Poems of the Elders

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bodom
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Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

I have always loved reading the stories of the Buddha's disciples as found in the Thera and Therigatha's. It shows the struggles that the monks went through (even during the time the Buddha was still alive) and which aren't so different from my own and other meditator's. I especially love the poetic verses that the monks and nuns use to describe the natural beauty that surrounded them in the forests. It's very inspirational!

Here is one of my favorites:
10:2 Ekavihāriya—“Dwelling Alone”

If, in front or behind,
there is no one else,
it’s extremely pleasant
for one staying alone
in the forest.

Come then! Alone
I will go to the wilderness
praised by the Awakened One
pleasant for a resolute monk
dwelling alone.

Alone,
astute in my goal,
I’ll quickly enter the grove
—refreshing,
giving rapture
to meditators—
the haunt
of elephants in rut.

When the Cool Forest’s in full flower,
in a cool mountain gorge,
having bathed my limbs
I’ll walk back & forth
alone.

Ah, when will I dwell,
alone and free from companions,
in the refreshing great forest—
my task done,
effluent-free?

As I desire to do this,
may my purpose succeed.
I myself
will bring it about.
No one can do it
for anyone else.

I myself
bind on my armor.
I will enter the grove
and will not emerge
without having attained
the end of the effluents.
While soft breezes blow—
cool,
heavily, fragrantly scented—

I’ll make ignorance burst,
as I sit on a mountaintop.
In the forest covered with blossoms
or perhaps on a cool hillside,
blessed with the bliss of release,
on Giribbaja I’ll delight.

I am now he
whose resolves are fulfilled
like the moon on a full-moon night.
With effluents all
totally ended,
there is now no further becoming.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... _Thag.html

If anyone has any comments or favorite verses of your own please feel free to share.

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

1:2 Mahā Koṭṭhita

Calmed, restrained,
giving counsel unruffled,
he shakes off evil qualities—
as the breeze,
a leaf from a tree.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Thag/thag1_2.html

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
dharmacorps
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by dharmacorps »

Thanks for sharing. I've been re-reading the Therigatha and theragatha lately and have found a lot in there of great value. :anjali:
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bodom
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

dharmacorps wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 6:02 pm Thanks for sharing. I've been re-reading the Therigatha and theragatha lately and have found a lot in there of great value. :anjali:
Same! Feel free to post your favorite suttas!

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

1:13 Vanavaccha

The color of blue-dark clouds,
glistening,
cooled with the waters
of clear-flowing streams
covered with ladybugs:
Those rocky crags
refresh me.


https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... g1_13.html

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Location: San Antonio, Texas

Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

1:22 Cittaka

Peacocks,
crested, blue, with gorgeous necks,
cry out
in the Kāraṁvī woods,
thrilled by the cold wind.
They awaken the sleeper
to meditate.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... g1_22.html

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
JohnK
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by JohnK »

bodom wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:32 pm
1:13 Vanavaccha

The color of blue-dark clouds,
glistening,
cooled with the waters
of clear-flowing streams
covered with ladybugs:
Those rocky crags
refresh me.


https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... g1_13.html

:namaste:
From within both 11 Sankicca and 18 Maha Kassapa
With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds:
Those rocky crags
refresh me.
:anjali:
Those who grasp at perceptions & views wander the internet creating friction. [based on Sn4:9,v.847]
JohnK
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Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:06 pm
Location: Tetons, Wyoming, USA

Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by JohnK »

1:14 Vanavaccha's pupil:
...My body stays in the village;
my mind has gone to the wilds.

... There's no tying down
one who knows.
Those who grasp at perceptions & views wander the internet creating friction. [based on Sn4:9,v.847]
JohnK
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Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:06 pm
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by JohnK »

Vakkali -- 5:8
Stay in the Grove
Stricken by sharp, wind-like pains,
you, monk, living in the forest grove
—harsh, with limited range for alms—
what, what will you do?

Suffusing my body
with abundant rapture & joy,
& enduring what’s harsh,
I’ll stay in the grove.

Developing the establishings of mindfulness,
strengths, faculties,
the factors for awakening,
I’ll stay in the grove.

Reflecting on those who are resolute,
their persistence aroused,
constantly firm in their effort,
united in concord,
I’ll stay in the grove.

Recollecting the One Self-awakened,
self-tamed & centered,
untiring both day & night,
I’ll stayin the grove.
:anjali:
Those who grasp at perceptions & views wander the internet creating friction. [based on Sn4:9,v.847]
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bodom
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

dharmacorps wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 6:02 pm Thanks for sharing. I've been re-reading the Therigatha and theragatha lately and have found a lot in there of great value. :anjali:
❤️ Awesome!

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Location: San Antonio, Texas

Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

JohnK wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 11:44 pm
bodom wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:32 pm
1:13 Vanavaccha

The color of blue-dark clouds,
glistening,
cooled with the waters
of clear-flowing streams
covered with ladybugs:
Those rocky crags
refresh me.


https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... g1_13.html

:namaste:
From within both 11 Sankicca and 18 Maha Kassapa
With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds:
Those rocky crags
refresh me.
:anjali:
Thanks JohnK!

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Location: San Antonio, Texas

Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

1:23 Gosāla

I—having eaten honey-rice
in a bamboo patch
and rightly grasping the aggregates’
arising-disbanding—
will return to the hillside, intent
on seclusion.
:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

1:31 Gahuratīriya

Touched by gnats & mosquitoes,
in the wilds, the great forest,
like a nāga elephant
at the head of a battle,
mindful,
he acquiesces to that.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... g1_41.html

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

Thag 1:41 Sirivaḍḍha

Lightning lands on the cleft
between Vebhāra & Paṇḍava,
but,
having gone to the cleft in the mountains,
he’s absorbed in jhāna—the son
of the one without compare,
the one who is Such.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... g1_41.html

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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bodom
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Re: Poems of the Elders

Post by bodom »

Thag 1:49 Rāmaṇeyyaka

Even with all the whistles & whistling,
the calls of the birds,
this, my mind, doesn’t waver,
for my delight is in
oneness.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/T ... g1_49.html

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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