Sayings of the Buddha in Verse

Impermanence, Sorrow, No-soul

Impermanence, Sorrow, No-soul

All conditioned things are impermanent, sorrowful and without self (no-soul).
When one sees this in wisdom,
Then he becomes dispassionate towards the painful.
This is the Path to Purity.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 277, 278, 279)

Come, look at this world
Resembling an ornamented royal chariot,
Herein fools are sunk,
But for the wise there is no attachment.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 171)

Even ornamented royal chariots wear out.
So too the body reaches old age.
But the Dhamma of the Good grows not old.
Thus, indeed say the Saints among themselves.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 151)

Just as one would look upon a bubble,
Just as one would look upon a mirage.
If a person thus looks upon the world,
The King of Death sees him not.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 170)

Though one should live a hundred years,
Without comprehending how all things rise and pass away,
Yet better, indeed, is a single day's life,
Of one who comprehends how all things rise and pass away.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 113)

Behold this beautiful body,
A mass of sores, a heaped-up (lump), disease,
Much thought of,
In which nothing lasts, nothing persists.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 147)

Knowing that this body is like foam,
And comprehending its mirage-nature,
One should destroy the flower-shafts of sensual passions (mara),
And pass beyond the sight of the king of death.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 46)

Before long, alas! This body, deprived of consciousness,
Will lie on the earth, discarded like a useless log.
~ The Buddha (Dhpd. 41)

Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightening in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.

~ The Buddha (Diamond Sutta)

See Topic 15 for a more detailed discussion on this subject.


The source for the above material:
K. Sri Dhammananda. The Dhammapada. Copyright © 1988 by Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society, 123, Jalan Berhala, 50470, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Used with permission.


Impermanence, Sorrow, No-soul

 

      
                                                                                                  
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