22 Nov
2013
Posted in: Books
By    Comments Off on How We Make the World

How We Make the World

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
How can a troubled mind
Understand the way?

Your worst enemy cannot harm you
As much as your own thoughts, unguarded.
But once mastered,
No one can help you as much,
Not even your father or your mother.

***

— text from the Dhammapada, translated by Thomas Byron
— image from Zen & the Art of the Macintosh: Discoveries on the Path to Computer Enlightenment, by Michael Green….another of the treasures I discovered while cleaning out my bookcase!

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