Dhp XXV
Bhikkhuvagga: Monks
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation: Buddharakkhita
Alternate format: [PDF icon]
360-361
Restraint with the eye is good, good is restraint with the ear. Restraint with the nose is good, good is restraint with the tongue. Restraint with the body is good, good is restraint with speech. Restraint with the heart is good, good is restraint everywhere. A monk everywhere restrained is released from all suffering & stress.
362
Hands restrained, feet restrained speech restrained, supremely restrained — delighting in what is inward, content, centered, alone: he's what they call a monk.
363
A monk restrained in his speaking, giving counsel unruffled, declaring the message & meaning: sweet is his speech.
364
Dhamma his dwelling, Dhamma his delight, a monk pondering Dhamma, calling Dhamma to mind, does not fall away from true Dhamma.
365-366
Gains: don't treat your own with scorn, don't go coveting those of others. A monk who covets those of others attains no concentration. Even if he gets next to nothing, he doesn't treat his gains with scorn. Living purely, untiring: he's the one that the devas praise.
367
For whom, in name & form in every way, there's no sense of mine, & who doesn't grieve for what's not: he's deservedly called a monk.
368
Dwelling in kindness, a monk with faith in the Awakened One's teaching, would attain the good state, the peaceful state: stilling-of-fabrications ease.
369
Monk, bail out this boat. It will take you lightly when bailed. Having cut through passion, aversion, you go from there to Unbinding.
370
Cut through five, let go of five, & develop five above all. A monk gone past five attachments is said to have crossed the flood.
371
Practice jhana, monk, and don't be heedless. Don't take your mind roaming in sensual strands. Don't swallow — heedless — the ball of iron aflame. Don't burn & complain: 'This is pain.'
372
There's no jhana for one with no discernment, no discernment for one with no jhana. But one with both jhana & discernment: he's on the verge of Unbinding.
373-374
A monk with his mind at peace, going into an empty dwelling, clearly seeing the Dhamma aright: his delight is more than human. However it is, however it is he touches the arising-&-passing of aggregates: he gains rapture & joy: that, for those who know it, is deathless, the Deathless.
375-376
Here the first things for a discerning monk are guarding the senses, contentment, restraint in line with the Patimokkha. He should associate with admirable friends. Living purely, untiring, hospitable by habit, skilled in his conduct, gaining a manifold joy, he will put an end to suffering & stress.
377
Shed passion & aversion, monks — as a jasmine would, its withered flowers.
378
Calmed in body, calmed in speech, well-centered & calm, having disgorged the baits of the world, a monk is called thoroughly calmed.
379
You yourself should reprove yourself, should examine yourself. As a self-guarded monk with guarded self, mindful, you dwell at ease.
380
Your own self is your own mainstay. Your own self is your own guide. Therefore you should watch over yourself — as a trader, a fine steed.
381
A monk with a manifold joy, with faith in the Awakened One's teaching, would attain the good state, the peaceful state: stilling-of-fabrications ease.
382
A young monk who strives in the Awakened One's teaching, brightens the world like the moon set free from a cloud.