A teaching, a practice, a lived experience

Verse 147 — The Body as a Fragile Instrument

« Behold this body, a heap of wounds, composed of many parts, sick and subject to a thousand ailments, whose thoughts are never stable nor lasting. »

Verse 19 — Embodied Practice

“Even if he recites many sacred texts, the indolent man who does not act accordingly is like a shepherd counting other people's cows: he does not share in the life…”

Verse 150 — The Body as a Fragile Instrument

« This city is built of bones, covered with flesh and blood; within it reside aging and death, pride and hypocrisy. »

Verse 197 — On the Nature of Joy and Happiness

« Let us live happily, without hatred among those who hate. Among men who hate, let us live without hatred. »

Verse 113 — On Wisdom and Discernment

« Better indeed is it to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things. »

Verse 103 — Self-Mastery

« One may conquer thousands of warriors on the battlefield, but he who conquers himself is the greatest of victors. »

Verse 13 — The Agitation of Desires

« Just as rain penetrates a poorly roofed house, so passion penetrates an untrained mind. »

Verse 201 — On the Nature of Joy and Happiness

“Victory breeds hatred, for the defeated live in sorrow. He who has given up both victory and defeat lives in peace, happy.”

Verse 204 — Health and Contentment

'Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, trust the best relationship, and peace the supreme happiness.'

Verse 21 — Heedfulness

“Heedfulness is the path to the Deathless; heedlessness is the path to death. The heedful do not die; the heedless are as if dead already.”

Verse 223 — Peace and Compassion

"Conquer anger with absence of anger; conquer evil with good; conquer avarice with generosity; conquer lying with truth."

Verse 232 — On Right Speech and Right Action

“The wise are those who master their actions, those who master their words, those who master their thoughts. Truly, they are perfectly self-controlled.”

Verse 24 — Conscious Effort

« For one who is energetic, mindful, pure in actions, discerning, self-controlled, living according to the Dharma, and vigilant, fame and clarity only grow. »

Verse 277 — Liberation Through Detachment

« All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path of purification. »

Verse 252 — The Illusion of Others' Faults

« It's easy to see others' faults, but difficult to perceive one's own. One sees a neighbor's flaws like chaff, but conceals one's own like...

Verse 122 — The Accumulation of Wholesome Deeds

“Do not disregard good, thinking, 'It will not come to me.' By the fall of drops of water, the jar is filled; in the same way, the wise person becomes full of good, even little by little.”

Verse 110 — On Wisdom and Discernment

« Better to live one day a virtuous and meditative life than to live a hundred years an immoral life without self-control. »

Verse 2 — The Mind

« The mind is the forerunner of all things, the mind is their chief, from the mind they spring. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows us, like the shadow that never leaves us. »

Verse 273 — The Noble Path

« Of all paths, the Noble Eightfold Path is the best; of all truths, the Four Noble Truths are the best; of all states, detachment is…

Verse 200 — Joy Without Possession

“Ah! Let us live so happily, we who possess nothing! Let us feed on joy, like the gods of radiant light!”

Verse 183 — The Fundamental Teaching

« To do no evil, to cultivate good, to purify one's own mind: this is the teaching of all Buddhas. »

Verse 302 — Self-Mastery as a Healing Process

« It is difficult to do what is good, to do what is pure; but doing it brings happiness. »

Verse 305 — On Inwardness and Chosen Solitude

« He who lives alone, who walks alone, who is untiring, who masters himself, will find his joy in the forest (the place of calm). »

Verse 33 — The Fickle Nature of the Mind

“Shaking, unstable, difficult to guard and restrain, the mind is straightened by the wise one, as a fletcher straightens a crooked arrow.”

Verse 360 — Sense Restraint

“Restraint of the eye is good; restraint of the ear is good; restraint of the nose is good; restraint of the tongue is good. Restraint in all things is good.”

Verse 373 — On Inwardness and Chosen Solitude

« The monk who has entered an empty (calm) house and whose mind is tranquil, experiences superhuman joy by perceiving the Dhamma with clarity. »

Verse 382 — Illuminating the World

« The young monk who applies himself to the teaching of the Buddha illuminates this world like the moon emerging from the clouds. »

Verse 42 — The Misdirected Mind

“What an enemy can do to an enemy, or a rival to a rival, a misdirected mind can do to itself with even greater harm.”

Verse 5 — Peace and Compassion

“For never by hatred is hatred appeased; by non-hatred it is appeased. This is an eternal law.”

Verse 50 — Self-Examination

“Do not contemplate the faults of others, nor what they have done or neglected to do; rather, contemplate what you yourself have done or neglected to do.”

Verse 60 — Awakening in the Night

“Long is the night for him who does not sleep; long is the journey for him who is weary; long is the cycle of rebirths for the fool who does not know the true…”

Verse 76 — On Wisdom and Discernment

“Look upon one who points out your faults as if you were shown a hidden treasure. Follow this wise person who, seeing your flaws, corrects you; for one who follows them, good, not evil, grows.”

Verse 8 — Pacification through Temperance

« As rain does not penetrate a well-covered house, so passion does not penetrate a well-trained mind. »

Verse 80 — Inner Discipline

“Carpenters channel water, fletchers fashion arrows, wheelwrights shape wood, the wise discipline themselves.”

Verse 90 — The Liberation from Bonds

“For him who has completed the journey, who is sorrowless, who is wholly set free, who has broken all bonds, the fever of passion exists no more.”

Verse 3 — The Absence of Resentment

“He insulted me, he struck me, he defeated me, he robbed me”—in those who harbor such thoughts, hatred is never appeased.

DHAMMAPADA The words of the Buddha to enlighten daily life

THE SUTTA PITAKA: The Living Teachings of the Buddha

Wisdom, Right Action, and Happiness — Dhammapada

Here is a complementary selection of Dhammapada verses, categorized by themes to nourish your daily reflection on wisdom, right action…

Emblematic Verses for Daily Practice — Dhammapada

Here is a selection of emblematic verses from the Dhammapada, categorized by theme to accompany you in daily practice. Each series can serve…

Health in the Buddhist sense — Dhammapada

To delve deeper into the question of health, in the Buddhist sense of the term — that is, balance, non-suffering, and vitality of the mind — the…

Consciousness (Citta) in the Dhammapada

He whose consciousness is calmed, whose speech is calmed, whose action is calmed, he who is thus liberated by perfect knowledge, he is at peace.

Inner Freedom — Dhammapada

like the birana grass after the rain.