all ties given up,
no fever is found in them.
The mindful apply themselves;
they delight in no abode.
Like a swan gone from the marsh,
they leave home after home behind.
Those with nothing stored up,
who have understood their food,
whose domain is the liberation
of the signless and the empty:
their path is hard to trace,
like birds in the sky.
One whose defilements have ended;
who’s not attached to food;
whose domain is the liberation
of the signless and the empty:
their track is hard to trace,
like birds in the sky.
Whose faculties have become serene,
like horses tamed by a charioteer,
who has abandoned conceit and defilements;
the unaffected one is envied by even the gods.
Undisturbed like the earth,
true to their vows, steady as Indra’s pillar,
like a lake clear of mud;
such a one does not transmigrate.
Their mind is peaceful,
peaceful are their speech and deeds.
Such a one is at peace,
rightly freed through enlightenment.
Lacking faith, a house-breaker,
one who acknowledges nothing,
purged of hope, they’ve wasted their chance:
that is indeed the supreme person!
Whether in village or wilderness,
in a valley or the uplands,
wherever the perfected ones live
is a delightful place.
Delightful are the wildernesses
where no people delight.
Those free of greed will delight there,
not those who seek sensual pleasures.
Minor Collection
Sayings of the Dhamma 100–115
8. The Thousands
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Better than a thousand
meaningless sayings
is a single meaningful saying,
hearing which brings you peace.
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Better than a thousand
meaningless verses
is a single meaningful verse,
hearing which brings you peace.
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Better than reciting
a hundred meaningless verses
is a single saying of Dhamma,
hearing which brings you peace.
The supreme conqueror is
not he who conquers a million men in battle,
but he who conquers a single man:
himself.
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It is surely better to conquer oneself
than all those other folk.
When a person has tamed themselves,
always living restrained,
no god nor centaur,
nor Māra nor divinity,
can undo the victory
of such a personage.
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Rather than a thousandfold sacrifice,
every month for a full century,
it’s better to honor for a single hour
one who has developed themselves.
That offering is better
than the hundred year sacrifice.
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Rather than serve the sacred flame
in the forest for a hundred years,
it’s better to honor for a single hour
a personage who has developed themselves.
That offering is better
than the hundred year sacrifice.
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Whatever sacrifice or offering in the world
a seeker of merit may make for a year,
none of it is worth a quarter
of bowing to the sincere.
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For one in the habit of bowing,
always honoring the elders,
four blessings grow:
lifespan, beauty, happiness, and strength.
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Better to live a single day
ethical and absorbed in meditation