Dragon Temple, Amphoe Sam Phran, Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand. The dragon's body is the stairs leading to the main Buddhist temple on top of the building.

Self : 166*

Don’t sacrifice your own welfare
for that of another,
no matter how great.
Realizing your own true wel fare,
be intent on just that.

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Vacchagotta said to the Lord: “I have heard it said that you, good Gotama, teach that charity should only be given to you, not to others, to your followers, not to the followers of other teachers. Are those who say this representing your opinion without distorting it? Do they speak according to your teaching? For indeed, good Gotama, I am anxious not to misrepresent you.”

The Lord replied: “Vaccha, those who say this are not of my opinion, they misrepresent me and say what is not true. Truly, whoever discourages another from giving charity hinders them in three ways. What three? He hinders the giver from acquiring good, he hinders the receiver from receiving the charity, and he has already ruined himself through his meanness.”

Anguttara Nikaya 3.57 : Vacchagottasutta

Dhammapada XIII : Worlds

Worlds : 167

Don’t associate with lowly qualities.
Don’t consort with heedlessness.
Don’t associate with wrong views.
Don’t busy yourself with the world.

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Do we really give the Buddha a bath in the ceremony? No, it is rather to cleanse the Buddha within by way of a ceremony involving the external Buddha, and the emphasis is on purifying the heart. Therefore, the celebration of the birth of the Buddha should be conducted with solemn attitudes encompassing moral development, compassion and respect.

Worlds : 168 -169

Get up! Don’t be heedless.
Live the Dhamma well.
One who lives the Dhamma
sleeps with ease
in this world & the next.

Live the Dhamma well.
Don’t live it badly.
One who lives the Dhamma
sleeps with ease
in this world & the next.

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King Milinda asks:

"What is the benefit of building stupas and paying respect to them? The Buddha has passed away, so how can such acts bring merit?"

Nagasena replies:

"Great king, even though the Buddha has passed away, his relics remain as a focus of veneration. When people build stupas or offer respect to them, they create merit. Just as the fragrance of a flower spreads with the wind, the act of reverence brings joy and spiritual benefit to the devotees."

He further explains:

"The stupa is like a great rain cloud, bringing blessings and relief to those who seek it. By honoring the stupa, one honors the Buddha, his teachings, and the Sangha, cultivating wholesome qualities and a peaceful mind."

Milindapanha, Chapter 4 (Veneration of Stupas)

Worlds : 170*

See it as a bubble,
see it as a mirage:
one who regards the world this way
the King of Death doesn’t see.

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Then with the passing of those seven days, the Gracious One arose from that concentration. Then the Naga King Mucalinda, having understood that the sky was now clear without a cloud, having unravelled his coils from the Gracious One’s body, and after withdrawing his own form, and creating the appearance of a young brahmana, stood in front of the Gracious One, revering the Gracious One with raised hands.

Then the Gracious One, having understood the significance of it, on that occasion uttered this exalted utterance:

“There is happiness and detachment for the one who is satisfied,
who has heard the Dhamma, and who sees,
There is happiness for him who is free from ill-will in the world,
who is restrained towards breathing beings.

“The state of dispassion in the world is happiness,
the complete transcending of sense desires,
But for he who has removed the conceit ‘I am’—
this is indeed the highest happiness.”


Udana 2.1
Mucalindasuttam 11

Worlds : 171

Come look at this world
all decked out
like a royal chariot,
where fools plunge in,
while those who know
,don’t cling.

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Worlds : 172-173

Who once was heedless,
but later is not,
brightens the world
like the moon set free from a cloud.

His evil-done deed
is replaced with skillfulness:
he brightens the world
like the moon set free from a cloud.

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Just as a river flowing down from the mountains, going far, its current swift, carrying everything with it, so that there is not a moment, an instant, a second where it stands still, but instead it goes & rushes & flows, in the same way, brahmans, the life of human beings is like a river flowing down from the mountains—limited, trifling, of much stress & many despairs. One should touch this (truth) like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the holy life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

AN 7.74 Arakenanusasani Sutta: Araka’s Instructions

Worlds : 174

Blinded this world–
how few here see clearly!
Just as birds who’ve escaped
from a net are few,
few are the people
who make it to heaven.

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“Pañcime, bhikkhave, ānisaṃsā sappurisaṃ sevato, sappurisasamāsevanāya, sappurisūpadāsanāya. Katame pañca? Saddho hoti, sīlavā hoti, bahussuto hoti, cāgī hoti, paññavā hoti. Ime kho, bhikkhave, pañcānisaṃsā sappurisaṃ sevato, sappurisasamāsevanāya, sappurisūpadāsanāya.”

"Monks, there are these five benefits of associating with a good person, keeping their company, and attending on them. What five? One becomes faithful, virtuous, learned, generous, and wise. These, monks, are the five benefits of associating with a good person."

Mitta Sutta (AN 5.55)

Worlds : 175

Swans fly the path of the sun;
those with the power fly through space;
the enlightened flee from the world,
having defeated the armies of Mara.

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"There are these four types of brightness. Which four? The brightness of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the brightness of fire, and the brightness of discernment. These are the four types of brightness. And of these four types of brightness, the foremost is the brightness of discernment."

AN 4.144 : Obhasa Sutta: Brightness

Worlds : 176*

The person who tells a lie,
who transgresses in this one thing,
transcending concern for the world beyond:
there’s no evil
he might not do.

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Worlds : 177

No misers go
to the world of the devas.
Those who don’t praise giving
are fools.

The enlightened
express their approval for giving
and so find ease
in the world beyond.

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Uttararama Gal Viharaya, ancient city Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, the best rock carvings art of Sinhalese culture.