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Miscellaneous Words of Wisdom
(based on THE DHAMMAPADA / and reworked into rhyme by BB
It's said that people can rate / as long as they live without hate;
So if you're surrounded by hate, / do keep it off of your plate.
Act with a peaceful mind, / and happiness follows behind;
Act with a corrupted mind, / and it's misery that you will find.
Your hatred will not abate / if you let yourself constantly hate;
Hatred ends only through love / and not through a lacking thereof.
Immoderation with food: / do that and you're going to be screwed;
Show moderation with food, / and with happiness you'll be imbued.
Doing evil calls forth the prediction: / you're going to encounter affliction;
By doing that which is right, / you've going to encounter delight.
Vigilance will open your eyes; / negligence is not for the wise,
A restless mind's hard to control; / a calm mind will make a nice goal.
If your mind is pure and awake, / fear will not make you quake;
If your mind is rightly directed, / cruel actions will be rejected.
If in others you look for each fault / and yourself you prefer to exalt,
Then you really ought to begin / to look much more carefully within.
Well-spoken words have great clout / when you have carried them out;
They'll resemble a lovely, sweet flower / and have phenomenal power.
The wise one who knows he's a fool / is someone who really is cool;
A fool who thinks himself wise / will always be caught in his lies.
We know that we always should / try to do that which is good;
If it's evil that we keep preferring, / negativity will keep recurring.
Violence means suffering and pain, / and to think that it doesn't is insane;
Hoping and striving for peace / will help pain and suffering cease.
If we see the world as a bubble, / it's going to cause us less trouble;
If we think that all this is forever, / well, we're not very clever.
If we look at the world with fresh eyes, / great wisdom will eventually arise;
If compassion and wisdom are a goal, / we're going to be feeling more whole.
If we constantly clutch on to things, / we'll find out what misery brings;
If we do less to cause so much pain, / more happiness will be our gain.
Anger's a horrible fetter; / certainly we can do better.
You will not be misunderstood, / if you conquer your anger with good.
You won't be considered uncouth, / if you subscribe to the truth;
Just having gray in your hair / does not always mean you're aware.
It is really not very attractive / if we're lazy when we ought to be active;
Seek wisdom and find your own path, / and do not incur others' wrath.
Taming a lion is hard; / you always must be on your guard;
But harder than that you will find / is trying to tame your own mind.
How can we be behaving / if we are constantly craving?
It's better if we circumvent / our greed and be more content.
(3-25-14)
It's said that people can rate / as long as they live without hate;
So if you're surrounded by hate, / do keep it off of your plate.
Act with a peaceful mind, / and happiness follows behind;
Act with a corrupted mind, / and it's misery that you will find.
Your hatred will not abate / if you let yourself constantly hate;
Hatred ends only through love / and not through a lacking thereof.
Immoderation with food: / do that and you're going to be screwed;
Show moderation with food, / and with happiness you'll be imbued.
Doing evil calls forth the prediction: / you're going to encounter affliction;
By doing that which is right, / you've going to encounter delight.
Vigilance will open your eyes; / negligence is not for the wise,
A restless mind's hard to control; / a calm mind will make a nice goal.
If your mind is pure and awake, / fear will not make you quake;
If your mind is rightly directed, / cruel actions will be rejected.
If in others you look for each fault / and yourself you prefer to exalt,
Then you really ought to begin / to look much more carefully within.
Well-spoken words have great clout / when you have carried them out;
They'll resemble a lovely, sweet flower / and have phenomenal power.
The wise one who knows he's a fool / is someone who really is cool;
A fool who thinks himself wise / will always be caught in his lies.
We know that we always should / try to do that which is good;
If it's evil that we keep preferring, / negativity will keep recurring.
Violence means suffering and pain, / and to think that it doesn't is insane;
Hoping and striving for peace / will help pain and suffering cease.
If we see the world as a bubble, / it's going to cause us less trouble;
If we think that all this is forever, / well, we're not very clever.
If we look at the world with fresh eyes, / great wisdom will eventually arise;
If compassion and wisdom are a goal, / we're going to be feeling more whole.
If we constantly clutch on to things, / we'll find out what misery brings;
If we do less to cause so much pain, / more happiness will be our gain.
Anger's a horrible fetter; / certainly we can do better.
You will not be misunderstood, / if you conquer your anger with good.
You won't be considered uncouth, / if you subscribe to the truth;
Just having gray in your hair / does not always mean you're aware.
It is really not very attractive / if we're lazy when we ought to be active;
Seek wisdom and find your own path, / and do not incur others' wrath.
Taming a lion is hard; / you always must be on your guard;
But harder than that you will find / is trying to tame your own mind.
How can we be behaving / if we are constantly craving?
It's better if we circumvent / our greed and be more content.
(3-25-14)
