अकुसलं, भिक्खवे, पजहथ। (Abandon what is unskillful, monks)

‘‘अकुसलं, भिक्खवे, पजहथ। सक्‍का, भिक्खवे, अकुसलं पजहितुं। नो चेदं [नो चेतं (स्या॰ कं॰ पी॰ क॰) सं॰ नि॰ ३.२८ पस्सितब्बं], भिक्खवे, सक्‍का अभविस्स अकुसलं पजहितुं, नाहं एवं वदेय्यं – ‘अकुसलं, भिक्खवे, पजहथा’ति। यस्मा च खो, भिक्खवे, सक्‍का अकुसलं पजहितुं तस्माहं एवं वदामि – ‘अकुसलं, भिक्खवे, पजहथा’ति। अकुसलञ्‍च हिदं, भिक्खवे [अकुसलं भिक्खवे (क॰)], पहीनं अहिताय दुक्खाय संवत्तेय्य नाहं एवं वदेय्यं – ‘अकुसलं, भिक्खवे, पजहथा’ति। यस्मा च खो, भिक्खवे, अकुसलं पहीनं हिताय सुखाय संवत्तति तस्माहं एवं वदामि – ‘अकुसलं , भिक्खवे, पजहथा’’’ति।

‘‘कुसलं , भिक्खवे, भावेथ। सक्‍का, भिक्खवे, कुसलं भावेतुं। नो चेदं, भिक्खवे, सक्‍का अभविस्स कुसलं भावेतुं, नाहं एवं वदेय्यं – ‘कुसलं, भिक्खवे, भावेथा’ति। यस्मा च खो, भिक्खवे, सक्‍का कुसलं भावेतुं तस्माहं एवं वदामि – ‘कुसलं, भिक्खवे, भावेथा’ति। कुसलञ्‍च हिदं, भिक्खवे, भावितं अहिताय दुक्खाय संवत्तेय्य, नाहं एवं वदेय्यं – ‘कुसलं, भिक्खवे, भावेथा’ति। यस्मा च खो, भिक्खवे, कुसलं भावितं हिताय सुखाय संवत्तति तस्माहं एवं वदामि – ‘कुसलं, भिक्खवे, भावेथा’’’

"Abandon what is unskillful, monks. It is possible to abandon what is unskillful. If it were not possible to abandon what is unskillful, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because it is possible to abandon what is unskillful, I say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' If this abandoning of what is unskillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because this abandoning of what is unskillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.'
"Develop what is skillful, monks. It is possible to develop what is skillful. If it were not possible to develop what is skillful, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because it is possible to develop what is skillful, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' If this development of what is skillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because this development of what is skillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.'"

Buddha

A Prayer

I thank Thee, my God, for the hour that I have just passed in Thy presence. Thy will was clear to me; I measured my faults, counted my griefs, and felt Thy goodness toward me. I realized my own
nothingness, Thou gavest me Thy peace. In bitterness there is sweetness; in affliction, joy; in submission, strength; in the God who punishes, the God who loves. To lose one's life that one may gain it, to offer it that one may receive it, to possess nothing that one may conquer all, to renounce self that God may give Himself
to us, how impossible a problem, and how sublime a reality! No one truly knows happiness who has not suffered, and the redeemed are happier than the elect.

Amiel 

Equilibrium in Nature

The whole day we wandered over the Charred Wood. At evening--the sunset had not yet begun to redden in the sky, but the shadows from the trees already lay long and motionless, and in the grass one could feel that chill that comes before the dew--I lay down by the roadside near the cart in which Kondrat, without haste, was harnessing the horses after their feed, and I recalled my cheerless reveries of the day before.
Everything around was as still as the previous evening, but there was not the forest,stifling and weighing down the spirit. On the dry moss,
on the crimson grasses, on the soft dust of the road, on the slender stems and pure little leaves of the young birch-trees, lay the clear
soft light of the no longer scorching, sinking sun. Everything was resting, plunged in soothing coolness; nothing was yet asleep, but
everything was getting ready for the restoring slumber of evening and night-time. Everything seemed to be saying to man: 'Rest, brother of
ours; breathe lightly, and grieve not, thou too, at the sleep close before thee.'
I raised my head and saw at the very end of a delicate twig one of those large flies with emerald head, long body, and four transparent wings, which the fanciful French call 'maidens,' while our guileless people has named them 'bucket-yokes.' For a long while, more than an hour, I did not take my eyes off her. Soaked through and through with sunshine, she did not stir, only from time to time turning her head from side to side and shaking her lifted wings ... that was all. Looking at her, it suddenly seemed to me that I understood the life of nature, understood its clear and unmistakable though, to many,
still mysterious significance. A subdued, quiet animation, an unhasting, restrained use of sensations and powers, an equilibrium of
health in each separate creature--there is her very basis, her unvarying law, that is what she stands upon and holds to. Everything
that goes beyond this level, above or below--it makes no difference--she flings away as worthless. Many insects die as soon as
they know the joys of love, which destroy the equilibrium. The sick beast plunges into the thicket and expires there alone: he seems to
feel that he no longer has the right to look upon the sun that is common to all, nor to breathe the open air; he has not the right to
live;--and the man who from his own fault or from the fault of others is faring ill in the world--ought, at least, to know how to keep
silence.


Turgenev (A Tour of the Forest)

My debts are large, my failures great

Obstinate are the trammels, but my heart aches when I try to break them.


Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it I feel ashamed.



I am certain that priceless wealth is in thee, and that thou art my best friend, but I have not the heart to sweep away the tinsel that fills my room .


The shroud that covers me is a shroud of dust and death; I hate it, yet hug it in love.

 My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret and heavy; yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted.

Rabindranath

लेखसुत्तं Three types of individuals

१३३. ‘‘तयोमे, भिक्खवे, पुग्गला सन्तो संविज्‍जमाना लोकस्मिं। कतमे तयो? पासाणलेखूपमो पुग्गलो, पथविलेखूपमो पुग्गलो, उदकलेखूपमो पुग्गलो। कतमो च, भिक्खवे, पासाणलेखूपमो पुग्गलो? इध, भिक्खवे, एकच्‍चो पुग्गलो अभिण्हं कुज्झति। सो च ख्वस्स कोधो दीघरत्तं अनुसेति। सेय्यथापि, भिक्खवे, पासाणे लेखा न खिप्पं लुज्‍जति वातेन वा उदकेन वा, चिरट्ठितिका होति; एवमेवं खो, भिक्खवे, इधेकच्‍चो पुग्गलो अभिण्हं कुज्झति। सो च ख्वस्स कोधो दीघरत्तं अनुसेति। अयं वुच्‍चति, भिक्खवे, पासाणलेखूपमो पुग्गलो।

‘‘कतमो च, भिक्खवे, पथविलेखूपमो पुग्गलो? इध, भिक्खवे, एकच्‍चो पुग्गलो अभिण्हं कुज्झति। सो च ख्वस्स कोधो न दीघरत्तं अनुसेति। सेय्यथापि, भिक्खवे, पथविया लेखा खिप्पं लुज्‍जति वातेन वा उदकेन वा, न चिरट्ठितिका होति; एवमेवं खो, भिक्खवे, इधेकच्‍चो पुग्गलो अभिण्हं कुज्झति। सो च ख्वस्स कोधो न दीघरत्तं अनुसेति। अयं वुच्‍चति, भिक्खवे, पथविलेखूपमो पुग्गलो।
‘‘कतमो च, भिक्खवे, उदकलेखूपमो पुग्गलो? इध, भिक्खवे, एकच्‍चो पुग्गलो आगाळ्हेनपि वुच्‍चमानो फरुसेनपि वुच्‍चमानो अमनापेनपि वुच्‍चमानो सन्धियतिमेव [… येव (स्या॰ कं॰) … चेव (पी॰)] संसन्दतिमेव [… येव (स्या॰ कं॰) … चेव (पी॰)] सम्मोदतिमेव [… येव (स्या॰ कं॰) … चेव (पी॰)]। सेय्यथापि, भिक्खवे, उदके लेखा खिप्पंयेव पटिविगच्छति, न चिरट्ठितिका होति; एवमेवं खो, भिक्खवे, इधेकच्‍चो पुग्गलो आगाळ्हेनपि वुच्‍चमानो फरुसेनपि वुच्‍चमानो अमनापेनपि वुच्‍चमानो सन्धियतिमेव संसन्दतिमेव सम्मोदतिमेव। अयं वुच्‍चति, भिक्खवे, उदकलेखूपमो पुग्गलो। इमे खो, भिक्खवे, तयो पुग्गला सन्तो संविज्‍जमाना लोकस्मि’’न्ति [पु॰ प॰ ११५]। दसमं।


"Monks, there are these three types of individuals to be found existing in the world. Which three? An individual like an inscription in rock, an individual like an inscription in soil, and an individual like an inscription in water.


"And how is an individual like an inscription in rock? There is the case where a certain individual is often angered, and his anger stays with him a long time. Just as an inscription in rock is not quickly effaced by wind or water and lasts a long time, in the same way a certain individual is often angered, and his anger stays with him a long time. This is called an individual like an inscription in rock.


"And how is an individual like an inscription in soil? There is the case where a certain individual is often angered, but his anger doesn't stay with him a long time. Just as an inscription in soil is quickly effaced by wind or water and doesn't last a long time, in the same way a certain individual is often angered, but his anger doesn't stay with him a long time. This is called an individual like an inscription in soil.


"And how is an individual like an inscription in water? There is the case where a certain individual — when spoken to roughly, spoken to harshly, spoken to in an unpleasing way — is nevertheless congenial, companionable, & courteous. Just as an inscription in water immediately disappears and doesn't last a long time, in the same way a certain individual — when spoken to roughly, spoken to harshly, spoken to in an unpleasing way — is nevertheless congenial, companionable, & courteous. This is called an individual like an inscription in water.


"These are the three types of individuals to be found existing in the world."




Buddha"Lekha Sutta: Inscriptions" (AN 3.133), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 3 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.130.than.html.

सुप्पबुद्धकुट्ठिसुत्तं

चक्खुमा विसमानीव, विज्‍जमाने परक्‍कमे।

पण्डितो जीवलोकस्मिं, पापानि परिवज्‍जये’’ति॥


A person with good eyes,



encountering


a treacherous, uneven place,


would try hard to avoid it.


A wise person, in the world of life,


should avoid


evil deeds.


Buddha

 "Kutthi Sutta: The Leper" (Ud 5.3), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 8 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.5.03.than.html.

Do Good Works

यथापि पुप्फरासिम्हा, कयिरा मालागुणे बहू।

एवं जातेन मच्‍चेन, कत्तब्बं कुसलं बहुं॥


Just as from a heap of flowers



many garland strands can be made,


even so


one born & mortal


should do


— with what's born & is mortal —


many a skillful thing.
 
 
Buddha
 
Pupphavagga: Blossoms (Dhp IV), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 19 September 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.04.than.html.

Of Music and Harmony

This morning the music of a brass band which had stopped under my windows moved me almost to tears. It exercised an indefinable, nostalgic power over me; it set me dreaming of another world, of infinite passion and supreme happiness. Such impressions are the echoes of paradise in the soul; memories of ideal spheres, whose sad sweetness ravishes and intoxicates the heart. O Plato! O Pythagoras! ages ago you heard these harmonies—surprised these moments of inward ecstacy—knew these divine transports! If music thus carries us to heaven, it is because music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven. This world of quarrels and bitterness, of selfishness, ugliness, and misery, makes us long involuntarily for the eternal peace, for the adoration which has no limits, and the love which has no end. It is not so much the infinite as the beautiful that we yearn for. It is not being, or the limits of being, which weigh upon us; it is evil, in us and without us. It is not all necessary to be great, so long as we are in harmony with the order of the universe. Moral ambition has no pride; it only desires to fill its place, and make its note duly heard in the universal concert of the God of love.

Amiel

Let mystery have its place in you

Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the
plowshare of self−examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may
bring, and reserve a nook of shadow for the passing bird; keep a place in your heart for the unexpected guests,
an altar for the unknown God. Then if a bird sing among your branches, do not be too eager to tame it. If you
are conscious of something new—thought or feeling, wakening in the depths of your being—do not be in a
hurry to let in light upon it, to look at it; let the springing germ have the protection of being forgotten, hedge it
round with quiet, and do not break in upon its darkness; let it take shape and grow, and not a word of your
happiness to any one! Sacred work of nature as it is, all conception should be enwrapped by the triple veil of
modesty, silence and night.


Amiel