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Mahāyāna — Northern Canon · Linh Sơn Vietnamese Mahāyāna Canon
法集要頌經
Chinese title:法集要頌經
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Interpreted by Inti AI (English)
🪷 AI interpretation
CHAPTER 24: EXTENSIVE TEACHING
[1]Though one recites a hundred verses,If they are not understood, what use are they?To comprehend but a single line,Which, once heard, leads to attainment of the Path.
[2]Though one recites a thousand verses,If they are not understood, what use are they?Better to understand a single line,Which, once heard, brings the mind to stillness.
[3]Though one understands a thousand verses,If they are not practiced, what use are they?Better to uphold a single line,And through practice attain the Path.
[4]Though one may live a hundred years,Breaking the precepts, the mind unsettled,Better to live a single dayMaking offerings to one who upholds the precepts.
[5]Though one may live a hundred years,Slothful and without diligence,Better to live a single dayPracticing with courageous effort.
[6]Though one may live a hundred years,Not knowing the law of arising and ceasing,Better to live a single dayClearly understanding the law of arising and ceasing.
[7]Though one may live a hundred years,Not knowing the matter of success and failure,Better to live a single daySeeing the cause and knowing the fruit.
[8]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the taintless Path,Better to live a single daySeeing the taintless Path.
[9]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the unmoving Path,Better to live a single daySeeing the unmoving Path.
[10]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the subtle and marvelous Path,Better to live a single daySeeing the subtle and marvelous Path.
[11]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the unborn Path,Better to live a single daySeeing the unborn Path.
[12]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the actionless Path,Better to live a single daySeeing the actionless Path.
[13]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the supreme Path,Better to live a single daySeeing the supreme Path.
[14]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the Path of quiescence,Better to live a single daySeeing the Path of quiescence.
[15]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the ambrosial Path,Better to live a single dayDrinking of the ambrosial Path.
[16]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the stainless Path,Better to live a single daySeeing the stainless Path.
[17]Though one may live a hundred years,Not seeing the Path that departs from defilement,Better to live a single dayDeparting from defilement and attaining liberation.
[18]Though one may live a hundred years,In mountains and forests worshipping the fire god,Better, in but a single moment,To contemplate the body and practice the Path.
[19]Though one may live a hundred years,In mountains and forests worshipping the fire god,Better, in but a single moment,To attain liberation through right view.
[20]Month after monthThe fool partakes of food;He has no faith in the Buddha—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[21]If one prays at the shrine of a deity,For many years hoping for blessings and reward,Of that blessing, in four parts,Not even one part does he possess.
[22]Month after monthThe fool partakes of food;He gives rise to no mind of compassion—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[23]Month after monthThe fool partakes of food;He does not know the Dharma—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[24]Month after monthOne ever attends the Dharma assembly;Yet he has no faith in the Buddha—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[25]Month after monthOne ever attends the Dharma assembly;Yet he has no faith in the Dharma—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[26]Month after monthOne ever attends the Dharma assembly;Yet he has no faith in the Sangha—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[27]Each month he goes to the shrines and temples,Ever giving alms impartially;Yet his mind holds no compassion—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[28]Each month he goes to the shrines and temples,Ever giving alms impartially;Yet for the insects he has no love—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[29]Each month he goes to the shrines and temples,Ever giving alms impartially;Yet if his mind holds no loving-kindness—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[30]Each month he goes to the shrines and temples,Ever giving alms impartially;Yet his mind harbors resentment—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[31]Each month he goes to the shrines and temples,Ever giving alms impartially;Yet he does not see the Dharma of cessation through discernment—Not one part in sixteen does he gain.
[32]Each month he goes to the shrines and temples,All his life without rest or pause—This cannot match, in a fleeting instant,The single-minded recollection of the True Dharma.A single thought's blessing of the PathSurpasses one who worships his whole life long.
[33]Though for a hundred full yearsOne serves and worships at the fire-god's shrine,This cannot match, in but a single moment,Making offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.The merit of a single act of cultivationSurpasses one who worships a hundred years.
CHAPTER 25: GOOD FRIENDS
[1]The faithless harbor envy and hatred;Such a one delights in contention.The wise abandon grudges and resentment,While the herd of fools take them for joy.
[2]With faithful heart, free of envy and hatred,Diligent, faithful, and learned—The wise ever hold such a one in honor,And the noble and holy call it joy.
[3]Do not draw near the wicked and evil;Do not go to places of unrighteousness.Keep close to good and virtuous friends,And ever resort to places of the True Dharma.
[4]Walking the road, remember to deliberate;Uphold the precepts, become learned.Reflect upon the boundless realms,Hear the excellent teachings given there,And know all matters clearly.
[5]Drawing near the evil, one sinks into ruin;Cultivating the good, one gains a fragrant name.The noble and holy are ever wondrous,Because their conduct is upright and true.
[6]The good man ever does what is wholesome,Because he keeps near virtuous friends.Wisdom is the supreme thing;Upholding the precepts is eternal quiescence.
[7]As fish gather where there is a rank stench,The greedy contend and snatch for gain;Their tainted minds know not their own foulness—So too are evil habits.
[8]The fragrant kasturi leaves of the tree—Living beings come and pluck them.The leaves' fragrance spreads far and wide—So too is the doing of good.
[9]Drawing near the wicked and evil,One's sinful karma grows day by day,Like a pig that lives in filth,Soiling itself and soiling others alike.
[10]Though one does no evil oneself,By keeping near those who do evilOne will be mocked and reproached by others,And one's evil repute grows day by day.
[11]Habituation forms one's very nature.To know evil yet draw near to itIs like a poisoned arrow lodged within,Causing one to become tainted.The true man skillfully roots it out,Forsaking evil and befriending it no more.
[12]Therefore, knowing the fruits of recompense,The wise person discerns them well.Do not habituate yourself to evil;Rather draw near the noble and holy.The bhikṣu who practices the PathEndures hardship and purges all taints.
[13]Though the fool, all his life long,Waits attendance upon the wise and clear,He still knows not the True Dharma,As a ladle knows not the taste of the food.
[14]The wise person, in but a single instantWaiting upon the noble and holy,Clearly knows and penetrates the True Dharma,Just as the tongue tastes the flavor.
[15]The wise person, with a single line,Expounds boundless meanings;The fool recites a thousand lines,Yet understands the meaning of none.
[16]Accomplished in the meaning of a single line,The wise delight in cultivation and learning;The fool prefers to shun and avoidThe truthful words taught by the Buddha.
[17]The wise prevail over hatred and resentment,And do not follow the bonds of personal affection;The fool follows what is unrighteous,Advancing step by step into the hells.
[18]The fool who regards himself as a foolShould be known to possess wisdom;The fool who regards himself as clever—That is foolishness beyond measure.
[19]If, moreover, one praises the foolAnd reviles the wise,To revile the wise is as if a victory,But to praise the fool is no superior thing.
[20]Do not heed the words of fools,Nor dwell together with the foolish;To share with fools is to meet calamity,As though sharing a place with an enemy.Choose, then, a place to dwell togetherAs one would meet again a beloved kinsman.
[21]Therefore revere the learnedAnd those who uphold the precepts;Honored and esteemed among people,Like the moon amid the stars.
CHAPTER 26: QUIESCENCE
[1]As the tortoise withdraws and hides itself,So the bhikṣu restrains his thoughts and intentions.Relying on none and harming none,In quiescence, beyond all speech.
[2]Patience is foremost;Quiescence is supreme.Harboring no afflictions in the heart,Doing no harm—such is the śramaṇa.
[3]Speak no coarse and evil words;Let your speech be eloquent.The dull of understanding find debate hard,Whereas, on the contrary, others are subdued.
[4]Ever giving rise to afflictions,One is like that shattered vessel;Cycling forever through birth and death,Sunk eternally, never escaping.
[5]If one gives rise to no afflictions,Like a vessel that remains whole and unbroken,Thus one approaches quiescence,With dust and defilement forever uncovering it no more.
[6]Freedom from sickness is the greatest gain;Contentment is the greatest wealth;Kin and flesh are the closest of ties;Quiescence is the greatest joy.
[7]Hunger and thirst are the greatest affliction;The conditioned formations are the greatest suffering.Whoever knows this as it truly is—For him, quiescence is the greatest peace and joy.
[8]Marvelous indeed are the words of the Buddha!Transmitted on without end,Spread abroad throughout the world,Never becoming outworn by time.
[9]The Buddha has no equal;He expounds words true and good.The body is afflicted and oppressed by suffering—What suffering equals hunger and thirst?
[10]Few are those who reach the good destinies;The many go to the evil paths.Whoever knows this as it truly is,Let him swiftly seek quiescence.
[11]Through conditions, birth in the good destinies;Through conditions, birth in the evil paths;Through conditions, the attainment of quiescence—Thus all things are by conditions.
[12]The deer lives in the wilderness,The bird flies in the open sky;All dharmas arise through causes and conditions,And the one of the Path returns to quiescence.
[13]Not with a slothful mind,Not through cowardice, can it be reached.To seek the Path of quiescence,Burn away every bond and fetter.
[14]The bhikṣu rows his boat;The empty boat glides lightly along.Eradicating greed, hatred, and delusion,He shall then arrive at quiescence.
[15]A self, an existence—these are fundamentally void.In the past there was a self; now there is none.Neither nonexistent nor existent—Such, even now, cannot be grasped.
[16]The True Reality is very hard to see;Contemplate it skillfully and discern.Penetrate the root of craving and desire,And suffering shall be eradicated.
[17]Sever craving, remove the longings of desire,And the river dries up, flowing no more.Clearly seeing the root of craving and desire,Suffering shall be eradicated.
[18]Without body, with perception extinguished,The agony of suffering becomes cool and calm;The formations are forever stilled at rest,And consciousness-perception arises no more.Whoever knows this as it truly is,Suffering shall be eradicated.
[19]In a secluded place one becomes still;Do not draw near to defiled and tainted pleasures.Unmoving, one attains ease and tranquility;Only through stillness is quiescence attained.
[20]Neither by coming nor by going—Coming and going utterly cut off, beyond arising and ceasing.Aging, death, and afflictions removed,Severing suffering, quiescence is attained.
[21]I have not returned again;Neither going nor coming,Neither dying nor being born—This is the realm of quiescence.
[22]Knowing the root and the branches of birth,Knowing the conditioned and the unconditioned;Bound and fettered by birth and death,Whoever is so bound is hard to subdue.
[23]Thus this body of the four great elements,The five aggregates, the gathering of suffering and affliction—Abiding firmly, contemplate them as truly suffering;Ending suffering, realize quiescence.
[24]All dharmas neither come nor go;Coming and going, they ever arise and cease.Aging, sickness, and death shift and change;The taintless attain quiescence.
[25]O bhikṣu! Wherever there is birth,There must surely be the making of deeds.Where there is no birth, existence is no more;Where there is no action, there is no place for conduct.
[26]O bhikṣu! I have knownThat I shall enter the abodes no more—Neither the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness,Nor the Sphere of Nothingness.
[27]I enter not the Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception,Neither this world nor the world to come,Nor the perception of sun and moon—Neither coming nor going.
[28]Through eating, by causes and conditions, things arise;Through eating, there are joy and sorrow.Whoever eradicates this matter,All sufferings shall be utterly removed.
[29]Without eating, life is hard to sustain;Who is there that does not need to eat?People regard eating as foremost,And only afterward turn to the Path.
[30]Earth and water and fire—At that time the wind does not blow,The bright fire casts no light,Nor are any forms or scenes seen.
[31]There is no moon to shed its glow,No heaven to cast its light;Whoever contemplates this thoroughlyThen attains the Path of quiescence.
[32]Upright, he relinquishes form,Escaping every suffering and yoke;Neither form nor formlessness—He escapes the foremost suffering.
[33]Ultimate, he is without fear;Free and at ease, he is without doubt.While the thorn of craving and desire is yet uncut,How can one know the body to be an affliction?
[34]He is called one who has reached the ultimate;Quiescence is the foremost.Having severed all clinging and attachment,His words and phrases are without error.
[35]The ordinary man does not reflect;The wise relinquish the formations.The mind that reflects upon its own conductIs like one emerging from the eggshell.
[36]The gift of Dharma surpasses every gift;The bliss of Dharma surpasses every bliss;The power of patience surpasses every power;The exhaustion of craving ends all suffering.
CHAPTER 27: CONTEMPLATION
[1]Skillfully contemplate your own faults;Your own faults are not exposed,While the faults of others are very easily seen,Like dust drifting through the air.
[2]If one declares oneself without fault,Both sin and merit come together;Seeing only the faults of others,One ever harbors a mind of harm and danger.
[3]Knowing shame, one lives long.Why let craving bind and lead you?The strong man fears nothing,While the ordinary man's lifespan grows short.
[4]Knowing shame, accepting offerings,Ever seeking the conduct of purity,Without lapse in dignified bearing—Contemplate the truly pure recipient.
[5]Murky darkness covers the world;The eye of wisdom is exceedingly rare.A flock of birds falls into the net;How few are reborn in the heavens.
[6]Contemplate the worldly dharmas declining and decaying;One sees only forms changing and shifting.The fool binds himself,Beset and constricted by darkness;He sees not even the formations,Much less that which is without anything at all.
[7]Living beings all hold to a self;Because of it, afflictions arise.Each fails to see the other,And sees not the thorn of false views.
[8]Contemplate this thorn of causes and conditions:Living beings are much defiled and attached.What I make is not another's;What another makes is not mine.
[9]Living beings are bound by sloth,Defiled and attached to arrogance,Deluded by their own views,Unable to escape the suffering of birth and death.
[10]What has been gained and what shall be gained—Both bear the dust of defilement;Habit is the root of disease.Together understand all the points of training.
[11]Contemplate those who uphold the precepts,Persons of pure conduct, purified;Behold the sick and emaciated—They shall reach the unconditioned.
[12]Contemplate the foam upon the water;Contemplate, too, as a wild mirage.Thus failing to contemplate the body,One also fails to see death approaching.
[13]Contemplate the foam upon the water;Contemplate, too, as a wild mirage.Thus failing to contemplate the world,One also fails to see the lord of death.
[14]Thus should one contemplate the bodyAs the fine chariot of a king;The fool is defiled and attached to it,But skillfully seek to depart far from it.
[15]Thus should one contemplate the bodyAs the fine chariot of a king;The fool is defiled and attached to it,But let the wise depart far away.
[16]Thus should one contemplate the body:Multitudes of diseases are its cause.Sickness and folly gather together—How then can it be safeguarded?
[17]Contemplate the painted images,The maṇi jewels and dark-green hair;The fool takes them as objects of attachment,And hopes not to cross to the other shore.
[18]Contemplate the painted images,The maṇi jewels and dark-green hair;The fool takes them as objects of attachment,But let the wise soon weary and depart.
[19]Forcibly seizing upon a fair painted image,Adorning a foul and putrid body—The fool takes it as an object of attachment,And hopes not even to deliver himself.
[20]The hair and nails, parted into eight portions,The earrings and the two eyes—The fool is defiled and attached to them,And hopes not even to deliver himself.
[21]Craving and desire are defiled by, attached to, desire;Not examining, conditions form the bonds of habit.By not giving rise to the bonds of habit,One crosses the flood of the desire-taints.
[22]Not in the garden, he goes out of the garden;Out of the garden, he enters the garden again.One should contemplate such a person:Loosed from bondage, he is bound once more.
[23]Now relinquishing the throne of a heavenly king,He does not create the root of birth and death;Seeking to depart from the suffering of the hells,He prays to speak of the joy of quiescence.
[24]Pure white robes covering the body,The driver of a one-wheeled cart—Contemplate that he has not yet cut off defilement,And let him seek to end his bonds and fetters.
[25]Many people go and take refugeIn the gods of trees, of rivers and mountains;They build shrines and sacrifice to spirits,Hoping to be spared from suffering and calamity.
[26]Therein there is nothing supreme,Nor any benefit at all;Whoever takes refuge in such thingsDoes not escape all suffering and yokes.
[27]If one takes refuge in the Buddha,Takes refuge in the Dharma and the Sangha,And cultivates the Four Noble Truths,He shall surely see true wisdom.
[28]Suffering, its cause and condition, and the arising of suffering—Surmount this yoke of suffering!The noble Eightfold Right Path,Through utter cessation, realizes the ambrosial.
[29]Take refuge in the Three Jewels,The supreme and most auspicious;Whoever takes such refugeShall escape all suffering.
[30]Having contemplated, one shall contemplate;Not having contemplated, one shall also contemplate.Having contemplated, one contemplates yet again;Having contemplated, one contemplates no more.
[31]Having contemplated, one contemplates yet again,Discerning their fundamental nature;Counting the day as if it were night,Ere long this precious body perishes.
[32]Having contemplated, one contemplates no more;Though one sees, one also does not see;As though seeing yet not seeing,Contemplating yet also not seeing.
[33]Why "seeing yet not seeing"?Why is it said "seeing yet not seeing"?For what cause is there "seeing yet not seeing"?And by what does seeing bring forth the essential way out?
[34]If one does not contemplate suffering,Ever contemplate it clearly within yourself;Comprehend the root of suffering—This is the bright and marvelous contemplation.
[35]Who causes the ordinary manTo not contemplate the root of the formations?Through that he contemplates,Forsaking darkness and seeing the radiant light.
CHAPTER 28: TRANSGRESSIONS AND OBSCURATIONS
[1]To do no evil whatsoever,To reverently practice all that is good,To purify one's own mind and intention—This is the teaching of all the Buddhas.
[2]Giving alms wins blessings and reward;Harbor no wrath within.Use the good to eradicate the evil,And greed, hatred, and delusion are no more.
[3]Alone, do not follow the foolish;Let the deluded follow the wise.The wise eradicate evilAs the crane chooses to drink the milk.
[4]Contemplate the world's myriad changes;Know the traces of arising and ceasing.The noble and holy take no delight in the world,While the fool keeps far from the noble and holy.
[5]Understanding the savor of recollection,Reflecting on the meaning of rest and repose,Without fever, thinking not of hunger—Drink, then, of the savor of the Dharma.
[6]Whoever harms not their mind,Nor injures their intention,Using the good to eradicate all evil,Need not fear falling to the evil destinies.
[7]Whoever wishes to train and refine the mindMust ever make careful selection.The wise are easily carved and adorned,And are then called the heroes of the world.Whoever skillfully draws near to themIs at peace and free of sorrow.
[8]Quiescent, none surpass him;Gentle and harmonious, never rash.He blows away all evil dharmas,As the wind blows down falling leaves.
[9]Whoever deliberately terrorizes others,Slandering those who are pure,Doing evil, the force of karma pursues,As clouds are driven by the wind.
[10]The good and evil of each person—Each one knows full well for himself.Doing good wins good fruit;Doing evil, one falls to the evil destinies.
[11]Look to whether you yourself are pure or not;Why concern yourself with others' purity?The fool does not refine himself,Like rusted iron that bores into the steel.
[12]If the eye sees what is not perverse,The clear-sighted seek skillful means;The wise skillfully live their lives,And likewise do no evil.
[13]The merchant on the perilous road,Deserted of people yet laden with goods,Passing through a place of peril and danger,If the axle breaks must surely come to grief.
[14]If the body has no festering sores,And is not harmed by poison,As poison brings no pain to it,There is no evil it will not commit.
[15]Many people do evil deeds,And the body must bear the consequence;To cultivate good and bestow grace and virtue—This deed is very difficult indeed.
[16]Good it is for one who cultivates the good!Alas for one who commits evil!It is very easy to do evil oneself;For the evil person, doing good is hard.
[17]The fool regards himself as right,Because his evil is not yet ripened;When his evil has ripened,All sufferings, too, come crowding in.
[18]The worthy person sees the evil,And is not harmed by that evil;While the evil is not yet ripened,The evil person thinks it is of no consequence.
[19]The worthy person contemplates evil,And forever does no evil deed;When ancient evil has, as it were, ripened,The worthy person contemplates himself.
[20]Though one may commit evil deeds,One does not do so again and again;Their mind takes no peace or joy in it,Knowing that evil is suffering.
[21]Whoever skillfully does meritorious good,Will also do so again and again;Their mind wishes for peace and joy,And skillfully receives that blessing and reward.
[22]First, skillfully regulate the mind,Restraining and holding the root of evil;Then blessings shall grow and increase,For evil karma is created by the mind.
[23]Though the evil done be very small,In lives to come one suffers much affliction;The recompense shall be boundless,Like poison entering the heart.
[24]Though the merit made be very small,In lives to come one receives great blessing;One shall obtain a great blessing-reward,For having sown a true and genuine fruit.
[25]Faultless, yet treated with contempt;Without anger, yet plundered and seized upon—Such a one must suffer ten things,And shall straightway come to this place:
[26]The pain of coarse and evil words;The body suffering injury and harm;Sickness and disease, grievous and severe;A mind disturbed, finding no peace.
[27]Kinsfolk parted and scattered;Wealth and possessions wasted and lost;Robbed and plundered by bandits;Cherished wishes left unfulfilled.
[28]Or beset by countless things;Consumed and burned to ashes by fire;At death, falling into the hells—These are the ten calamities.
[29]Doing evil, do not say there is none;Having done it, do not call yourself blameless.To conceal it and claim there is no sin—It bears its recompense all the same.
[30]Doing evil, the voice is sorrowful and anxious;Having done it, one suffers grief and melancholy.Concealing it, one is filled with worry;The recompense, too, is sorrow and grief.
[31]Causing sorrow, the next life brings sorrow;Creating evil amid grief and melancholy,Ever in fear and anxious distress,Seeing one's sin, the heart is heavy with regret.
[32]Creating joy, the next life brings joy;Practicing good amid gladness,Joyful and ever cheerful,Seeing one's blessing, the heart is serene and at peace.
[33]Causing suffering, the next life brings suffering;Creating sin amid agony,The recompense ever painful,Seeing one's sin, the heart is heavy with regret.
[34]Cultivating merit, doing no evil—All this is the karma one creates oneself.Forever without fear at the time of death,Like a boat gliding across the river.
CHAPTER 29: CORRESPONDENCE
[1]The moonlight shines in the darknessBefore the sun has dawned;When the sun's radiance illumines all,The moonlight straightway grows dim.
[2]The heretics shed their lightBefore the Buddha has appeared in the world;When the Tathāgata sends forth his great brightness,The heretics straightway grow dim.
[3]Taking the real for the false,Taking the false for the real—This is the mind of false views,Which gains no wholesome benefit.
[4]Knowing the true and real as real,Knowing the false and spurious as false—This is the mind of right view,Which surely gains wholesome benefit.
[5]The fool clings tenaciously,And must be bound by the nine fetters,Like a bird fallen into the net,All because of attachment to craving and desire.
[6]Whoever has doubtAbout this life and the life to come—Through meditative absorption, skillfully eradicate it;Pure conduct is without affliction.
[7]If the poison of one's nature is not uprooted,And craving desire makes the heart race about,One cannot yet subdue oneself,And is unworthy to wear the Dharma robe.
[8]If the poison of one's nature is skillfully uprooted,And, keeping the precepts, the mind is at ease,That mind has been subdued,And is worthy to wear the Dharma robe.
[9]It avails not, though with gentle wordsHis fame resounds in every place,And his countenance, however fair and comely,His heart be full of guile and treachery.
[10]Whoever skillfully departs from evil deeds,Uprooting them down to the very root—The wise who remove all impuritiesAre then called those of wholesome form.
[11]Do not take outward beauty for true;At a passing glance, one knows the heart.In the world are many wicked onesRoaming idly through the world.
[12]Like that counterfeit gold,Within all brass and base metal,Proclaimed and carried everywhere—Foul within and impure without.
[13]Greedy for food, knowing no restraint,All day long merely lying about,Like a pen for raising pigs—He shall forever endure the womb.
[14]Whoever's mind is skillfully concentrated,Eating and drinking with due measure,Knowing food to be a branch of desire,Practices moderation and cultivates the Right Path.
[15]False view holds the body to be pure;The faculties are not restrained;Eating and drinking without measure—This is the way of the ordinary man.The mind of desire turns and grows ever greater,Like a rotted house that leaks and drips.
[16]Contemplate the body as impure;The faculties unrestrained.Eating and drinking with due measure,With faithful heart, practicing diligence,The mind of desire is not let loose,Like the wind blowing against Mount Tai.
[17]A secluded place is most peaceful and joyful,Yet people care little for it.The noble and holy ever dwell there—It is the abode of those of the Path.
[18]Hard to shift, hard to shake,Like the Himalayas, range upon range;The unholy, then, do not appear,As one entering a dark house by night.
[19]The worthy number even a thousand,The wise within the forest groves;The meaning and principle are profound indeed,And the wise discern them skillfully.
[20]Living beings are of myriad kinds;Not practicing, they do not realize.Now contemplate this meaning and principle:He who breaks the precepts is despised by people.
[21]Contemplating the taints, one knows fear,And change—it is not constant.The tainted, then, take no delight in;Remember to depart from the three realms.
[22]The faithless one, knowing no shame,Bores through the wall and steals.To sever and remove such thoughts—That is the superior person.
[23]First sever the mind of greedy craving,Arrogance and false views;Eradicate all the bonds and fetters,Stainless, cultivate pure conduct.
[24]Eating and drinking with due measure,Hoarding away no goods or wealth,Wishless, empty, and signless,Practicing, deliver living beings.
[25]As the bird flying through the skyLeaves traces that cannot be seen,So too with that practitioner—His sublime words cannot be known.
[26]Whoever skillfully severs the root of the taints,And relies not on impermanent dharmas,Wishless, empty, and signless,Practices and delivers living beings.
[27]Few are the living beings;The many do not accord with the Path.And even were there such a person,It is very hard to realize cessation.
[28]The right and wrong of the human world—Contemplate them, all dharmas entirely.Remove and purge all the bonds and fetters,And the fever of affliction is forever no more.
[29]Practicing, free of sorrow,One day he shall attain liberation;Removing all the bonds and fetters,Affliction arises no more.
[30]As the bird flying through the skyMeets nothing to obstruct it,So that one attains the taintless,Wishless, empty, and signless.
[31]As the bird flying through the skyMeets nothing to obstruct it,The practitioner crosses to the other shore,Wishless, empty, and signless.
[32]Do not create evil deeds;Whoever creates them suffers affliction.Do not do what is wrong;Sorrow before, and sorrow after as well.
[33]Do create good deeds;Whoever creates them has no sorrow.Do what is joyful;Reborn in heaven, one enjoys bliss.
[34]Empty space leaves no trace;The śramaṇa has no defiled intent.Worldly people delight in doing evil;Only the Buddha is pure and without impurity.
[35]Empty space leaves no trace;The śramaṇa has no defiled intent.The world is wholly impermanent;The Buddha departs from self and what belongs to self.
[36]The devas, together with the human world,Corresponding in all their conduct,Escape from every suffering,Departing craving, freed from saṃsāra.
[37]The devas, together with the human world,Corresponding in all their conduct,Skillfully keeping far from evil karma,Fall not into the three evil paths.
[38]Yet again, one knows not how to discourse;The wise and the foolish cannot be distinguished.But if, moreover, one knows how to discourse on meaning,One's words will be without error.
[39]Discourse, then, upon the True Dharma;Raise up the banner of the Buddha-Dharma.The Dharma-banner is the Great Sage;The Great Sage is the Dharma-banner.
[40]Some are blamed for keeping silent,Some are blamed for speaking too much,Some are blamed for not yet speaking—There is no one who is not blamed.
[41]Praise at one moment, slander at another,All merely for the sake of gain and fame;Neither there nor not there—This, too, cannot be known.
[42]Praised by the wise,Whether for good or for ill,The wise are without lapse,And through concentration and wisdom attain liberation,Like pure gold of a purple hue,Pure and translucent within and without.
[43]Just as Mount Sumeru, the Wondrous and High,Is not shaken by the wind,So too is the wise person:Blame and praise move him not.
[44]Like a tree without roots,Without branches, much less leaves—The wise have loosed their bonds and fetters;Their virtue—who would dare to revile?
[45]Stainless, relying on nothing,The taints of the body plant the causes of suffering;Most excellent, with craving no more,Devas and humans cannot perceive him.
[46]Just as in the net of the dense forest,Without craving—how much more any remnant?The Buddha has boundless practices;Without trace—whose trace would there be to follow?
[47]If existence gives no rise to desire,And with birth one takes no hold of existence,The Buddha has boundless practices;Without trace—whose trace would there be to follow?
[48]If one wishes to extinguish deluded thoughts,Within and without, there are no causes;Nor is one entangled in the perception of form,And the four responses receive no birth.
[49]Forsaking the before and forsaking the after,Forsaking the middle, transcending all realms—Relinquishing everything entirely,One no longer receives birth and aging.
Sutra of the Collected Essential Verses of the Dharma ♦ End of Scroll 3
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Translation source: Linh Sơn Pháp Bảo Đại Tạng KinhLicense: Linh Sơn Pháp Bảo Đại Tạng Kinh (Việt dịch) · nguồn: rongmotamhon.net (Liên Phật Hội)
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