, with unified mind, you rightly discern the Dhamma.”

“Don’t get involved in lots of work, avoid people, and don’t try to acquire things. If you’re eager and greedy for flavors, you’ll miss the goal that brings such happiness.

Don’t get involved in lots of work, avoid what doesn’t lead to the goal. The body gets worn out and fatigued, and when you ache, you won’t find serenity.”

“You won’t see yourself by merely reciting words, wandering stiff-necked and thinking, ‘I’m better than them.’

The fool is no better, but they think they are. The wise don’t praise pompous people.

Whoever does not waver due to the discriminations— ‘I am better’, ‘I’m not better’, ‘I am worse’, or ‘I am the same’—

with such understanding, unaffected, steady in ethics, and devoted to serenity of mind: that is who the wise praise.”

“Whoever has no respect for their spiritual companions is as far from the true teaching as the earth is from the sky.

Those whose conscience and prudence are always rightly established, thrive in the spiritual life; for them, there are no future lives.

When a mendicant who is haughty and fickle wears rags from the rubbish-heap, that doesn’t make them shine: they’re like a monkey in a lion skin.

But if they not restless or fickle, alert, with senses restrained, then, wearing rags from the rubbish-heap, they shine like a lion in a mountain cave.”

“These many gods powerful and glorious, all 10,000 of them, belong to the host of the Divinity.

They stand with cupped palms honoring Sāriputta, the General of the Dhamma, the hero, the serene great meditator:

‘Homage to you, O thoroughbred! Homage to you, supreme among men! We don’t understand the basis of your absorption.

The profound domain of the Buddhas is truly amazing. We don’t understand, though we’ve gathered here to split hairs.’

When he saw the host of gods paying homage to Sāriputta— who is truly worthy of homage— Kappina smiled.”

“As far as the range of the Buddha extends, apart from the great sage himself, I am distinguished in austerities, no equal to me is found.

I’ve served the Teacher and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions. The heavy burden is laid down, now there’ll be no more future lives.”

“Like a lotus flower to which water will not stick, Gotama the immeasurable is unstained by robes, lodgings, or food. He inclines to renunciation, and has escaped the three states of existence.

The great sage’s neck is mindfulness meditation; faith is his hands, and wisdom his head. Having great knowledge, he always wanders, quenched.” The Book of the Forties is finished.

Oh, when will I stay in a mountain cave, alone, with no companion, discerning all states of existence as impermanent? This hope of mine, <j>when will it be?

Oh, when will I stay happily in the forest, a sage wearing a torn robe, dressed in ocher, unselfish, with no need for hope, with greed, hate, and delusion destroyed?