Something from the Dhammapada (verses 183-185; in Chapter XIV)
The non-doing of any evil
The performing of what is skillful
The cleansing of one’s own mind
This is the teaching of the Awakened.
This verse we also know today as the Three Pure Precepts, they give us the core of the teaching for each moment. In the mealtime recital they are re-framed as the Verse of the Three Morsels of Food:
The first morsel is to cut all delusions.
The second morsel is to maintain our clear mind.
The third morsel is to liberate all sentient beings.
The Dhammapada continues
Patient endurance is the foremost austerity
Unbinding the highest attainment
He who injures or oppresses another is no practitioner
Nor, he who mistreats or insults another
So say the Awakened.
“Perserverance furthers” says the I Ching, calm abiding is the Way. Letting go, freeing ourselves from our own clinging – unbinding is the goal of goalessness.
A last verse from the Dhammapada:
Not disparaging or blaming, not injuring or striking out,
live restrained in accord with the teaching,
moderation in eating,
dwelling in seclusion,
commitment to the highest mind
This is the teaching of the Awakened.
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