Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 273–289

20. The Path

dhp273:1 Of paths, the eightfold is the best;

dhp273:2 of truths, the four statements;

dhp273:3 dispassion is the best of things,

dhp273:4 and the Clear-eyed One is the best of humans.

dhp274:1 <em>This</em> is the path, there is no other

dhp274:2 for the purification of vision.

dhp274:3 You all must practice this,

dhp274:4 it is the way to baffle Satan.

dhp275:1 When you all are practicing this,

dhp275:2 you’ll make an end of suffering.

dhp275:3 I have explained the path to you

dhp275:4 for extracting the thorn with wisdom.

dhp276:1 You yourselves must do the work,

dhp276:2 the Realized Ones just show the way.

dhp276:3 Meditators practicing absorption

dhp276:4 are released from Satan’s bonds.

dhp277:1 All conditions are impermanent—

dhp277:2 when this is seen with wisdom,

dhp277:3 one grows disillusioned with suffering:

dhp277:4 this is the path to purity.

dhp278:1 All conditions are suffering—

dhp278:2 when this is seen with wisdom,

dhp278:3 one grows disillusioned with suffering:

dhp278:4 this is the path to purity.

dhp279:1 All things are not-self—

dhp279:2 when this is seen with wisdom,

dhp279:3 one grows disillusioned with suffering:

dhp279:4 this is the path to purity.

dhp280:1 They don’t get going when it’s time to start;

dhp280:2 they’re young and strong, but given to sloth.

dhp280:3 Their mind depressed in sunken thought,

dhp280:4 lazy and slothful, they can’t discern the path.

dhp281:1 Guarded in speech, restrained in mind,

dhp281:2 doing no unskillful bodily deed.

dhp281:3 Purify these three ways of performing deeds,

dhp281:4 and win the path known to seers.

dhp282:1 From meditation springs wisdom,

dhp282:2 without meditation, wisdom ends.

dhp282:3 Knowing these two paths—

dhp282:4 of progress and decline—

dhp282:5 you should conduct yourself

dhp282:6 so that wisdom grows.

dhp283:1 Cut down the jungle, not just a tree;

dhp283:2 from the jungle springs fear.

dhp283:3 Having cut down jungle and snarl,

dhp283:4 be free of jungles, mendicants!

dhp284:1 So long as the vine, no matter how small,

dhp284:2 that ties a man to women is not cut,

dhp284:3 his mind remains trapped,

dhp284:4 like a calf suckling its mother.

dhp285:1 Cut out affection for oneself,

dhp285:2 like plucking an autumn lotus.

dhp285:3 Foster only the path to peace,

dhp285:4 the extinguishment the Holy One taught.

dhp286:1 “Here I will stay for the rains;

dhp286:2 here for winter, here the summer”;

dhp286:3 thus the fool thinks,

dhp286:4 not realizing the danger.

dhp287:1 As a mighty flood sweeps away a sleeping village,

dhp287:2 death steals away a man

dhp287:3 who dotes on children and cattle,

dhp287:4 his mind caught up in them.

dhp288:1 Children provide you no shelter,

dhp288:2 nor does father, nor relatives.

dhp288:3 When you’re seized by the terminator,

dhp288:4 there’s no shelter in family.

dhp289:1 Knowing the reason for this,

dhp289:2 astute, and ethically restrained,

dhp289:3 one would quickly clear the path

dhp289:4 that leads to extinguishment.