Train yourself in doing good
that lasts and brings happiness.
Cultivate generosity, the life of peace,
and a mind of boundless love.

Ittivuttuka 16

The past should not be followed after
and the future not desired;
what is past is dead and gone
and the future is yet to come.

Majjhima Nikaya III, 131

Life is swept along,
next-to-nothing its span.
For one swept to old age
no shelters exist.
Perceiving this danger in death,
one should drop the world's bait
and look for peace.

Samyutta Nikaya II, 19

O Daughter of Heaven, to you I direct my hymn like a precious offering. Accept it, O Night, as a paean of praise.

Rig Veda X, 127, 8

Having killed anger you sleep in ease. Having killed anger you do not grieve. The noble ones praise the slaying of anger -- with its honeyed crest & poison root -- for having killed it you do not grieve.

Samyutta Nikaya II, 70

Hate brings great misfortune, hate churns up and harms the mind; this fearful danger deep within most people do not understand.

Itivuttaka 84

Good are friends when need arises;
good is contentment with just what one has;
good is merit when life is at an end,
and good is the abandoning of all suffering.

Dhammapada 331

The friend who is a helpmate,
the friend in happiness and woe,
the friend who gives good counsel,
the friend who sympathises too --
these four as friends the wise behold
and cherish them devotedly
as does a mother her own child.

Digha Nikaya 31

Time brought forth fate-filled chance. In Time the Sun shines and burns. In Time the eye spies from afar. In Time all existences are.

Atharva Veda XIX, 53, 6

Wolf, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf's right to eat him. He thus addressed him: "Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me." "Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was not then born." Then said the Wolf, "You feed in my pasture." "No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted grass." Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well." "No," exclaimed the Lamb, "I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me." Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations."

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.

Aesop

As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings.

Sutta Nipata I, 8

The fever of passion exists not for him who has completed the journey, who is sorrowless and wholly set free, and has broken all ties.

Dhammapada 90

Through conviction one crosses over the flood.
Through heedfulness, the sea.
Through persistence one overcomes suffering & stress.
Through discernment a person is purified.

Sutta Nipata I, 10

Ever grows the glory of him who is energetic, mindful and pure in conduct, discerning and self-controlled, righteous and heedful.

Dhammapada 24

The Self, smaller than the small, greater than the great, is hidden in the hearts of creatures. The wise, by the grace of the Creator, behold the Lord, majestic and desireless and become free from grief.

Yajur Veda, Svetasvatara Upanishad, Part I, Chapter III, 20

May all creatures, all living things, all beings one and all, experience good fortune only. May they not fall into harm.

Anguttara Nikaya II, 72

One should first establish oneself in what is proper and only then try to instruct others. Doing this, the wise one will not be criticized.

Dhammapada 158

Zen: Empty The Cup

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen.

The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself.

“It’s overfull! No more will go in!” the professor blurted. “You are like this cup,” the master replied, “How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.”

Good is virtue until life's end,
good is faith that is steadfast,
good is the acquisition of wisdom,
and good is the avoidance of evil.

Dhammapada 333

Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act
with a corrupted heart,
then suffering follows you -
as the wheel of the cart,
the track of the ox
that pulls it.

Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act
with a calm, bright heart,
then happiness follow you,
like a shadow
that never leaves.

Dhammapada 1-2

Better it is to live one day virtuous and meditative than to live a hundred years immoral and uncontrolled.

Dhammapada 110

Zen: Knowing Fish

One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river.

“Look at the fish swimming about,” said Chuang Tzu, “They are really enjoying themselves.”

“You are not a fish,” replied the friend, “So you can’t truly know that they are enjoying themselves.”

“You are not me,” said Chuang Tzu. “So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?”

Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame.

Dhammapada 81

Calm is his thought, calm his speech, and calm his deed, who, truly knowing, is wholly freed, perfectly tranquil and wise.

Dhammapada 96

The rosy morning rays have arisen unhindered, hitching to their chariot the willing red clouds. Restoring to all things their erstwhile clarity, the red-hued Dawns have assumed brilliant splendor.

Rig Veda I, 92, 2

Let a man guard himself against irritability in thought;
let him be controlled in mind.
Abandoning mental misconduct,
let him practice good conduct in thought.

Dhammapada 233

One should give up anger,
renounce pride, and overcome all fetters.
Suffering never befalls him
who clings not to mind and body and is detached.

Dhammapada 221

The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, now I shall explain to you My prominent divine manifestations, because My manifestations are endless.

O Arjuna, I am the Atma abiding in the heart of all beings. I am also the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.

I am Vishnu among the (twelve) sons of Aditi, I am the radiant sun among the luminaries, I am Marici among the gods of wind, I am the moon among the stars.

I am the Sama Veda among the Vedas; I am Indra among the Devas; I am the mind among the senses; I am the consciousness in living beings.

I am Shiva among the Rudras; (I am) Kubera among the Yakshas and demons; I am the fire among the Vasus; and I am Meru among the mountain peaks.

Among the priests, O Arjuna, know Me to be the chief, Brihaspati. Among the army generals, I am Skanda; I am the ocean among the bodies of water.

I am Bhrigu among the great sages; I am the monosyllable OM among the words; I am Japa among the Yajna; and I am the Himalaya among the immovables.

I am the Peepal tree among the trees, Narada among the sages, Chitraaratha among the Gandharvas, and sage Kapila among the Siddhas.

Know Me as Uchchaihshrava, born at the time of churning the ocean for getting the nectar, among the horses; Airaavata among the elephants; and the King among men.

I am thunderbolt among the weapons, Kaamadhenu among the cows, and the cupid among the procreators. Among the serpents, I am Vaasuki.

I am Sheshanaaga among the Naagas, I am Varuna among the water gods, and Aryamaa among the manes. I am Yama among the controllers.

I am Prahlaada among Diti's progeny, time or death among the healers, lion among the beasts, and the Garuda among birds.

I am the wind among the purifiers, and Lord Rama among the warriors. I am the shark among the fishes, and the Ganges among the rivers.

I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of the creation, O Arjuna. Among the knowledge I am knowledge of the supreme Self. I am logic of the logician.

I am the letter "A" among the alphabets, among the compound words I am the dual compound, I am the endless time, I am the sustainer of all, and have faces on all sides (or I am omniscient).

I am the all-devouring death, and also the origin of future beings. Among the feminine nouns I am fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intellect, resolve, and forgiveness.

I am Brihatsaama among the hymns. I am Gaayatri among the mantras, I am Maargsirsha (November-December) among the months, I am the spring among the seasons.

I am the fraud of the gambler; I am the splendor of the splendid; I am victory (of the victorious); I am resolution (of the resolute); I am the goodness of the good.

I am Vaasudeva among the Vrishni, Arjuna among the Paandavas, Vyaasa among the sages, and Ushanaa among the poets.

I am the power of rulers, the statesmanship of the seekers of victory, I am silence among the secrets, and the Self-knowledge of the knowledgeable.

I am the origin or seed of all beings, O Arjuna. There is nothing, animate or inanimate, that can exist without Me.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 19-39

One is not wise
Only because one speaks a lot.
One who is peaceful, without hate, and fearless
Is said to be wise.

Dhammapada 258