THE DHAMMAPADA: SAMPLE VERSES

Here are a few sample verses from The Dhammapada, reflecting Theravada (original) Buddhism:

It is not what others do, or do not do, that is my concern; it is what I do, and what I do not do, that is my concern.

Sit alone, sleep alone, be active alone, in loneliness continue the conquest of the self, even in a forest continue the quest.

Call him wise whose mind is calm, whose senses are controlled, who is unaffected by good and evil, who is wakeful.

Iron breeds rust, and rust devours iron, so ill deeds devour their doer.

Clear thinking leads to Nirvana, a confused mind is a place of death.  Clear thinkers do not die, the confused ones have never lived.

Like the lotus softly fragrant and soul-delighting, rising clear from scraps of rubbish in a wayside pond, the disciple of the Enlightened Buddha shines in perfect wisdom, clear above the crowds of ordinary men who do not see the truth.

The fool who knows he is foolish is wise, while the fool who thinks he is wise is hugely foolish.

No suffering for him who is free from sorrow, free from the fetters of life, free in everything he does.  He has reached the end of the road.

One man on the battlefield conquers an army of a thousand men.  Another conquers himself, and he is greater. 

All fear punishment, all fear death.  Therefore do not kill, or cause to kill.  Do as you would want done to you.