Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of another's, however great; let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his...
(166) Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of another's, however great; let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his duty.
To accomplish the welfare of his fellow-creatures he has an Army, the troops of which are Love of Right, Constancy, Joy, and Abandonment. The Love of...
(5) To accomplish the welfare of his fellow-creatures he has an Army, the troops of which are Love of Right, Constancy, Joy, and Abandonment. The Love of Right he will frame from the fear of suffering and from pondering upon merits. When he has uprooted his foes, he will strive for increase of vigour by means of his armies, which are the love of right, pride, joy, abandonment, devoted heed, and self -submission. Countless are the faults in myself and my fellows that I shall have to destroy, and hundreds of thousands of seons must pass ere even one of these fade away. But I find not in myself the least morsel of vigour to set myself to undo these faults; I am doomed to boundless anguish, and why does my bosom not burst? Many are the virtues in myself and my fellows that must be gained, and hundreds of thousands of aeons will scarce be enough for the practice of even one of them. But I have never practised the least morsel of virtue; to no purpose has been spent the birth so hardly and marvellously won. The joy of the great festivals in worship of the Lord has not been mine; I have done no honour to the Law, nor fulfilled the desire of the poor; I have not given security to them that are in fear, nor happiness to the afflicted; I have been only a vexation of my mother's womb, to work sorrow. Because of old I departed from the love of right, I am now in this evil plight; who would forsake the love of right? This love the Saint has proclaimed to be the root of all righteous works; and its root is the constant meditation upon the fruit that grows from deeds. Manifold are the pains, the sorrows, the terrors, and the disappointments that arise to sinners. Whithersoever the desire of the righteous turns, it is greeted with happy issue, because of their merits; and whithersoever turns the sinner's yearning for pleasure, it is smitten with swords of pain, because of his sins. They that are godly of works enter the wombs of broad, sweet-smelling, cool lotus-blossoms; their lustrous forms grow nurtured by the Conqueror's sweet melody; then they issue in comely beauty from the lotus-flowers awakened by the sunbeams of the Holy One, and are born as Sons of the Blessed in the presence of the Blessed. As to them that are ungodly of works, shrieking in anguish, they are flayed of their whole skin by the Death-god's henchmen, their bodies bathed with copper molten in the fire, their flesh cut off in gobbets by hundreds of blows from flaming swords and pikes, and they fall again and again upon beds of red-hot iron. Then let the love of righteousness be with you, and be heedful thus to foster it.
Chapter 4: Heedfulness in the Thought of Enlightenment (1)
THE son of the Conqueror, who has thus firmly laid hold of the Thought of Enlightenment, must constantly strive without slackening to observe the...
(1) THE son of the Conqueror, who has thus firmly laid hold of the Thought of Enlightenment, must constantly strive without slackening to observe the rule. If a work be undertaken in haste and without right reflection, one may well consider whether it should be done or no, even though a vow have been made; but how should I delay in this work, which has been perpended by the Enlightened Ones, by their most sage Sons, and by me likewise according to the measure of my power? If I fulfil not my vow by deeds, I shall be false to all beings, and what a fate will be mine! Even of a small matter it is said that he who gives not what he has purposed in thought to give becomes a tortured ghost; how, then, shall it be with him who proffers aloud and earnestly the gift of supreme happiness? I shall be false to all the world, and what a fate will be mine!...
In setting his hand to a work one should foster pride, according to the rule of the Vajra-dhvaja Sutra. When he has first considered the sum of...
(6) In setting his hand to a work one should foster pride, according to the rule of the Vajra-dhvaja Sutra. When he has first considered the sum of circumstances, he will either begin it, or not begin it; for it is better not to begin at all than to leave undone what has been begun. For this practice will last even into other births, and from such sin will arise abounding sorrow; and not only is the present work not accomplished, but likewise others that might be done in the same time come not to pass.