Random Verses from the Buddhist Texts

“So this holy life, bhikkhus, does not have gain, honour, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of virtue for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is this unshakeable deliverance of mind that is the goal of this holy life, its heartwood, and its end.”

(Majjhima Nikaya Sutta 29 Verse 7, a Theravada Text)

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SW-User

Sutta Nipata 1:4

A farmer addresses the Buddha:-

[i]So you claim to be a farmer...
But we do not see you plowing!
Tell me, since you're asked, of plowing,
So I'll know what you call "plowing".

[/i]
The Buddha replies:-

[i]Faith is the seed, practice the rain,
And wisdom is my yoke and plow.
Modesty's the pole, mind the strap,
Mindfulness my plowshare and goad.

Body and speech are guarded well,
And food and drink have been restrained.
Truthfulness I use for weeding,
And gentleness urges me on.

Effort is my beast of burden,
Pulling me onward to safety.
On it goes without returning,
Where, having gone, one does not grieve.

This is how I plow my plowing —
The crop it yields is deathlessness!
And when one has plowed this plowing,
One is released from all suffering.[/i]