Those who lie will be deceived, those who abuse will be abused, those who poison will be poisoned, and those who slay will be killed. This is the inevitable wheel of nature, where the nature of our acts defines our environment and our future prospects. These are reflections from Dhammapada, an ocean of timeless non-violent wisdom, on breaking the chain of evil causation.
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manasā ce pasannena bhāsati vā karoti vā |
tato naṃ sukhamanveti chāyā'va anapāyinī || 1
╠ "If with a corrupted mind one should either speak or act, suffering will follow in its wake like the wheel follows the ox's hoof."
akkocchi maṃ avadhi maṃ ajini maṃ ahāsi me |
ye taṃ na upanayhanti veraṃ tesūpasammati || 3
╠ "'He insulted me, he assaulted me, he defeated me, he robbed me'; who halts the recurrence of such thoughts will become free of hatred."
na hi verena verāni sammantīdha kudācanaṃ |
avarena ca sammanti esa dhammo sanantano || 5
╠ "Hatred is never allayed by hatred in this world. It is allayed by non-hatred; and this is the timeless pattern of wisdom."
idha socati pecca socati pāpakārī ubhayattha socati |
so socati so vihaññati disvā kamma kiliṭṭham attano || 15
╠ "Here he grieves, hereafter he grieves; in both the evil-doer grieves. He grieves and is afflicted, beholding his own heedless deeds."
na hi pāpaṃ kataṃ kamma sajju khīraṃ'va muccati |
ḍahantaṃ bālamanveti bhasmacchanno'va pāvako || 71
╠ "Like milk, wicked deeds don't curdle when they emerge; like sparks of fire covered in ashes, smouldering, they pursue the fool."
pāpaṃ ce puriso kayirā na taṃ kayirā punappunaṃ |
na tamhi chandaṃ kayirātha dukkho pāpassa uccayo || 117
╠ "If a man should do a wicked deed, let him not do it again and again; let him find no rejoice in it, for painful is the accumulation of evil."
susukhaṃ vata jīvāma verinesu averino |
verinesu manussesu viharāma averino || 197
╠ "Truly in the greatest happiness we live, friendly towards the hateful; among the hostile people, we live free of hatred."
jayaṃ veraṃ pasavati dukkhaṃ seti parājito |
upasanto sukhaṃ seti hatmā jayaparājayaṃ || 201
╠ "Victory gives rise to hatred, while the defeated live in pain. The peaceful live in happiness, rejecting victory and defeat."
≡ Dhammapada: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.01.budd.html