Thursday, November 22, 2007

I am what I think. (and you can too!)

In a well-known phrase, the Buddha said, Hatred can never cease by
hatred. Hatred can only cease by love. This is an eternal law. We can
begin to transcend the cycle of aversion when we can stop seeing
ourselves personally as agents of revenge. Ultimately, all beings are
the owners of their own karma. If someone has caused harm, they will
suffer. If we have caused harm, we will suffer. As the Buddha said in
the Dhammapada:

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...
Speak or act with a pure mind
and happiness will follow you
as your shadow, unshakable.

Happiness and unhappiness depend on our actions.


--Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

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