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APPAMADA

APPAMĀDA

Handa dani bhikkhave amantayami vo:
"Vaya-dhamma sankhara, appamadena sampadethati."

 

§

 

There you are, then, Beggars! I craft this counsel for you:

The own-made is a flighty thing, I say
get yourselves out of this sputtering madness!

 

This was the final word of the Tathāgata.
DN 16: Maha Parinibbana Suttanta

 

I yam'nt wot I yam'nt.
— Popeye, the awakened

 

The good man
works to enrich
the house
where he enjoys
his food

Jat. 546 [this translated by Olds]

 

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

That man with net might catch the breeze,
Or single-handed bale out seas,
Clap with one hand, who once should dare
His thoughts let range on woman fair.

Jataka 536

Who sees the story here hears the sound of one hand claping.

 

Well Tamed: Go Unrestrained

Na sabbato mano nivāraye||
Mano yatattamāgataṃ,||
Yato yato ca pāpakaṃ||
Tato tato mano nivāraye'ti.|| ||

 

Not from all things turn away the mind,
if mind be well restrained —
But where whatever evil be,
at that repelled is mind well-trained.

— SN 1.1.24, olds, trans.

 

dragon

There's many a slip
Twixt the cup and the lip!

Old Saying. Proper behavior used to be to give to a beggar from one's own hand to his hand (or into his bowl) because a well-trained beggar would not consider something merely placed before him to have been 'given'. Allowance is made for a person to change their mind about giving even in so short a time as it takes to reach out and take hold. Swifter even than that is the ability of the mind to change.

 

'Straight' is the name this Road is called,
and
'Free From Fear'
the Quarter whither thou art bound.
SN 1.1.46, Rhys Davids' translation.

 

Life to its doom is led. Our years are few.
For us led to decay no shelters stand.
Whoso doth contemplate this fear of death,
Let him reject the bait of all the worlds,
Let him aspire after the final Peace.
Sn.1.2.19, Rhys Davids, translation

 

As one downsmitten by impending sword,
As one whose hair and turban are aflame,
So let the Brother, mindful and alert,
Go forth, all worldly passions left behind.
Sn.1.2.16, Rhys Davids, translation

 

fathom

 

It is not by walking to the end of the world, friend,
That the end of pain is discovered,
And neither is the end of pain discovered,
Friend, without walking to the end of the world.

It is not by walking the world, friend,
That the origin of the world is discovered,
That the end of the world is discovered,
That the walk to walk to the end of the world is discovered.

It is here in this fathom-measure body, friend,
With it's perception,
With it's mind,
That I say the world is discovered,
The origin of the world is discovered,
The end of the world is discovred,
The walk to walk to the end of the world is discovered.
SN 1.2.26 Olds, paraphrased translation

 

A man may spoil another, just so far
As it may serve his ends, but when he's spoiled
By others he, despoiled, spoils yet again.
So long as evil's fruit is not matured,
The fool doth fancy 'now's the hour, the chance!'
But when the deed bears fruit, he fareth ill.
The slayer gets a slayer in his turn;
The conqueror gets one who conquers him;
Th' abuser wins abuse, th' annoyer, fret.
Thus by the evolution of the deed,
A man who spoils is spoiled in his turn.
SN 1.3.15, Mrs. Rhys Davids, translation

 

All beings are dying things,
conclude in death,
have death as their end,
just as all pots of the potter,
whether unbaked or baked,
are breaking things,
conclude in breakage,
have breakage as their end.
— SN 1.3.022, Olds trans.

 

snap fingersSnap Fingers

Short is the life of man, my friends,
a mere finger-snap,
a bit of dust in the wind,
filled with pain and sorrow.

By work-of-mind awaken yourselves!

Do good works!

Live under the guidance of Dhamma!

For the born there is no not dying.

Just as a cow,
being lead to the slaughter,
each step she takes
brings her nearer to her death,
even so, friend,
like a doomed cow
short is the life of man,
a mere finger-snap,
a bit of dust in the wind,
filled with pain and sorrow.

By work-of mind awaken yourselves!

Do good works!

Live under the guidance of Dhamma!

For the born there is no not dying.

— after AN 7.70

 

 

Dhammacakkhu:||
Yaṃ kiñci samudayadhammaṃ||
sabbantaṃ nirodhadhammman.
|| ||

The Eye of Dhamma

Whatsoever things arise
all those things end.

 

Just as the ocean has but one taste,
the taste of salt;
even so this discipline of Dhamma
has but one flavour,
the flavour of release
AN 8.19, Hare Translation

 

The Eight Thoughts of the Great Man

A thing for those who are of small wishes, this is,
not a thing for those of great wishes.

A thing for those who are contented, this is,
not a thing for those of discontentment.

A thing for those who are retiring, this is,
not a thing for those who take pleasure in community.

A thing for those who seize at energy, this is,
not a thing for those who are cozy.

A thing for those who are present-minded, this is,
not a thing for those who are absent-minded.

A thing for those who are serene, this is,
not a thing for those who are not serene.

A thing for the wise, this is,
not a thing for the stupid.

A thing for the undistracted, this is,
for one loving the undistracted,
not a thing for the distracted,
for one loving distractions.

AN 8.30

 

The Four Methods for Making Alliances

Gifts
Kind words (speaking well of people)
Making one's self useful
Treating all alike according to the same standard
— Olds, translation, see also: AN 4 32; AN 8 24

 

'Monks, well it is for a monk to review,
from time to time,
his own faults;
well it is for a monk to review,
from time to time,
another's faults;
well it is for a monk to review,
from time to time,
his own attainments;
well it is for a monk to review,
from time to time,
another's attainments.
AN 8.007 - Hare

 

Monks, as low-down thieves
might carve one limb from limb
with a double-handled saw,
yet even then whoever sets his mind at enmity,
he, for this reason,
is not a doer of my teaching.
MN 21 Horner translation

 

"A world without end
is the round of rebirth.

No beginning can be seen of beings
hindered by ignorance,
bound by craving,
who run on,
who fare on
through the round of rebirth.

The utter passionless ceasing of ignorance,
of this body of darkness,
is this blissful state,
this excellent state,
to wit: -
the calming down of all the activities,[*]
the giving up of all bases (for rebirth),
the destruction of craving,
dispassion,
cessation,
Nibbana."
SN 5.48.50 Woodward translation
[*]sabba-saṅkhāra-samatho 'all-own-making-calmed'; for more on this read: Is Nibbana Conditioned? and What is 2?

 

Judge Not

Tasmā ti h'Ānanda mā puggalesu pamāṇikā ahuvattha,||
mā puggalesu pamāṇaṃ gaṇhattha.|| ||
Khaññati h'Ānanda puggalo puggalesu pamāṇaṃ gaṇhanto||

Take not the measure of men, Ānanda,
be no measurer of men.

A person is eaten away, Ānanda,
by taking the measure of men.
— AN 10.75

 

Uttaruttariɱ||
paṇitapaṇitaɱ||
vāyamamānā||
anuttaraɱ vimuttisukhaɱ sacchikarissāmā

AN 5.180|| ||

From higher to higher,
from strength to strength,
we will strive
and will come to realize the liberation,
above which there is no higher.
AN 5.180, Hare

Higher-n-higher
Aspiration to aspiration
We will struggle on
to see with our own eyes
that sweet freedom none-higher
— Olds

 

"Ye dhammā hetuppabhavā||
tesaṃ hetuṃ Tathāgato āha||
tesañ ca yo nirodho,||
evaṃ vādī Mahāsamaṇo."
||
Assaji's explanation of Gotama's teaching to Sāriputta

What things as become by forces driven
The Tathāgata says:
'Such are the driving forces
and such their end.'
Thus teaches the Great Shaman.
— Olds translation

 

As cattle when the lead bull swerves,
All of a mind to follow, swerve as well,
So with men, if he who is the leader be corrupt,
so much the more will those who follow be.
 
Th'unrighteous king to all the realm brings pain.

 

As cattle when the lead bull's course is straight
All of a mind to follow, go straight as well,
So with men, if he who is the leader be upright,
so much the more will those who follow be.
 
The righteous king to all the realm brings peace.

AN 4. 70 Olds

 

Incalculable is the beginning, brethren, of this faring on.
The earliest point is not revealed
of the faring on, running on,
of beings cloaked in ignorance,
tied to craving.

Thus many a day, brethren,
have ye been suffering ill,
have ye been suffering pain,
have ye been suffering disaster,
have the charnel-fields been growing.

Thus far enough is there, brethren,
for you to be repelled
by all the things of this world,
enough to lose all passion for them,
enough to be delivered therefrom.

— Mrs. Rhys Davids translation of SN 2.15.4.

 

"In brief, do I, Sāriputta set forth Dhamma;

In detail, do I, Sāriputta, set forth Dhamma;

In brief and in detail, do I, Sāriputta, set forth Dhamma —

Yet those who understand are hard to find."

AN 3.32

 

'How are we to conduct ourselves, lord, with regard to womankind?'

'As not seeing them, Ānanda.'

'But if we should see them, what are we to do?'

'No talking, Ānanda.'

'But if they should speak to us, lord, what are we to do?'

'Keep wide awake, Ānanda.'

Rhys Davids, DN 16

 

"Whatever fears arise, monks,
all arise for the fool,
not the wise man.

Whatever troubles arise,
all arise for the fool,
not the wise man.

Whatever misfortunes arise,
all arise for the fool,
not the wise man.

— Horner, M.L.S., Discourse on the Manifold Elements.

 

Four Inspiring Spurs

Upanīyati loko addhuvo;||
Attāṇo loko anabhissaro;||
Assako loko sabbaɱ pahāya gamanīyan;||
Ūno loko atitto taṇhādāso.
|| ||

Carried off, the world, unstable;
No refuge, the world, without protective power;
Unowned, all the world, out of hand, done gone;
Needy, the world, unsatisfied, hunger-enslaved.

— MN 82

 

Nāhaṃ kvacani,||
kassaci kiñcana tasmiṃ,||
na ca mama kvacani kismiñci kiñcanaṃ n'atthī
|| ||

I am not 'the something',
of this 'whoever' 'whatever'
and there is not something that is my 'whoever' 'whatever'

 

Vimuttasmiṃ, 'Vimuttami,' ti||
ñāṇaṃ hoti,||
'khīṇā jāti||
vusitaṃ brahmacariyaṃ||
kataṃ karaṇīyaṃ||
nāparaṃ itthattāyā' ti pajānāti.

In freedom, having the knowledge: 'I am free,'
he understands:

'Left behind is birth,
lived is the Brahma mode,
duty's doing's done
there is no it'n-n-at'n to follow.'

 

Saɱsāra

Anamataggoyaɱ bhikkhave saɱsāro.|| ||

Pubbākoṭi na paññāyati||
avijjānīvaraṇānaɱ sattānaɱ||
taṇhāsaɱyojanānaɱ||
sandhāvataɱ saɱsarataɱ.
|| ||

A bottomless pit, beggars,
is this round-and-round.

The earliest extremity is not discerned
of beings diverted by blindness
yoked to thirst
running-round this round-and-round

SN 3.22.99

 

Letting Go of Blindness

Evañ ce taɱ bhikkhu,||
bhikkhuno sutaɱ hoti|| ||

'Sabbe dhammā nālaɱ abhinivesāyā,' ti;|| ||

so sabbaɱ dhammaɱ abhijānāti,||
sabbaɱ dhammaɱ abhiññāya,||
sabbaɱ dhammaɱ parijānāti||
sabbaɱ dhammaɱ pariññāya||
sabba-nimittāni aññato passati.|| ||

There is the case, beggar,
that when a beggar, having heard:

"All things are hollow over-indulgences,"

he understands all things,
comprehends all things,
thoroughly knows all things,
sees all signs as "other."

—SN 4.35.80

 

Nāyaɱ bhikkhave, kāyo tumhākaɱ,||
nā pi aññesaɱ.
|| ||

Purāṇam idaɱ bhikkhave kammaɱ abhisaṅkhataɱ||
abhisañcetayitaɱ vedayitaɱ daṭṭhabbaɱ.
|| ||

Nothing whatever of body, beggars, is yours
nor is it simply another's.

Of the past is this, beggars —
it should be seen as the construction of deeds that are over-with,
intentions to experience sense that are over-with.

— SN 2.12.37

 

This world for the most part reposes on the extreme views:
"This is" and "This is not".

But

Who sees with consummate wisdom the way the world arises,
has no
"This world is not."

Who sees with consummate wisdom the way the world ends
has no
"This world is."

—SN 2.12.15

 

Paṭicca-samuppādo||
gambhirāvabhāso||
ca etassa.
|| ||

Dhammassa aññāṇā||
ananubodhā||
appaṭivedhā||
evam ayaɱ pajā||
tantākulakajātā guḷāguṇṭhika||
jātā muñjababbajabhūtā||
apāyaɱ||
duggatiɱ||
vinipātaɱ||
saṅsāraɱ||
nātivattati.
|| ||

Deeply lusterous appears
Rebounding Owned-appearance
and such it is.

It is through not knowing,
not awakening to,
not penetrating this Dhamma,
that the multitude —
become straw dolls,
like a tangled ball of string,
held fast by a glob of boils,
is sucked into the vortex,
the bottomless pit,
the painful getting,
the downfall,
of the endless round-and-round.

—SN 2.12.60

 

Five Contemplations

"Jarā-dhammo'mhi jaraɱ anatīto.|| ||

Vyādhi-dhammo'mhi vyādhiɱ anatīto.|| ||

Maraṇa-dhammo'mhi maraṇaɱ anatīto.|| ||

Sabbehi me piyehi manāpehi||
nānā-bhāvo,||
vinā-bhāvo.
|| ||

Kammassako'mhi,||
kamma-dāyādo,||
kamma-yoni,||
kamma-bandhu,||
kamma-paṭisaraṇo.
|| ||

Yaɱ kammaɱ karissāmi,||
kalyāṇaɱ vā pāpakaɱ vā,||
tassa dāyādo bhavissāmī".
|| ||

An aging thing am I aging not-conquered.

An unhealthy thing am I sickness not-conquered.

A dying thing am I death not-conquered.

All that is loved by me,
pleasing to me
becomes different,
becomes not so.

Truly, deed-made am I
deed-inheritor,
deed-inwombed,
deed-bound,
deed-refuged.

Of whatsoever deeds I do,
good or bad,
from such comes what I receive.

AN 5.57

 

Manāpa-dāyī labhate manāpaɱ,||
Aggassa dātā labhate pun'aggaɱ,||
Varassa dātā vara-lābhi hoti,||
Seṭṭhaɱ dado seṭṭham upeti ṭhānaɱ.
|| ||

'The pleasing'-giver gains the pleasing,
'The best' a giver gains in turn the best,
'The desireable' a giver the desirable gain he gets,
'The treasured' a giver in treasured state arises.

 

Ijjhati bhikkhave sīlavato cetopaṇidhi visuddhattā — vītarāgattā.|| ||

Successful, beggars, are the heart's aspirations of the ethical
for they are clear — for they are free from lust.

 

Triangulated Research

Examine things in terms of their component parts.

Examine things in terms of their compass.

Examine things in terms of what it is that results in their appearing as owned.

 

Kāḷi itthī brahatī dhaṅkarūpā||
Satthiɱ ca bhetvā aparaɱ ca satthiɱ,||
Bāhaɱ ca bhetvā aparaɱ ca bāhuɱ||
Sīsaɱ ca bhetvā dadhithālakaɱ' va||
Esā nisinnā abhisaddahitvā.
|| ||

Kāḷī woman huge shinny-black as crow
A thigh breaks off, and another thigh,
An arm breaks off, and another arm,
A skull breaks fashioning a bowl ere
this one sits won o'r to faith.

— THAG 136

 

[v. 947]
Saritvā pubbake yogī tesaɱ vatta-manussaraɱ,||
Kakiñ cā pi pacchimo kālo phuseyya amataɱ padaɱ.
|| ||

Remembering the saints of other days,
And recollecting how it was they lived,
E'en though to-day be but the after-time,
He may yet win the Ambrosial Way of Peace.

THAG #257: Pārāpariya Mrs. Rhys Davids, trans.

 

Unslakable

The wanting of the world is a unslakable thirst.

MN 82: Ratthapalasutta

 

The Well-Said

Five, Beggars, are the dimensions
making up the well-said,
not badly said,
the blameless,
unblamable by the wise.
What five?
What is said, is said at the right time.
What is said, is said truthfully.
What is said, is said in a polished manner.
What is said, is said sticking to the point.
What is said, is said with a heart of friendly vibrations.
These, beggars, are the dimensions
making up the well-said,
not badly said,
the blameless,
unblamable by the wise.

—AN 5.198

 

Allies

These are The Five Allies of the Seeker After Knowledge and Vision:
 
Trust that the Buddha knew what he was talking about,
Fear-of-Blame for doing wrong in Body, Speech and Mind,
Sense-of-Shame for doing the unworthy in Body, Speech and Mind,
Energy to make the effort, and
the Wisdom to know the High Road, the Low Road and the time to let go.

—AN 5:1.2

 

Dhammacakkhu

Yam kiñci samudaya-dhammam
sabbam tam nirodha-dhammam

 

The Dhamma-Eye

Whatever it is, a thing that comes to be,
is a thing that ends completely.

 

Attanañ ce piyam jañña
na nam papena samyuje
na hi tam sulabham hoti
sukham dukkatakarina

Who as friend would know the self,
do not to evil ways be bound,
for not sweet is found to be the gain,
where pleasure's found in giving pain.

— SN SAGV 3.4

 

N'aham kassaci kiñcanam tasmim
na ca mama katthaci kiñcanam n'atthi

Neither am I anywhere anything that's that
Nor is there anywhere anything for me.

AN 4.5 (185): Brahmin Truths

 

Yoniso Mana-Sikārā

"It is through mentally tracing things back to their origins,
by making the effort to track paths to their sources, beggars,
that I have reached incomparable freedom,
seen incomparable freedom with my own eyes.
And you, too, beggars,
mentally trace things back to their origins,
make the effort to track paths to their sources,
that you may reach incomparable freedom,
see incomparable freedom with your own eyes."

SN SAGV 4.4: Pasa

 

Yo kho Vakkali, dhammaṃ passati||
so maṃ passati,||
yo maṃ passati||
so dhammaṃ passati.
|| ||

He, Vakkali, who sees Dhamma,
he sees me;
he who sees me,
he sees Dhamma.

SN 3.22.87

 

The Getting High that Leads to Knowing and Seeing

And what is it, friends, that is the way of getting high
that when developed and made much of
results in knowing and seeing?
Here, friends a beggar focuses his mind on the perception of light.
Fixing on the perception of day,
as by day, so by night,
as by night so by day.
Thus he unblindfolds his heart and
reveals a mind of surpassing brilliance.
This, friends, is that way of getting high
that when developed and made much of
results in knowing and seeing.

DN: 33: Sangitisutta

 

The Mustard Seed

Not town law, nor city law
Nor law for this group or that
But for all the world and gods above
This is the law:
Nothing Lasts!

—Gotami the Lean

 

The Diety of the Mountain

In Praise of Bhadda Kundalakesa

Not in every case is man the wiser ever
Woman, too, when swift to reckon, may ever prove as clever
Not in every case is man the wiser reckoned
Woman, too, we'd reckon clever, if'n ever'd think a second.

 

I, Ananda, do not behold one material shape
wherein is delight, wherein is content,
but that from its changing and becoming otherwise
there will not arise grief, sorrow, suffering,
lamentation and despair.

MN: 122: Emptiness (Greater), pp 154, PTS, Horner, trans

 

Little, Beggars, is the time here for Man
— a mere turn in the road.
Live skillfully!
Make the Best of Life!
Not for the born is the Deathless!
He who lives long, Beggars,
lives but a hundred rains,
or but a little more.

SN 1.4.9

 

Good, Beggars, is the practice,
from time to time,
of reviewing one's own faults;
good, too, is the practice
of reviewing the faults of others
from time to time.
Good, Beggars, is the practice,
from time to time,
of reviewing one's own attainments;
good, too, is the practice
of reviewing the attainments of others
from time to time.

—AN 4.7

 

Gain and Loss,
honor and dishonor,
Praise and blame,
pleasure and pain;
Impermanent, human conditions, ending things;
things vulnerable to reversal!

Recognizing and reflecting,
the wise consider these:
things vulnerable to reversal!

By the pleasant not stirred up in heart,
nor by the unpleasant repulsed,
Tranquilized, gone past all that,
neither collaborating nor resisting,
Walking the path free of lust,
sorrowless,
knowing the highest knowing
passed beyond.

—AN 4.5

 

By whatsoever fears beset, beggars,
all such arise in the fool not the wise.

—AN 3.1

 

Honored with Favors,
Disfavored, or Both;
High Minded, Unshakable,
Living Carefully,
A Steady Flame,
He overlooks the view
Unbounded:
A Good Man

—SN NV 17:10

 

Gotama to his son:

... Rāhula,
I say of anyone who has no shame at intentional lying:
There is no evil deed he cannot do.

—MN 61: Rahulovadasutta

 

Non-disease the highest gain
The highest pleasure, Nibbana
And of Ways, the Eight Dimensioned
A peaceful deathless journey is.

—The Buddhas of Old
—MN 75: Magandiyasutta

 

Born of faith, approaching
of approaching, sticking around
of sticking around, giving ear
of giving ear, hearing Dhamma
of hearing Dhamma, keeping it in mind
of keeping it in mind, testing retained Dhamma
of testing retained Dhamma, accepting the understood
of accepting the understood is born wanting.
Born of wanting, determination
of determination, weighing
of weighing, taking a stand.
Taking a stand one in this very body
reaches the truth
and penetrating it with wisdom, sees.

—MN 95: Cankisutta

 

Hard Times

Should you, beggars, happen to see one who has fallen on hard times,
someone hard to look at,
you can say:
"Such is such as such as I
in this long inconstant time gone bye."

How come?

Out of reach of the mind, beggars,
is the start of one's run-around,
not known is the beginning point of
beings reigned in by blindness,
bridled by thirst,
rolled-up in this our run'n-round.

— SN NV 15.11