Dharma Pearls

16/06/2024

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18/04/2024

Here's the latest news for the translation project, including a quick summary of each new sutra released in February and March.

This post is to catch up on the Saṃyukta Āgama releases and updates from February and March of 2024. I was rather ill at the end of February and beginning of March and missed the planned update, bu…

05/04/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 3: Greed, v.14-17

Not pulling out the whole root of greed,
It will return to arise again despite being cut.
Greed is like a planted field
Plowed and left to go fallow. (14)

Love sprouts, if not weeded out,
Then the fruit of goodness isn't reliable.
The greedy mind and loving mind:
Their basis discerned, they are not two. (15)

Doing evil together with painful experiences:
How do they not create contrition?
Greediness starts as a seed;
Affection leads to the womb. (16)

The cravings of sentient beings don't pause;
Coming and going, they are hard to escape.
Devas and people
Settle down and depend on love. (17)

(Illustration: A 14th century sandstone Buddha bust engulfed by the roots of a massive banyan tree at Wat Mahathat in Thailand

Source: https://matadornetwork.com/read/11-impressive-buddha-statues-world/ )

04/04/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 3: Greed, v.10-13

Free of greed, you escape the drowning waves;
Free of greed, you attain liberation.
Because of greed, clamor and quarrels increase;
Because of love, recrimination is indulged. (10)

A monk cultivates calm and contemplation,
Realizing the fruit of peace.
Greedy thinking is like fertile land:
Meeting with wind and rain, it grows. (11)

If you're far removed from greedy desire,
Afflictions cannot attack you.
When greed is weak,
It's like a drop of water on a lotus. (12)

Those whose afflictions are easily removed
We can describe them as wise;
Cutting down the tree but not its root,
It still grows despite being cut down. (13)

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 3: Greed, v.10-13

Free of greed, you escape the drowning waves;
Free of greed, you attain liberation.
Because of greed, clamor and quarrels increase;
Because of love, recrimination is indulged. (10)

A monk cultivates calm and contemplation,
Realizing the fruit of peace.
Greedy thinking is like fertile land:
Meeting with wind and rain, it grows. (11)

If you're far removed from greedy desire,
Afflictions cannot attack you.
When greed is weak,
It's like a drop of water on a lotus. (12)

Those whose afflictions are easily removed
We can describe them as wise;
Cutting down the tree but not its root,
It still grows despite being cut down. (13)

(Illustration: Khmer Relief No. 1 by Theerapon Rurngpaisitporn

Source: http://seanrobsville.blogspot.com/2009/12/contemporary-buddhist-art-from-thailand.html )

03/04/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 3: Greed, v.6-9

Greedy desire deep and bottomless,
Old age and death are made to increase.
Greed, many are its lies;
Greed, it harbors miserliness. [6]

If you discern with wisdom,
Right observation will obtain well-being.
Due to greed, you are subjected to birth-and-death,
Fierce waves of pleasure drive you on. [7]

The multitudes that lack the wisdom-eye
Cannot examine it for themselves;
The fool is seized by greed,
How could he realize, being submerged? [8]

If you cultivate the practice of yoga,
King Mara won't be able to ambush you.
The stain of greed is hard to remedy,
Like the calf's attachment to its mother. [9]

(Illustration: The Bodhisattva's Birth.

Source: https://buddhistartnews.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/visions-of-enlightenment-buddhist-art-at-the-university-of-british-columbia-museum-of-anthropology/ )

02/04/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 3: Greed, v.1-5

Extremely greedy and good in appearance,
Sentient beings harbor doubts;
If greedy intent is further increased,
They make their own bonds strong. (1)

Free of greed and good in examination,
Their doubts are resolved;
Casting off their greedy desire,
They break their strong bonds themselves. (2)

Entangling himself in a net of desires,
Shading himself with a cover of love,
A fool's sentiments are self-indulgent fetters,
Like a fish caught by hand. (3)

The fate of death always comes to oppress us,
Like a calf chasing its loving mother.
Someone heedless of greedy attachments
Is like a monkey that discovers a fruit tree. (4)

Greedy intent is quite stubborn;
It returns again, destiny after destiny.
A man's greedy desire is watered,
And his notions grow like weeds. (5)

(Illustration: Xuanzang Journeys West

Perhaps the most famous teacher and translator in China, Xuanzang traveled to India during the 7th century CE and studied with Indian teachers for many years. He spent the remainder of his life translating after his return to China with a trove of Buddhist scriptures.

Source: http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/4sub9/entry-5590.html )

01/04/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 2: Desire, v.18-21

A fool ties himself up with greed
And seeks not the freedom on the other shore.
Greed for property creates desire
Harms others and also ties him up. (18)

The world holds many sublime desires;
Few are the desires of great taste.
Compared to the happiness up in heaven,
They are kārṣâpaṇas (gold coins). (19)

Many mountains are entirely made of gold,
Like the mountains of the iron range (Cakravāḍa).
This still is no satisfaction;
The rightly awakened know them all. (20)

Worldly hardships are the consequence,
And their cause is greed.
The sage is well disciplined;
Your training should be based on this. (21)

[End of Chapter 2]

(Illustration: Farewell at Xunyang, a 16th century scroll painting at Mogao Caves in China

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/0/24624407 )

30/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 2: Desire, v.14-17

The bhikṣu is careful of desiring pleasure,
And doesn't care about many sorrows.
If separated from love and desire,
Right mindfulness brings happiness. (14)

Without fatigue, how can there be satisfaction?
Unsatisfied, how can they be happiness?
Without happiness, how can they be sorrow?
Having love, how can there be happiness? (15)

Peace and wisdom is enough
To increase the unpolluted path.
Posessive love, if unsatisfied,
Is contrary to Dharma and leads to untimely deaths. (16)

Seeing forms, the mind is deluded
And doesn't examine its own impermanence.
Fools take beauty to be good
Unware that it's unreal. (17)

(Illustration: Victory Over Mara, 19th century Mongolian painting

Mara's army of demons attempt to destroy the Bodhisattva before he achieves enlightenment, but their weapons are useless, turning into flowers as they near Gautama's seat under the bodhi-tree.

Source: http://mesosyn.com/myth2-1.html )

29/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 2: Desire, V.10-13

When right mindfulness is constantly produced,
Peace makes desire easy to remove.
Govern yourself with the Dharma's precepts;
Not transgressing them, goodness increases. (10)

The common practice is of greedy people;
The fool becomes accustomed to it.
Mindfulness, concentration, and carefulness
In their turn win the unpolluted state. (11)

Cultivating calmness and contemplation for a moment
Frees you from the defilement of your misdeeds.
Self-conceit naturally dissolves;
That liberation wins well-being. (12)

If a person doesn't end his desires,
It's like bark put into a fire.
Burned up in a moment,
The punishments he receives are numberless. (13)

(Illustration: Mara sends his three daughters, Taṇhā, Arati, and Raga to prevent the Bodhisattva from attaining enlightenment. Their names literally mean longing, dislike, and desire.

Source: http://phatgiaonguyenthuy.net/article/nghien-cuu-phat-hoc/su-kien-bo-tat-thanh-dao-va-nhung-ngay-dau-tien-sau-khi-thanh-dao.html )

28/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 2: Desire, v.6-9

The noble sage clarifies love and longing;
Arrayed are his followers.
Far removed from wife and child,
His determination is beneficial. [6]

Wanting desires makes liberation difficult;
Free of desire is a true renunciate.
Not being greedy, he experiences happiness,
Nothing is desired by the sage. [7]

Worldly, greedy people
Are in various ways unthinking;
If someone can be trained,
They are called truly free of desire. [8]

If someone always wants desires,
They live in fetters, hard to liberate.
With just wisdom discerning it,
The affliction is cut and doesn't arise. [9]

(Illustration: Landscape painting by Sesshu Toyo, 15th century Japan)

27/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 2: Desire, v.1-5

Longing, I recognize the basis of you;
Thinking arises with thoughts and ideas.
When I don't think of you,
The longing of you doesn't exist. (1)

Because of longing, affliction arises;
Because of longing, fear arises.
Free of longing, liberation is attained,
Without fear and without affliction. (2)

From love, affliction arises;
From love, fear arises.
Free of love, liberation is attained,
Without fear and without affliction. (3)

A fruit is first sweet and later bitter;
Love and longing are also like this.
Later comes hell's suffering,
Roasting you for countless eons. (4)

The fool's greed, love, and longing,
Make him cling to wife and child;
Wrapped up by love's defilement,
His determination is difficult to escape. (5)

(Illustration: Kmer Relief No. 2 by Theerapon Rurngpaisitporn
Source: http://seanrobsville.blogspot.com/2009/12/contemporary-buddhist-art-from-thailand.html )

26/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.36-40

Many are the problems of this body,
Leaking pus and ever beset with diseases.
The deluded are greedily attached to it;
They don't tire of it and seek peace. (36)

This year, though he says where he'll be
Winter and summer, he doesn't stay long;
Common men covet the world's pleasures
And aren't afraid while in their midst. (37)

Parents and brothers,
Wife, children, and family relations:
Impermanence comes and drags them away;
It's impossible to rescue them. (38)

Thus are sentient beings
Motivated to greed, toil, and pleasure;
Impermanence, old age, and illness pause
And they don't wake up to the hardships they create. (39)

Head-shaven is the bhikṣu;
Fittingly, he cultivates calm and contemplation.
Māra cannot waylay him;
Freed from birth, he arrives at the other shore. (40)

[End of Chapter 1]

(Illustration: A painting depicting bhikkhus at Ranawana Raja Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/denishc/9279721503 )

25/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.31-35

Form changes into old age,
A cherished home becomes like a prison.
Unaware that death will assail him,
The foolish man doesn't know. (31)

Although he may live a full century,
He's still followed by death;
Oppressed by old age and illness,
His troubles do finally reach a future end. (32)

Old age wraps his body in discomfort,
Day and night the pains are many;
His bitterness has a thousand kinds
Like a fish burned to ashes. (33)

The flood waters never stop,
The rushing current goes and doesn't come back.
Guarded jealously, sores pollute the body;
Although it changes, it cannot remain. (34)

A collection of four elements is the body,
Impermanently lasting a long time;
When the earth element breaks up,
What use is it, empty of consciousness? (35)

(Image source: http://followbarbsbliss.blogspot.com/2014/03/ )

23/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.26-30

The buddhas and bodhisattvas,
Independently awakened and disciples:
Even they discard the conditioned body.
Why wouldn't sentient beings? (26)

Not in the sky or the ocean,
Nor in the mountain grottoes:
Nowhere on the earth
Is free and not subject to death. (27)

Whether in the present era,
Or in past and future times,
All conditioned things
Conclude with complete destruction. (28)

The sages who free themselves of fetters,
Always correctly mindful and examining:
They constantly ponder the unpolluted way;
They are called the true sages. (29)

[A conditioned body is] like a prisoner tied up
Whose wishes do him no good
And like a rotted old cart
That will soon be demolished. (30)

(Illustration: The Buddha teaches the eightfold path for the first time to his five former ascetic companions at the Deer Park of Benares.

Source: http://buddhistinspiration.blogspot.com/2012/06/contemporary-buddhist-art-for-children_09.html )

22/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.21-25

Having both children and property
And guarding them jealously until they're scattered,
The fool doesn't examine himself;
Why depend on having property or children? (21)

Uncountable hundreds of thousands
Of wealthy men and women of great clans
Have piled up many valuable assets,
And none of them have not been lost. (22)

Wealth and status are not a sage's valuables;
They are always subject to impermanence.
It's like a man whose eyes are blind
And cannot look at himself. (23)

What's accumulated will be scattered again;
What goes up surely will fall back down.
Every being comes to its end,
And their sentiments are the same. (24)

Doing evil, they enter hell;
Cultivating good, they are born in heaven.
If goodness can be cultivated,
Pollution will end, and Nirvāṇa will be attained. (25)

(Illustration: An artist's conception of the Buddha teaching the Abhidharma to the devas

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buddha_preaching_Abhidhamma_in_Tavatimsa.jpg )

21/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.16-20

The troubles that coalesce into a body
Give rise to myriad torments;
A person's life is the same:
It's waylaid by old age and death. (16)

The toil that creates merit
Is ever a worldly won welfare;
Like striking water swiftly with a stick,
It opens momentarily and closes back up. (17)

Like someone who walks with a staff
Leading a herd of cattle to food;
A person's life is the same:
He nourishes life and departs, too. (18)

A man who wants to establish virtue
Day and night doesn't do so in vain;
Having managed to obtain a human body,
He single-mindedly ponders it his entire life. (19)

Not sleeping the length of the night,
Tired out by the length of the path,
And deluded by the length of birth-and-death,
It's rare to hear the wondrous Dharma. (20)

(Image: A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha, from railing of the Bharhut Stupa, early 2nd century BC at Bharhut in Madhya Pradesh, India

During the early period of Buddhist art, the Buddha was depicted in scenes abstractly as a Dharma wheel, as shown here.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharhut)

20/03/2024

We're currently working on sūtra translations from the Chinese _Saṃyukta Āgama_ this spring. We plan to switch to translations from the _Madhyama Āgama_ as the main project this summer, and the _Ekottarika Āgama_ at the end of the year.

Readers can keep up with new releases at the "What's New" page at the Dharma Pearls website (link below).

What’s New 17-Mar-2024 Translations added: SĀ 2.9 Free of Desire (2) SĀ 2.10 Delight in Suffering SĀ 2.11-14 Impermanent, Painful, Empty, and Not Self SĀ 2.15-39 Everything SĀ 2.40 Burning SĀ 2.41-48 Rāhula (1-8) SĀ 2.49-56 Rāhula (9-16) SĀ 2.57 Rāhula (17) SĀ 2.58-74 How to End the Co...

20/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.11-15

Life like a fruit naturally ripens;
We always fear association with decay and death.
Being born, we surely will have our end;
Who can escape this? (11)

It's like the master potter
Who shapes an unbaked pot from clay;
Existent things are all destroyed,
And a person's life is the same. (12)

Like a person strumming a lute,
Perfect and myriad are its wondrous sounds;
Cut the strings, and they make no noise:
A person's life is the same. (13)

Like being caught and bound with fetters
And hauled off to the city;
Moving down the road to death,
Our lives are the same. (14)

It's like a river's fast-moving current
That departs and never returns;
A person born is the same:
He departs and doesn't come back. (15)

(Illustration:The Buddha's Parinirvana
Artist: Unknown

Tradition tells that the Buddha died of food poisoning while traveling between cities, dying with his disciples at his side in a sala-tree forest.

This scene is likely inspired by the Mahayana version of the Buddha's death, which describes all the animals and spirits gathering around in mourning as he lay on his deathbed.)

19/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.6-10

It's like a person's first night
When consciousness settles in a mother's womb.
Days go by and many things change;
Once gone, they're certain not to return. [6]

Looking at the wondrous sight of dawn,
The night is complete and disappears.
Whatever you looked upon is yesterday;
Now that sunset has made it naught. [7]

Glory, wealth, brilliance, and prosperity
Have neither permanence nor certain duration.
Not distinguishing between what's noble or mean,
You'll always be a subject of the king of death. [8]

Some perish while in the womb;
Others grow up and die.
Youthful vigor doesn't escape death;
Advanced old age thinks of it fondly. [9]

Whether old or young in years,
Or you are middle-aged,
It's always possible for death to come;
How is it not worrisome? [10]

(Illustration: Gautama sees old age, illness, death, and a recluse on trips outside of his father's palace.

Source: https://buddhabg.wordpress.com/រូបភាព/buddha01-70/)

18/03/2024

Dharma Verses ::
Chapter 1: The Conditioned, v.1-5

To wake up from affliction,
It's fitting to set out with gladness.
Now, listen to my collection
Of Dharma verses taught by the Buddha! (1)

Thus was the Buddha the Blessed One
And teacher of all sages:
Feeling compassion for sentient beings,
He widely taught these true sayings. (2)

Everything that's made is not permanent;
These are things that arise and die away.
A man born soon returns to his end;
Tranquility is the greatest happiness. (3)

It's like when a candle is burning
And you throw something into the shadows;
If you don't investigate with the lamp of wisdom,
It'll always be obscured by the afflictions. (4)

The human body has its physical shape
That's discarded and scattered in all directions;
What happiness is there to imagine from this
Skeleton that's the color of a dove? (5)

03/02/2024

It's a new year, and we're back into gear translating the Saṃyukta Āgama. The plan for 2024 is to spend a third of the year focusing on each of the remaining three Āgamas.

Hello, everyone. First, apologies for the long hiatus from posting here at the Dharma Pearls blog. The translation project itself took a hiatus to attend to the task of migrating all of the project…

08/08/2023

With Chapter 12 and 13 in EĀ, we reach a point at which it becomes difficult to avoid the conclusion that some sort of disorder has taken place after the initial Chinese translation. It’s been fairly well documented by Palumbo in his book studying the history of EĀ’s translation that there were at least three editions that existed at one time or another, the Taisho edition being the one that survived to the present day....

With Chapter 12 and 13 in EĀ, we reach a point at which it becomes difficult to avoid the conclusion that some sort of disorder has taken place after the initial Chinese translation. It’s been fair…

07/08/2023

Chapter 11 is titled “The Non-Returner” after the initial four sūtras on the subject. Most of this chapter has parallels in Pali sources. Ekottarika, Ch. 11 Pali Parallel 1. The Non-Returner 1 Iti 1 Greed 2. The Non-Returner (2) Iti 2 Hate 3. The Non-Returner (3) Iti 3 Delusion 4. The Non-Returner (4) (Iti 1-6) 5. Heart AN 1.21…...

Chapter 11 is titled “The Non-Returner” after the initial four sūtras on the subject. Most of this chapter has parallels in Pali sources. Ekottarika, Ch. 11Pali Parallel1. The Non-Returner 1Iti 1 G…

06/08/2023

I'm happy to report that we've recovered from the illness that visited us last month, and I've released translations of EĀ 12.10, 13.1-7, and 14.1-10. With these three chapters, we've reached the end of the Book of Ones. I wrote a lengthy summary of the chapters added last month at SuttaCentral's Discuss & Discover forum (see this post here…...

I’m happy to report that we’ve recovered from the illness that visited us last month, and I’ve released translations of EĀ 12.10, 13.1-7, and 14.1-10. With these three chapters, w…

08/07/2023

Hello, everyone. So, July has not begun well. At the end of June, I started releasing new translations, and I was hoping to have released most of EA chapter 13 this week, but unfortunately COVID-19 visited our household. Myself and my wife have been incapacitated for the past week, but the fever broke and we're recovering now. I'm still really weak, but in much less pain....

Hello, everyone. So, July has not begun well. At the end of June, I started releasing new translations, and I was hoping to have released most of EA chapter 13 this week, but unfortunately COVID-19…

05/06/2023

Hello, everyone. Apologies for going quiet for the past couple months. I've working on other projects and research since April that ended up taking up most of my time. It was good time spent on background research delving into ancient history as well as exploring the parallels to some of EĀ's larger sūtras like EĀ 24.5, but it didn't produce much in the way of new translations from the…...

Hello, everyone. Apologies for going quiet for the past couple months. I’ve working on other projects and research since April that ended up taking up most of my time. It was good time spent …

12/04/2023

This month the remainder of Chapter 10 of the Ekottarika Āgama (EĀ) was released at Dharma Pearls. Chapter 10 is a set of ten sūtras that revolve around themes of making merit, especially through generosity. This group of sutras, whose subject is often perceived as primarily a concern for lay Buddhists, are directed at both lay and monastic audiences. This chapter also includes a pair of sūtras that make mention of bodhisattvas in a context that appears inspired by Mahāyāna teachings or their precursors in paracanonical sources like the Jātaka and Avadāna stories....

This month the remainder of Chapter 10 of the Ekottarika Āgama (EĀ) was released at Dharma Pearls. Chapter 10 is a set of ten sūtras that revolve around themes of making merit, especially through g…

27/03/2023

Hello, again! I hope everyone has had an excellent couple of weeks. Here in California, we have nearly completed our exit from the extreme drought of the past few years. It's really an amazing turnaround. These erratic and extreme weather patterns remind me of the extreme weather the world suffered during the Little Ice Age that began in the 14th century....

Hello, again! I hope everyone has had an excellent couple of weeks. Here in California, we have nearly completed our exit from the extreme drought of the past few years. It’s really an amazin…

13/03/2023

Hello, again, from southern California, where we are gearing up for more rain. The drought is officially over in many parts of the state, which really was in the nick of time. There haven't been any new releases this week. Instead, my time has been devoted to editing and researching translations that have already been published. I spent time going over my translation of DĀ 1, the beginning of a process that will hopefully produce a full-fledged book complete with introduction, indices, and the like....

Hello, again, from southern California, where we are gearing up for more rain. The drought is officially over in many parts of the state, which really was in the nick of time. There haven’t b…

06/03/2023

It's been two months since I posted an update! Time flies sometimes. I will be making an effort to set aside time to blog more frequently in the future. I'm going to shoot for a post once a week, perhaps more. (Which means once a week or biweekly, probably.) The heavenly messengers of birth, illness, old age, and death have been paying us visits of late....

It’s been two months since I posted an update! Time flies sometimes. I will be making an effort to set aside time to blog more frequently in the future. I’m going to shoot for a post on…