The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 4

Better than a hundred years

Better than a hundred years. 'Better than a hundred years of mischief is one day spent in contemplation. Better than a hundred years of ignorance is one day in reflection. Better to live one day wondering.' Better than a hundred years: quality, not quantity. One day of awareness is worth a century of sleep. Don't count the days—make the days count.

Via transcendence

Via transcendence. 'Can intellectual activity be creative?' Intellect is reproductive, not creative. It rearranges the known. Real creativity comes from beyond the intellect—from the no-mind. Via transcendence: transcendence is not escaping the intellect but going through and beyond it. Use the intellect as a stepping stone, not a destination.

Be quick to do good

Be quick to do good. 'If you are slow, the mind, delighting in mischief, will catch you. Turn away from mischief, again and again, before sorrow befalls you.' Be quick to do good: not through effort but through awareness. The moment you see mischief arising, turn away. Hesitation gives the mind time to rationalize.

Truth is very simple

Truth is very simple. 'What does enlightenment feel like?' It feels like nothing you've ever felt—because all feelings belong to the mind. Truth is very simple: enlightenment is not a complex experience but the simplest state—just being. The mind expects fireworks; enlightenment is the absence of all fireworks. It's the most ordinary thing.

Dust against the wind

Dust against the wind. 'As dust thrown against the wind boomerangs, so mischief returns to the fool. An unwounded hand may handle poison—the innocent come to no harm.' Dust against the wind: violence and mischief return to the sender. The innocent are not harmed because they carry no poison. The wound is not in the world but in the wounded.

Is this the way it is?

Is this the way it is? 'Being here means letting go of everything—not only misery but also happiness and love?' Yes. Letting go of both positive and negative—the watcher is beyond both. Is this the way it is: the master doesn't cling to happiness or flee from misery. He lets go of all states. What remains is not a state but being itself.

See yourself in others

See yourself in others. 'All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others—then whom can you hurt?' See yourself in others: empathy is not sentiment but recognition. The other is not separate—same fear, same love, same life. When you see yourself in others, violence becomes impossible.

Meditate a little bit

Meditate a little bit. 'Is science itself a root of misery?' Science is neither good nor bad—it's a tool. The problem is the scientific attitude: reducing mystery to mechanism. Meditate a little bit: Osho is not anti-science but pro-meditation. Science deals with the without; meditation with the within. Both are needed. Without meditation, science becomes destructive.

Awake to the law

Awake to the law. 'He who goes naked, with matted hair, fasting, smeared with ashes—so long as he is not free from doubts, he will not find freedom.' Awake to the law: external austerities are useless if internal doubt remains. The law is not a code of conduct but the law of awareness. Asceticism without awareness is decoration, not liberation.

Aes dhammo sanantano

Aes dhammo sanantano. 'How can I go to the other shore when I'm trying to be herenow?' The other shore is not a place—it's a state. Aes dhammo sanantano—this is the eternal law: impermanence. The herenow IS the other shore. There's nowhere to go—you're already there, just not aware of it. The mess is in the mind; the rest is in the heart.