Dhp90-99, Chapter 1738
This is Dhp90-99, chapter 1738, a sacred text in the Buddhism tradition. You can read it here verse by verse for free, listen to it read aloud, and follow cross-references that connect its themes to other traditions.
Minor Collection
Sayings of the Dhamma 90–99
7. The Perfected Ones
At journey’s end, rid of sorrow;
everywhere free,
all ties given up,
no fever is found in them.
The mindful apply themselves;
they delight in no abode.
Like a swan gone from the marsh,
they leave home after home behind.
Those with nothing stored up,
who have understood their food,
whose domain is the liberation
of the signless and the empty:
their path is hard to trace,
like birds in the sky.
One whose defilements have ended;
who’s not attached to food;
whose domain is the liberation
of the signless and the empty:
their track is hard to trace,
like birds in the sky.
Whose faculties have become serene,
like horses tamed by a charioteer,
who has abandoned conceit and defilements;
the unaffected one is envied by even the gods.
Undisturbed like the earth,
true to their vows, steady as Indra’s pillar,
like a lake clear of mud;
such a one does not transmigrate.
Their mind is peaceful,
peaceful are their speech and deeds.
Such a one is at peace,
rightly freed through enlightenment.
Lacking faith, a house-breaker,
one who acknowledges nothing,
purged of hope, they’ve wasted their chance:
that is indeed the supreme person!
Whether in village or wilderness,
in a valley or the uplands,
wherever the perfected ones live
is a delightful place.
Delightful are the wildernesses
where no people delight.
Those free of greed will delight there,
not those who seek sensual pleasures.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Path to Wisdom
Proverbs 4:7
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”
Analects 2:11
“If you study the past and use it to understand the present, you are worthy of being a teacher.”
Tao Te Ching 33
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”
Humility & Surrender
Bhagavad Gita 18:66
“Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.”
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Tao Te Ching 22
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.”
Quran 2:45
“Seek help through patience and prayer. It is indeed exacting, but not for those who are humble.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”