Commentary on the Dhammapada–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
The Foolish and the Wise
Vigilance
“Foolish, ignorant people indulge in careless lives, whereas a clever man guards his attention as his most precious possession.”
George Washington spoke more truly than he knew when he stated that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. For those who seek the ultimate liberation, constant awareness is a prime necessity. On the other hand, “Foolish, ignorant people indulge in careless [heedless] lives.” Interestingly, the Venerable Thanissaro Bhikkhu renders it: “They’re addicted to heedlessness.” This is certainly so. There is a persistent urge toward self-destruction that habitually grips most people, impelling then to negligence, carelessness, and outright blindness to what little reality we are able to perceive if we will to do so.
It is astounding to see how feckless most “spiritual” people really are in relation to their inner development. Over and over they endanger themselves and incur great risk, particularly psychically (mentally), either doing things that can only rebound to their detriment or failing to do that which will protect and strengthen them. They simply do not take seriously the fact that this entire world is a maelstrom calculated to whirl them around and around by continual birth and death, drowning their consciousness from life to life. They take no account of their daily lifestyle or their environment, physical or metaphysical. And the field of their personal relationships is the most chaotic and destructive of all.
There is such a thing as healthy fear–the force that sends us indoors in a hailstorm and up a tree when a dangerous animal is around. This is completely lacking in the foolish.
I heard of a school board that interviewed prospective drivers of their single bus. To each one they asked a single question: If you were driving a bus full of children and came to an ice-covered bridge without any railings on the side, how close could you drive to the edge without being afraid of mishap? The estimates were various, but one man replied: “I would drive straight down the middle as far from the edges as I could get, and even then I would be terrified every second until I got across.” He was the one they hired, for they did not want any driver who could feel confident in endangering their children. We need the same grave caution regarding our own lives and aspirations to higher awareness.
It is, however, pointless to warn the foolish against disaster, because that is what they are hoping for. Then they can stay in the pig wallow and grunt to their hearts’ content, telling their fellow porkers about how they used to be “into” Hinduism/Buddhism, meditation, “and all that” (maybe even a monk or nun), but not anymore. They just live and let live. Got a joint? How about coming home with me?
The wise prize clearsightedness–and clear thought and action–above all treasures of earth and heaven, aware that not for a moment do they dare to fold their hands and sleep the sleep of inner death. Their vigilance will be their liberty. For them is the admonition of Buddha: “Do not indulge in careless behavior. Do not be the friend of sensual pleasures. He who meditates attentively attains abundant joy.”
Indulgence in careless behavior has been already covered, but the next clause brings us to a new subject.
A friend of sensual pleasure
“Do not be the friend of sensual pleasures.” There are many ways to be a “friend” of sensual pleasure: indulgence, thought, speech, and deliberate proximity as well as association with other “friends” of sensuality. Why go into detailed explanation of these? Anyone with good sense and right intention can do it for himself.
There is one form of “friendship” that should be mentioned: the friendship of pretended enmity. Many addicts to sensuality (as well as other toxicities) often express their affinities and desires through “hating,” “feeling disgust,” and fulminations against what they secretly desire. A friend keeps company with his friends; he seeks them out. Many people keep company with sensuality under the guise of denunciation and opposition. They constantly think about “sin” and “sinners” and even seek them out for the titillation of confrontation and conflict. One of the dirtiest-minded men I ever met specialized in reforming (?) prostitutes. At least he said he did. Many seek out the various tentacles of sensuality and sensual expression “to know the enemy” and be up on what they have to fight against. So they say. In this as in other matters, behind a big front there is always a big back.
Joy
“He who meditates attentively attains abundant joy.”
One of the great defects of half-informed and outward-turned religion is its incapacity to offer something better than “sin.” An abstract threat of going to hell at the end of life (which most people think will never end, anyway) is not much of a substitute for enjoyment. Nor is a future heaven of dubious assurance. Authentic religion, however, offers the seeker the means to obtain what he really wants in all his external pursuits: inner joy.
All that we pursue, thinking that happiness lies in its possession, is only valued by us because it imparts but a fraction of a fragment of that happiness which is found abundantly in our own Self (atma). In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya says:
“It is not for the sake of the husband, that the husband is dear, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of the wife, that the wife is dear, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of the children, that the children are dear, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of wealth, that wealth is dear, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of the Brahmins, that the Brahmins are held in reverence, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of the Kshatriyas, that the Kshatriyas are held in honor, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of the higher worlds, that the higher worlds are desired, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of the gods, that the gods are worshiped, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of the creatures, that the creatures are prized, but for the sake of the Self.
“It is not for the sake of itself, that anything whatever is esteemed, but for the sake of the Self.”
The Taittiriya Upanishad took up this theme, saying:
“Who could live, who could breathe, if that blissful Self dwelt not within the lotus of the heart? He it is that gives joy.
“Of what nature is this joy?
“Consider the lot of a young man, noble, well-read, intelligent, strong, healthy, with all the wealth of the world at his command. Assume that he is happy, and measure his joy as one unit.
“One hundred times that joy is one unit of the joy of Gandharvas: but no less joy than Gandharvas has the seer to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of Gandharvas is one unit of the joy of celestial Gandharvas: but no less joy than celestial Gandharvas has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of celestial Gandharvas is one unit of the joy of the Pitris in their paradise: but no less joy than the Pitris in their paradise has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of the Pitris in their paradise is one unit of the joy of the Devas: but no less joy than the Devas has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of the Devas is one unit of the joy of the karma Devas: but no less joy than the karma Devas has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of the karma Devas is one unit of the joy of the ruling Devas: but no less joy than the ruling Devas has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of the ruling Devas is one unit of the joy of Indra: but no less joy than Indra has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of Indra is one unit of the joy of Brihaspati: but no less joy than Brihaspati has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of Brihaspati is one unit of the joy of Prajapati: but no less joy than Prajapati has the sage to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.
“One hundred times the joy of Prajapati is one unit of the joy of Brahma: but no less joy than Brahma has the seer to whom the Self has been revealed, and who is without craving.”
Meditation
The way to abundant joy is meditation. For the one who meditates attentively:
His mind is dead
To the touch of the external:
It is alive
To the bliss of the Atman.
Because his heart knows Brahman
His happiness is for ever.In Limitless Consciousness is Limitless Joy.
1) Dhammapada 26
[Go back]
2) “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come” (Proverbs 6:10,11). “Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death” (Psalms 13:3). [Go back]
3) Dhammapada 27 [Go back]
4) Bhagavad Gita 5:21 [Go back]
