The Buddhist Way of Life : On sorrow and happiness; On Charity and Kindness

10. On sorrow and happiness; On Charity and Kindness

• Poverty gives rise to sorrow. 
• But removal of poverty does not necessarily give rise to happiness. 
• Not high standard of living but a high standard of culture is what gives happiness. 
• This is the Buddhist Way of Life. 
• Hunger is the worst of diseases. 
• Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches; trust is the best of relationships, Nibbana the highest happiness. 
• We must learn to live happily indeed, not hating those who hate us ! 
• We must learn to live happily indeed, free from ailments among the ailing men.
• We must learn to live happily indeed, free from greed among the greedy.
• Mankind is ruined by passion, just as fields are damaged by weeds : therefore charity done to the passionless brings great reward. 
• Mankind is damaged by vanity, just as fields are damaged by weeds. Therefore charity done to those who are free from vanity brings great reward. 
• Mankind is ruined by lust, just as fields are damaged by weeds. Therefore charity done to those who are free from Just brings great reward. 
• Charity to Dhamma exceeds all gifts. The sweetness of the Dhamma exceeds the Dhamma. The delight in the Dhamma exceeds all delights. 
• Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. He who has given up both victory and defeat, he, the contented, is happy. 
• There is no fire like passion ; there is no losing throw like hatred; there is no pain like this body; there is no happiness higher than the rest. 
• Fix not your gaze upon the ill-words and ill-deeds of others, upon what others do or leave undone. Look rather at what by yourself have done or left undone. 
• Hard always is life for the modest, the seeker after purity, the detached, the retiring, the cleanly of life, the discerning. 
• Is there in the world a man so blameless that he gives no occasion for reproach, as a spirited horse gives no occasion for the stroke of the lash ? Like a spirited horse that needs not the lash be fiery, be fleet. 
• Do not speak harshly to anybody: those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful, blows for blows will touch thee. 
• Liberty, courtesy, good-will and unselfishness—these are to the world what the lynch-pin to the Chariot.
• This is the Buddhist Way of Life.

Dhamma and Morality : Buddha and his Dhamma

Dhamma and Morality

• What is the place of morality in Dhamma ? 
• The simple answer is Morality is Dhamma and Dhamma is Morality. 
• In other words, in Dhamma morality takes the place of God although there is no God in Dhamma. 
• In Dhamma there is no place for prayers, pilgrimages, rituals, ceremonies or sacrifices. 
• Morality is the essence of Dhamma. Without it there is no Dhamma. 
• Morality in Dhamma arises from the direct necessity for man to love man.
• It does not require the sanction of God. It is not to please God that man has to be moral. It is for his own good that man has to love man.