← Home
The Dhammapada · 1 of 1 · tr. F. Max Müller

Chapter XVI, Section 1

p. 56 CHAPTER XVI. PLEASURE. 209. He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to meditation, forgetting the real aim (of life) and grasping at pleasure, will in time envy him who has exerted himself in meditation. 210. Let no man ever look for what is pleasant, or what is unpleasant. Not to see what is pleasant is pain, and it is pain to see what is unpleasant. 211. Let, therefore, no man love anything; loss of the beloved is evil. Those who love nothing and hate nothing, have no fetters. 212. From pleasure comes grief, from pleasure comes fear; he who is free from pleasure knows neither grief nor fear. 213. From affection comes grief, from affection comes fear; he who is free from affection knows neither grief nor fear. 214. From lust comes grief, from lust comes fear; he who is free from lust knows neither grief nor fear. 215. From love comes grief, from love comes fear; he who is free from love knows neither grief nor fear. 216. From greed comes grief, from greed comes fear; he who is free from greed knows neither grief nor fear. 217. He who possesses virtue and intelligence, [214. See Beal, Catena, p. 200.] p. 57 who is just, speaks the truth, and does what is his own business, him the world will hold dear. 218. He in whom a desire for the Ineffable (Nirvâ n a) has sprung up, who is satisfied in his mind, and whose thoughts are not bewildered by love, he is called ûrdhva m srotas (carried upwards by the stream). 219. Kinsmen, friends, and lovers salute a man who has been long away, and returns safe from afar. 220. In like manner his good works receive him who has done good, and has gone from this world to the other;--as kinsmen receive a friend on his return. [218. Ûrdhva m srotas or uddha m soto is the technical name for one who has reached the world of the Av ri has (Aviha), and is proceeding to that of the Akanish th as (Akani tth a). This is the last stage before he reaches the formless world, the Arûpadhâtu. (See Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 123; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 599.) Originally ûrdhva m srotas may have been used in a less technical sense, meaning one who swims against the stream, and is not carried away by the vulgar passions of the world.]
Themes
◆Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

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 211 explicitly commands loving nothing and hating nothing to achieve freedom from fetters.

All passages →
◆Good Thought Word Deedethics

The Zoroastrian triad of right thought, right speech, and right action as the foundation of ethical life; truth-in-living.

Verse 217 lists virtue, intelligence, justice, truth, and doing one's own business as the foundation for being held dear by the world.

All passages →
◆Meditationpraxis

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

Meditation is presented as the antidote to vanity and the path to freedom from grief and fear.

All passages →
◆Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

The liberated state knows neither grief nor fear, transcending the binary opposition of positive and negative emotions.

All passages →
◆Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

Verse 210 teaches that not seeing pleasure is pain, using a paradoxical reversal to destabilize ordinary understanding.

All passages →
◆Poverty Of Spiritanthropology

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).

The instruction to love nothing and hate nothing aligns with the concept of radical emptiness of will and desire.

All passages →
◆Renunciation Of Wealthethics

The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.

Verse 216 links greed directly to the arising of grief and fear, warning against attachment to material possessions.

All passages →
◆Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

The text emphasizes knowing one's own mind and state as the path to liberation from suffering.

All passages →
◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

Verse 218 uses the metaphor of being 'carried upwards by the stream' to describe reaching higher spiritual stages.

All passages →
Related passages · 8 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 11)
“162 [paragraph continues] Eve, the latter was the first to be seduced to fall away from God. 1 "The lust originated in Adam, but thereupon this perverted desire began to be excited in the woman." ( Stiefel , ii. 375.) "Eve was lusting aft…”
Both passages explore the themes of desire, temptation, and the fall from a state of purity or harmony. They discuss how attachment to worldly pleasures or desires leads to suffering and a loss of spiritual state, with parallels in the consequences of giving in to temptation and the path to redemption or enlightenment.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 6 (part 1)
“p. 18 THE GOLDEN SENTENCES OF DEMOCRATES 1. If anyone will give his mind to these sentences, he will obtain many things worthy of a man, and be free from many things that are base. 2. The perfection of the soul will correct the depravit…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of detachment from worldly pleasures and desires as a path to inner peace and virtue. They share a common theme of avoiding attachment to transient things and focusing on higher, more enduring values.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 9 (part 1)
“p. 45 PYTHAGOREAN ETHICAL SENTENCES FROM STOBÆUS 1. Do not even think of doing what ought not to be done. 2. Choose rather to be strong in soul than in body. 3. Be persuaded that things of a laborious nature contribute more than pleas…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of detachment from worldly pleasures and passions, advocating for a life of virtue and self-control. They share a common theme of avoiding attachment to material desires and focusing on spiritual or ethical growth.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 10 (part 1)
“p. 53 SELECT SENTENCES OF SEXTUS THE PYTHAGOREAN 1. To neglect things of the smallest consequence, is not the least thing in human life. 2. The wise man, and the despiser of wealth, resemble God. 3. Do not investigate the name of God,…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of divine connection and the avoidance of worldly attachments. They share themes of piety, meditation, and the consequences of desire, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 38
“Section 5 5. But what of sorrows, illnesses and all else that inhibit the native activity? What of the suspension of consciousness which drugs or disease may bring about? Could either welfare or happiness be present under such conditions? A…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the body, pleasure, and the attainment of a higher state of being or happiness. They both emphasize the need to transcend bodily concerns and pleasures to achieve a state of bliss or enlightenment.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 39
“Section 6 6. Now if happiness did indeed require freedom from pain, sickness, misfortune, disaster, it would be utterly denied to anyone confronted by such trials: but if it lies in the fruition of the Authentic Good, why turn away from thi…”
Both passages discuss the nature of true happiness and the detachment from worldly pleasures and necessities. Plotinus emphasizes the pursuit of the Authentic Good and the Soul's highest aspirations, while the Buddhist text advocates for detachment from pleasure and affection to achieve freedom from grief and fear.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|First Dialoguec
“And I will say, because to me this pain Is dearer than all other pleasures are. Mar. In reference to this I told you that although one should be attached to corporeal and external beauty yet he may honourably and worthily be so attached;…”
Both passages explore the theme of detachment from worldly pleasures and the pursuit of higher, spiritual ideals. The Dhammapada emphasizes the avoidance of pleasure and affection to achieve freedom from grief and fear, while the First Dialogue discusses the use of corporeal beauty as a stepping stone to divine beauty and spiritual elevation.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVIII (part 4)
“A man whose moral sense prompts him to overcome passion in himself, does so because the moral sense (i.e., emotion) is more powerful than all his other feelings, other emotions. In substance p. 218 all this is perfectly clear and simple,…”
Both passages explore the relationship between emotions, desires, and higher states of consciousness or spirituality. Passage A discusses the integration of intellect and higher emotions to achieve spirituality, while Passage B emphasizes the need to transcend pleasure and affection to achieve a state free from grief and fear, ultimately leading to Nirvana.