The Dhammapada is Always Dependable The Dhammapada is a set of scriptures consisting of 26 chapters and 423 verses and is considered to be the scriptural authority regarding the learning, study and practice of Therevadan Buddhism. It is considered to be one of the most insightful set of scriptures in the history of mankind and compares itself on very equal footing with The Holy Bible of Christianity, The Holy Q’uran of Islam, and The Bhagvad Gita of Hinduism and Yoga. In fact, it is not necessary to even make such a comparison, since in essence they all call our attention to having the same mental, verbal, physical and behavioral habits and tell us how to cultivate them. We can think of and call the Dhammapada dependable because it is something that we can trust. This may be more important in the modern world then ever before when so much of what we think and feel is based on a mistrust of others and their motives. Sadly, in the confusing and conflicting situations and environments that we are raised in or find ourselves around, we may also lack trust in or doubt ourselves. This can lead to real problems such as anxiety, excessive worry and depression. The wise person will seek guidance and most of us do, but we are unsure of our fellow man and his or her words and teachings in these modern times. The Buddha was a man who sacrificed what most of us endlessly chase after in life, that being wealth, security and pleasure. Instead, he sought out wisdom as a way to deal with, minimize and end suffering. His long - term effort and dedication to such a thing resulted in a number of realizations, one being that much of our suffering is caused by our own ignorance. He learned and taught us that meditation helps us awaken from this ignorance. He was able to condense his realizations into a set of teachings that tells us what causes suffering, what hinders our ability to overcome it, what we can do to overcome it and what are those things that we achieve because of this effort. He basically taught us to live a moral, mindful and compassionate existence. The teachings that are put forth in scriptural form in the Dhammapada for the most part expand on these teachings. They offer guidance to the seeker, clarification to the confused, and simple wisdom to those who feel overburdened by their conditioning, responsibilities, needs and desires. We can think of them as being dependable because they are unchanging regardless of where we find ourselves in life and show us a way to think, speak and act that brings wholesome, skillful and healthy results. For those who wish to have a clearer idea of how to proceed in life, be it as a student of Buddhism or just a human being, it is something that we can depend on for assistance. ©2006 John C. Kimbrough (Bangkok, Thailand)
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 01:03:53 +0000
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