Friends:
THE OX
The fool of sparse learning, grows old like an Ox;
His flesh increases, but his knowledge not ...
Dhammapada
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Illustration 152 Background
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Story 152
CRAVING AS CREATOR
Through a countless number of painful rebirths have
I gone seeking the creator, the house-builder...
Now I see you house-builder; you shall never ever build this house again!
All your rafters are now broken. The main roof beam is shattered!
This mind is all stilled by having eliminated every trace of craving ...
Dhammapada
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Illustration 153-154 Background
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tm> Story 153+154
DRY WAITING
They who neither live the Noble life, nor in
youth work together their own welfare as old,
wander about like herons in a dried out pond,
like worn out tools, wailing about past times.
Dhammapada
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Illustration 155-156 Background
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tm> Story 155+156
Comments:
THE OX: How do we spend our time? Have we been wasting it on
frivolous/excessive sense pleasures, i.e. TV, web surfing, overeating,
sex.? Or, have we been contemplating/meditating upon the deep
significance of the dhamma, and how to apply it in a practical way
to our lives? If we choose the latter, we find that our hearts and
minds expand, growing full with satisfaction, contentment and joy,
do we not?
CRAVING AS CREATOR: Siddhartha Gautama spoke this verse at
the moment of his attainment of Buddhahood. How many lives, how
many rounds of rebirth might we suffer before we choose
to abandon craving?
DRY WAITING: The Buddha urges us not to waste our time, energy,
money, etc. pursuing that which causes us stress, anxiety, worry,
dukkha, suffering. This suffering is brought about by craving for
that which is not healing at all, and seems satisfying, yet is the self
created cause of our demise. Instead, we might take up the higher
life of the seeker, living a simple, humble, meditative, contemplative,
moral, and ethical life, one that reflects our desire for enlightenment,
the extinction of all craving.
Acquire the higher life of the seeker!
With Metta,
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