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The Gospel of Buddha

Preface

  • Preface:
    by Paul Carus


    Introduction
  • Chapter 01:
    Rejoice
  • Chapter 02:
    Samsara and Nirvana
  • Chapter 03:
    Truth the Saviour


    Prince Siddhattha becomes Buddha
  • Chapter 04:
    The Bodhisatta's Birth
  • Chapter 05:
    The Ties of Life
  • Chapter 06:
    The Three Woes
  • Chapter 07:
    The Bodhisatta's Renunciation
  • Chapter 08:
    King Bimbisara
  • Chapter 09:
    The Bodhisatta's Search
  • Chapter 10:
    Uruvela, the Place of Mortification
  • Chapter 11:
    Mara, the Evil One
  • Chapter 12:
    Enlightenment
  • Chapter 13:
    The First Converts
  • Chapter 14:
    Brahma's Request


    The Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness
  • Chapter 15:
    Upaka
  • Chapter 16:
    The Sermon at Benares
  • Chapter 17:
    The Sangha
  • Chapter 18:
    Yasa, the Youth of Benares
  • Chapter 19:
    Kassapa
  • Chapter 20:
    The Sermon at Rajagaha
  • Chapter 21:
    The King's Gift
  • Chapter 22:
    Sariputta and Moggallana
  • Chapter 23:
    Anathapindika
  • Chapter 24:
    The Sermon on Charity
  • Chapter 25:
    Jetavana
  • Chapter 26:
    The Three Characteristics and the Uncreate
  • Chapter 27:
    The Buddha's Father
  • Chapter 28:
    Yasodhara
  • Chapter 29:
    Rahula


    Consolidation of the Buddha's religion
  • Chapter 30:
    Jivaka, the Physician
  • Chapter 31:
    The Buddha's Parents Attain Nirvana
  • Chapter 32:
    Women Admitted to the Sangha
  • Chapter 33:
    The Bhikkhus' Conduct Toward Women
  • Chapter 34:
    Visakha
  • Chapter 35:
    The Uposatha and Patimokkha
  • Chapter 36:
    The Schism
  • Chapter 37:
    The Re-establishment of Concord
  • Chapter 38:
    The Bhikkhus Rebuked
  • Chapter 39:
    Devadatta
  • Chapter 40:
    Name and Form
  • Chapter 41:
    The Goal
  • Chapter 42:
    Miracles Forbidden
  • Chapter 43:
    The Vanity of Worldliness
  • Chapter 44:
    Secrecy and Publicity
  • Chapter 45:
    The Annihilation of Suffering
  • Chapter 46:
    Avoiding the Ten Evils
  • Chapter 47:
    The Preacher's Mission


    The Teacher
  • Chapter 48:
    The Dhammapada
  • Chapter 49:
    The Two Brahmans
  • Chapter 50:
    Guard the Six Quarters
  • Chapter 51:
    Simha's Question Concerning Annihilation
  • Chapter 52:
    All Existence is Spiritual
  • Chapter 53:
    Identity and Non-Identity
  • Chapter 54:
    The Buddha Omnipresent
  • Chapter 55:
    One Essence, One Law, One Aim
  • Chapter 56:
    The Lesson Given to Rahula
  • Chapter 57:
    The Sermon on Abuse
  • Chapter 58:
    The Buddha Replies to the Deva
  • Chapter 59:
    Words of Instruction
  • Chapter 60:
    Amitabha
  • Chapter 61:
    The Teacher Unknown


    Parables and Stories
  • Chapter 62:
    Parables
  • Chapter 63:
    The Widow's Two Mites and the Parable of the Three Merchants
  • Chapter 64:
    The Man Born Blind
  • Chapter 65:
    The Lost Son
  • Chapter 66:
    The Giddy Fish
  • Chapter 67:
    The Cruel Crane Outwitted
  • Chapter 68:
    Four Kinds of Merit
  • Chapter 69:
    The Light of the World
  • Chapter 70:
    Luxurious Living
  • Chapter 71:
    The Communication of Bliss
  • Chapter 72:
    The Listless Fool
  • Chapter 73:
    Rescue in the Desert
  • Chapter 74:
    The Sower
  • Chapter 75:
    The Outcast
  • Chapter 76:
    The Woman at the Well
  • Chapter 77:
    The Peacemaker
  • Chapter 78:
    The Hungry Dog
  • Chapter 79:
    The Despot
  • Chapter 80:
    Vasavadatta
  • Chapter 81:
    The Marriage-Feast in Jambunada
  • Chapter 82:
    A Party in Search of a Thief
  • Chapter 83:
    In the Realm of Yamaraja
  • Chapter 84:
    The Mustard Seed
  • Chapter 85:
    Following the Master Over the Stream
  • Chapter 86:
    The Sick Bhikkhu
  • Chapter 87:
    The Patient Elephant


    The Last Days
  • Chapter 88:
    The Conditions of Welfare
  • Chapter 89:
    Sariputta's Faith
  • Chapter 90:
    Pataliputta
  • Chapter 91:
    The Mirror of Truth
  • Chapter 92:
    Ambapali
  • Chapter 93:
    The Buddha's Farewell Address
  • Chapter 94:
    The Buddha Announces His Death
  • Chapter 95:
    Chunda, the Smith
  • Chapter 96:
    Metteyya
  • Chapter 97:
    The Buddha's Final Entering into Nirvana


    Conclusion
  • Chapter 98:
    The Three Personalities of the Buddha
  • Chapter 99:
    The Purpose of Being
  • Chapter 100:
    The Praise of All the Buddhas


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    The Gospel of Buddha

    The Dhammapada

    This is the Dhammapada, the path of religion
    pursued by those who are followers of the Buddha: [1]

    Creatures from mind their character derive;
    mind-marshalled are they, mind made.
    Mind is the source either of bliss or of corruption. [2]

    By oneself evil is done; by oneself one suffers;
    by oneself evil is left undone; by oneself one is purified.
    Purity and impurity belong to oneself,
    no one can purify another. [3]

    You yourself must make an effort.
    The Tathagatas are only preachers.
    The thoughtful who enter the way
    are freed from the bondage of Mara. [4]

    He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise;
    who, though young and strong, is full of sloth;
    whose will and thoughts are weak;
    that lazy and idle man
    will never find the way to enlightenment. [5]

    If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully;
    the truth guards him who guards himself. [6]

    If a man makes himself as he teaches others to be,
    then, being himself subdued, he may subdue others;
    one's own self is indeed difficult to subdue. [7]

    If some men conquer in battle
    a thousand times a thousand men,
    and if another conquer himself,
    he is the greatest of conquerors. [8]

    It is the habit of fools,
    be they laymen or members of the clergy, to think,
    "this is done by me. May others be subject to me.
    In this or that transaction a prominent part should be played by me."

    Fools do not care for the duty to be performed or the aim to be reached,
    but think of their self alone.
    Everything is but a pedestal of their vanity. [9]

    Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do;
    what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult. [10]

    If anything is to be done, let a man do it,
    let him attack it vigorously! [11]

    Before long, alas! this body will lie on the earth,
    despised, without understanding, like a useless log;
    yet our thoughts will endure.
    They will be thought again, and will produce action.
    Good thoughts will produce good actions,
    and bad thoughts will produce bad actions. [12]

    Earnestness is the path of immortality,
    thoughtlessness the path of death.
    Those who are in earnest do not die;
    those who are thoughtless are as if dead already.
    [13]

    Those who imagine they find truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth,
    will never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires.
    They who know truth in truth, and untruth in truth,
    arrive at truth, and follow true desires. [14]

    As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house,
    passion will break through an unreflecting mind.
    As rain does not break through a well-thatched house,
    passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.
    [15]

    Well-makers lead the water wherever they like;
    fletchets bend the arrow;
    carpenters bend a log of wood;
    wise people fashion themselves;
    wise people falter not amidst blame and praise.
    Having listened to the law, they become serene,
    like a deep, smooth , and still lake. [16]

    If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought,
    pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of an ox that draws the carriage. [17]

    An evil deed is better left undone,
    for a man will repent of it afterwards;
    a good deed is better done,
    for having done it one will not repent. [18]

    If a man commits a wrong let him not do it again;
    let him not delight in wrongdoing;
    pain is the outcome of evil.
    If a man does what is good, let him do it again;
    let him delight in it;
    happiness is the outcome of good. [19]

    Let no man think lightly of evil,
    saying in his heart,
    "It will not come nigh unto me."
    As by the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled,
    so the fool becomes full of evil,
    though he gather it little by little. [20]

    Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart,
    "It will not come nigh unto me."
    As by the falling of water-drops a water-pot if filled,
    so the wise man becomes full of good,
    though he gather it little by little. [21]

    He who lives for pleasure only, his senses uncontrolled,
    immoderate in his food, idle, and weak,
    him Mara, the tempter, will certainly overthrough,
    as the wind throws down a weak tree.
    He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well-controlled,
    moderate in his food, faithful and strong,
    him Mara will certainly not overthrow,
    any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain. [22]

    The fool who knows his foolishness, is wise at least so far.
    But a fool who thinks himself wise, he is a fool indeed. [23]

    To the evil-doer wrong appears sweet as honey;
    he looks upon it as pleasant so long as it bears no fruit;
    but when its fruit ripens, then he looks upon it as wrong.
    And so the good man looks upon the goodness of the Dharma
    as a burden and an evil so long as it bears no fruit;
    but when its fruit ripens, then he sees its goodness. [24]

    A hater may do great harm to a hater, or an enemy to an enemy;
    but a wrongly-directed mind will do greater mischief unto itself.
    A mother, a father, or any other relative will do much good;
    but a well-directed mind will do greater service unto itself. [25]

    He whose wickedness is very great brings himself down
    to that state where his enemy wishes him to be.
    He himself is his greatest enemy.
    Thus a creeper destroys the life of a tree on which it finds support. [26]

    Do not direct thy thought to what gives pleasure,
    that thou mayest not cry out when burning, "This is pain."
    The wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire. [27]

    Pleasures destroy the foolish;
    the foolish man by his thirst for pleasures
    destroys himself as if he were his own enemy.
    The fields are damaged by hurricanes and weeds;
    mankind is damaged by passion,
    by hatred, by vanity, and by lust. [28]

    Let no man ever take into consideration
    whether a thing is pleasant or unpleasant.
    The love of pleasure begets grief
    and the dread of pain causes fear;
    he who is free from the love of pleasure
    and the dread of pain knows neither grief nor fear. [29]

    He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to meditation,
    forgetting the real aim of life and grasping at pleasure,
    will in time envy him who has exerted himself in meditation. [30]

    The fault of others is easily noticed,
    but that of oneself is difficult to perceive.
    A man winnows his neighbor's faults like chaff,
    but his own fault he hides,
    as a cheat hides the false die from the gambler. [31]

    If a man looks after the faults of others,
    and is always inclined to take offence,
    his own passions will grow,
    and he is far from the destruction of passions. [32]

    Not about the perversities of others,
    not about their sins of commision or omission,
    but about his own misdeeds and negligences alone
    should a sage be worried. [33]

    Good people shine from afar, like the snowy mountains;
    bad people are concealed, like arrows shot by night. [34]

    If a man by causing pain to others,
    wishes to obtain pleasure for himself,
    he, entangled in the bonds of selfishness,
    will never be free from hatred. [35]

    Let a man overcome anger by love,
    let him overcome evil by good;
    let him overcome the greedy by liberality,
    the liar by truth!
    [36]

    For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time;
    hatred ceases by not-hatred, this is an old rule. [37]

    Speak the truth,
    do not yield to anger;
    give, if thou art asked
    ;
    by these three steps thou will become divine. [38]

    Let a wise man blow off impurities of his self,
    as a smith blows off the impurities of silver,
    one by one, little by little, and from time to time. [39]

    Lead others, not by violence,
    but by righteousness and equity.
    [40]

    He who possesses virtue and intelligence,
    who is just, speaks the truth,
    and does what is his own business,
    him the world will hold dear. [41]

    As the bee collects nectar
    and departs without injuring the flower
    or its color or scent,
    so let a sage dwell in the community. [42]

    If a traveller does not meet with one
    who is his better, or his equal,
    let him firmly keep to his solitary journey;
    there is no companionship with fools. [43]

    Long is the night to him who is awake;
    long is a mile to him who is tired;
    long is life to the foolish who do not know the truth religion. [44]

    Better than living a hundred years, not seeing the highest truth,
    is one day in the life of a man who sees the highest truth. [45]>p? Some form their Dharma arbitrarily
    and fabricate it artificially;
    they advance complex speculations
    and imagine that good results are attainable
    only by the acceptance of their theories;
    yet the truth is but one;
    there are not different truths in the world.
    Having reflected on the various theories,
    we have gone into the yoke with him who has shaken off all sin.
    But shall we be able to proceed together with him? [46]

    The best of ways is the eightfold path.
    This is the path.
    There is no other
    that leads to the purifying of intelligence.
    Go on this path!
    Everything else is the deceit of Mara, the tempter.
    If you go on this path,
    you will make an end of pain!
    Says the Tathagata.
    The path was preached by me,
    when I had understood the removal of the thorn in the flesh. [47]

    Not only by discipline and vows, not only by much learning,
    do I learn the happiness of release which no worldling can know.
    Bhikkhu, be not confident as long as thou hast not attained the extinction of thirst.
    The extinction of evil desire is the highest religion. [48]

    The gift of religion exceeds all gifts;
    the sweetness of religion exceeds all sweetness;
    the delight in religion exceeds all delights;
    the extinction of thirst overcomes all pain. [49]

    Few are there among men who cross the river and reach the goal.
    The great multitudes are running up and down the shore;
    but there is no suffering for him who has finished his journey. [50]

    As the lily will grow full of seet perfume and delight upon a heap of rubbish,
    thus the disciple of the truly enlightened Buddha shines forth by his wisdom
    among those who are like rubbish, among the people that walk in darkness. [51]

    Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us!
    Among men who hate us let us dwell free from hatred! [52]

    Let us live happily then, free from all ailments among the ailing!
    Among men who are ailing let us dwell free from ailments! [53]

    Let us live happily then, free from greed among the greedy!
    Among men who are greedy let us dwell free from greed! [54]

    The sun is bright by day, the moon shines by night,
    the warrior is bright in his armor, thinkers are bright in their meditation;
    but among all the brightest with splendor day and night
    is the Buddha, the Awakened, the Holy Blessed.
    [55]

    End Chapter 48


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    The Gospel of Buddha
    The Gospel of Buddha
    Compiled from ancient records by Paul Carus, 1894

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