In the rich treasury of Asian culture, Buddhism occupies a significant place as a phenomenon that has shaped the thinking, customs, art, philosophy, and religion of various peoples and connected the vast expanses of this continent. By the end of the 6th century BC, it spread throughout India and, by the 7th century, encompassed Turkestan, Afghanistan, Tibet, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Indonesian archipelago.
Throughout its historical journey, Buddhism has undergone countless changes and adaptations to different regions and different intellectual and religious currents. Over time, various Buddhist schools have emerged, giving rise to a rich and diverse Buddhist literature that expresses different views and interpretations of Buddhist teachings. However, what connects all the different faces of Buddhism in the Far East as a common thread is the ethical ideal symbolically depicted in the biography of the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.
According to Indian tradition, he was born in 563 BC. The crown prince in the kingdom of Sakya (today’s southern Nepal), in the city of Kapilavastu. Legends about the life of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha tell of extraordinary signs that accompanied his birth, the luxury of his palace life, and the sudden turn of his destiny that he himself chooses. Siddhartha renounces the throne and wealth in order to dedicate himself to the search for answers to the questions: what is the cause of human suffering and how to overcome it?
Legends further describe his first steps in the search for truth as a detour: Siddhartha unsuccessfully visits various teachers who cannot give him answers to his questions, and he eventually devotes himself to extreme austerity and torment of the body. Already completely exhausted, he comes to the first realization: living in wealth, he lived like a dead person, living in asceticism brought him to the brink of death, and the truth remained equally distant from him.
The miraculous process of awakening consciousness that Siddhartha Gautama initiates by his own will is described through his contemplation under the holy fig Bodhi: In one night, he defeats the demon Mara within himself, realizes the truth about the causes of existence, the cause of human suffering, and the way to transcend it. The former prince and ascetic becomes Buddha, which means “Enlightened” in Sanskrit.
Legends say that at that moment, the highest god, Brahma Svayampati, pleads on behalf of all beings for him not to leave the world in the bondage of ignorance, but to set in motion the wheel of his noble teachings. Thus, Buddha’s infinite compassion awakens, and, as recorded, his mission to liberate all beings begins…
Buddha’s life represents a Buddhist ethical model of life. Life is a journey that leads a person through different circumstances and possible detours, but the final outcome depends on their will, effort, and choices, because “…demons cannot break them, nor can gods elevate them, except through their own fault or cooperation.”
In order for their path to be correct, a person must avoid extremes, because “…a life dedicated solely to pleasure or a life exposed only to torture is ugly, incom “Static and useless”. Liberation from suffering is a result of a correct life path, struggle, and overcoming one’s own “demon Mara”, a realization that eliminates ignorance in a person.
These elements represent the fundamental ethical message that is a part of Buddha’s teachings on the “Four Noble Truths” or, as it is also called, the teachings of Dharma. Practical advice for realizing these teachings is contained in numerous Buddhist texts, among which the most well-known is the Dhammapada – The Path of Righteousness. This text belongs to the canonical texts that were recorded by Buddha’s disciples since Siddhartha Gautama Buddha himself did not write anything. His teachings were remembered and transmitted orally, and later writings were collected, selected, and refined at Buddhist councils after Buddha’s death. This is how the Buddhist canon is formed – a collection of selected texts that serve as the fundamental reference for Buddha’s teachings in all Buddhist schools and is the origin of the entire Buddhist literature.
The oldest recension of this canon, which dates back to the 1st century BCE, is known as the Theravada canon. It is considered the most authentic, written in the Middle Indian language Pali in the 1st century BC.
Dhammapada belongs to that part of the canonical texts called Suttapitaka – “Basket of Discourses”. Pali for path means “path”, and Dhamma (Sanskrit: Dharma) is a multi-meaning expression that refers to the profound lawfulness of the world, moral order, and then to the teachings that express and reveal them.
Dhammapada is a collection of sayings, advice for everyday life that has inspired kings and ascetics in the Far East for centuries because, as Buddhists say, the rules of the Path of Righteousness are the same for everyone.
Dhammapada – selected excerpts
For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love. This is an eternal law.
Those who have noble thoughts always strive for more:
they are not content with staying in the same place. Like swans leaving their lake and rising in the air, they leave their home to find a higher home.
There is the scent of sandalwood, roses, blue lotus, and Jasmina; but far above the scent of that flower lies the sublime scent of virtue.
Just as a bee feeds on flower nectar and then flies away without destroying the scent and beauty of the flower, so should the wise wander through this world.
People who did not live in harmony with themselves in their youth, nor collected true life treasures, later resemble old, long-legged herons standing sadly by a fishless lake.
Those who did not live in harmony with themselves in their youth, nor collected true life treasures, later resemble broken arches, constantly lamenting things that have passed and disappeared.
Hurry and do what is good; guard your mind from evil. If a person is slow to do good, their mind finds pleasure in evil.
If a person does something wrong, do not allow them to do it again and again. Do not let them find pleasure in their sin. The accumulation of wrong actions is painful.
If a person speaks many holy words, but does not do what they say, they are foolish and One cannot enjoy the life of holiness; he is like a shepherd counting his master’s cows.
But if a person speaks few holy words and yet lives the life of those words, free from passion, hatred, and illusion – with correct vision and a free mind, not craving for things in this world or the next – the life of such a person is a holy life.
Arise! Pay attention. Walk the righteous path. A person who follows the righteous path finds joy in this world and in the world beyond.
Pay attention to the anger of the body: manage your body well. Do not harm with the body, but use it well.
Pay attention to the anger of words: manage your words well. Do not harm with words, but use them well.
Pay attention to the anger of the mind: manage your mind well. Do not harm with the mind, but use it well.
The mind is unstable and superficial; it chases after deception whenever it pleases: it is truly difficult to restrain it. Managing the mind is very good; a tamed mind is a source of great joy.
The enemy It can harm the enemy, and a person who hates can harm another person; but a person’s own mind can harm them much more if it is misdirected.
All beings tremble before danger. When a person realizes this, they do not kill or cause killing.
All beings fear danger, life is precious to everyone. When a person realizes this, they do not kill or cause killing.
A person who hurts others because of their happiness will not find happiness afterwards.
The words of a person who speaks but does not do are futile, just like a barren flower that looks beautiful and has color, but no fragrance.
Beautiful and fruitful are the words of a person who speaks and does what they say, just like a beautiful flower that has both color and fragrance.
Better than a thousand useless words is one word that brings peace.
Value a person who speaks about your mistakes as if they have discovered hidden treasure, value the wise person who shows you life’s dangers.
A person who can control their Like a coachman steering a carriage at full speed with anger – I call him a good driver: others just hold the reins.
Overcome anger with tranquility; overcome evil with good. Overcome meanness with generosity, and a person who lies with truth.
If a person makes himself as good as he tells others to be, then he can truly teach others. Self-control is truly difficult.
If one man conquers a thousand in battle, and another man conquers himself, the victory of the second will be more valuable because victory over oneself is the most valuable of all victories; neither gods of heaven nor demons of the underworld can turn the victory of such a man into defeat.
“He insulted me, hurt me, defeated me, robbed me.” People who think like this will not free themselves from hatred.
“He insulted me, hurt me, defeated me, robbed me.” People who do not think like this will free themselves from hatred.