p.
53 CHAPTER XV.
HAPPINESS.
197.
Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us!
among men who hate us let us dwell free from hatred!
198.
Let us live happily then, free from ailments among the ailing!
among men who are ailing let us dwell free from ailments!
199.
Let us live happily then, free from greed among the greedy!
among men who are greedy let us dwell free from greed!
200.
Let us live happily then, though we call nothing our own!
We shall be like the bright gods, feeding on happiness!
201.
Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy.
He who has given up both victory and defeat, he, the contented, is happy.
[198.
The ailment here meant is moral rather than physical.
Cf.
Mahâbh.
XII, 9924, sa m pra s ânto nirâmaya h ; 9925, yo 'sau prâ n ântiko rogas tâ m t ri sh n â m tya g ata h sukham.
200.
The words placed in the mouth of the king of Videha, while his residence Mithilâ was in flames, are curiously like our verse; cf.
Mahâbh.
XII, 9917, Susukha m vata g îvâmi yasya me nâsti ki ñk ana, Mithilâyâm pradîptâyâ m na me dahyati ki ñk ana.
'I live happily, indeed, for I have nothing; while Mithilâ is in flames, nothing of mine is burning.' Cf.
Muir, Religious sentiments, p.
106.
The âbhassara, i.e.
âbhâsvara, 'the bright gods,' are frequently mentioned.
Cf.
Burnouf, Introd.
p.
611.
201.
This verse is ascribed to Buddha, when he heard of the defeat of A g âta s atru by Prasena g it.
It exists in the Northern or Sanskrit and in the Southern or Pâli texts, i.e.
in the Avadâna- s ataka, in the Sa m yutta-nikâya.
See Feer, Comptes Rendus, 1871, p.
44.
and Journal As.
1880, p.
509.
In the Avadâna- s ataka, the Sanskrit version is-- G ayo vairam prasavati, du h kha m sete parâ g ita h Upa s ânta h sukha m s ete hitvâ g ayaparâ g ayam.] p.
54 202.
There is no fire like passion; there is no losing throw like hatred; there is no pain like this body; there is no happiness higher than rest.
203.
Hunger is the worst of diseases, the body the greatest of pains; if one knows this truly, that is Nirvâ n a, the highest happiness.
[202.
I take kali in the sense of an unlucky die which makes a player lose his game.
A real simile seems wanted here, as in verse 251 , where, for the same reason, I translate graha by 'shark,' not by 'captivitas,' as Dr.
Fausböll proposes.
The same scholar translates kali in our verse by 'peccatum.' If there is any objection to translating kali in Pâli by 'unlucky die,' I should still prefer to take it in the sense of the age of depravity, or the demon of depravity.
To judge from Abhidhânappadîpikâ, 1106, kali was used for parâ g aya, i.e.
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
The text explicitly states that 'there is no happiness higher than rest' and identifies the body as a source of pain. [quarantine-w2: body_as_obstacle x buddhism — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
Verse 200 explicitly instructs to 'call nothing our own' and live like gods feeding on happiness, embodying radical non-grasping.
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
The verses function as contemplative guidance for cultivating inner states of happiness and contentment.
Eckhart's radical reading of Matthew 5:3 — the saint as one who wants nothing, knows nothing, and has nothing, having emptied even the will and the self with which to receive God; distinct from renunciation_of_wealth (material poverty).
Verse 200 centrally instructs the practitioner to 'call nothing our own' and live like gods, embodying the radical emptiness of will and self that Eckhart associates with God.