Hello! Welcome to our newest adventure together. Beginning of a journey through this book. I take this opportunity to show you the edition that I will follow, that is the edition of pensamento' publishing house. I've heard that it's not that easy to find, that it's almost a generality of the books that I've recommended. People always tell me, "by the time you refer the books are gone," but they are books that unfortunately these days are not valued that much. They are not fashionable books. So unfortunately publishers are not interested in re-releasing and making new editions of it,
this is a mistake because it's one of the books that I think we couldn't stop reading. A classic, a sacred book. So, I recommend you look it up, maybe you will find it in other editions althought this one seems very good to me. I also take this opportunity before we start our lectures, to warn all our listeners that this is my library, but I do not indicate all the books that I have here, I didn't put these books here to advertise, it's a personal library, some things I haven't read yet and others I even like
that much. So, indications of books are those that are there on Youtube, don't take my library as an indication for books. I really just received you all at home without any filter, I did not select the books that are here. These are what I have, but they're not necessarily the best I've read. So back to our subject, today we'll talk about Dhammapada, this beautiful tradition that is Buddhism. A book considered to be the most important, the holy book par excellence of Buddhism tradition. It has 26 chapters, we should see probably the first four today and
then we'll follow up as fast as we can. We'll have a ride together, hopefully about six or seven talks and I hope as always, you follow along with reading because that's the point. My commentary readings are not to advertise a publisher or to promote any product, it is to promote in you a state of consciousness, promoting what is the most beautiful I've read in my life. So, I hope you can follow along with the actual reading. Welcome to Dhammapada. We have a lecture on Siddharta Gautama in our channel on Youtube, very good by the way.
The Buddha, the historical Buddha, has a very beautiful story that is worth knowing, but we are not going to talk about it here, we are not going to deviate that much. Yes, he is the founder of Buddhism, and the maxims of Dhammapada are related to him, but we're talking the story of the book here. Siddhartha Gautama, a wonderful master who lived in the sixth century before Christ. It's believed that have been born in 563 BC, in the Lumbini plains of Nepal, where today is Nepal. When his mother, Maya Devi, was walking towards her parents' home
to have her child, she may have died at the age of 80, on the so-called Plain of the Servant in Kushinagara, in 483 B.C. From then on, there was a series of councils. The first one, Sutta Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka, which are two books of what is going to be called, Tripitaka, where Dhammapada comes from. And subsequently, in the third council the third book, is Abhidhama Pitaka. Tripitaka means: three baskets. There was this habit between the monks in the rainy season they close down themselves and write down the teachings of the masters. It was
not always written down, for a long time it is passed on by oral tradition, but it is said that the Tripitaka begins to be written on palm leaves and placed in these baskets, approximately, in 250 BC, at the third council of Pattariputra. Later around 50 BC, 70 BC it is transcribed into Pale, the later language. From Tripitaka, the three baskets where the teachings were placed, it has the Vinaya Pitaka, it's the book of instructions to the monks, the Sutta Pitaka, which is a set of ethical instructions to Buddhist doctrine, and the Abhidhama Pitaka, which is
where there was a series of philosophical reflections, philosophical statements about the doctrine. From the Pitaka Sutta that would have been recited by Buddha's own cousin and disciple, this Sutta Pitaka has within five collections of books. One of them which is kudaka Nikaya, has within it 15 books, and one of those books then is our Dhammapada. Just as a reference, just as a location so you know how it all started. This transcript that I often talk about in various lectures, is common in historical traditions, in times when physical life becomes less active, that is, autumn, winter,
men withdraw into inner life, while in spring, summer, outer life prevails. So, these monks often write their sacred texts on the occasion of this autumn-winter season, of rain, of cold, they collect themselves and write down the teachings of the master. So here we are, we've arrived from the Tripitaka to the Kudakanikaya and the Dhammapada which is what we're interested in. It is then composed of a series of chapters, which are 26 as we've talked about, approximately four hundred and a few verses and we're going to deal today with some of the first of them. It
would not be possible for us with 400 verses to read them all, nor would it be necessary, because one of the characteristics of the Dhammapada, is that in some occasions, it is a little repetitive. Each chapter has a keynote and the verses often reinforce each other. This does not mean that you will not read them all. It does not even mean that on some occasions, you will even enjoy verses other than those I have selected. I will only make a selection and comment on some, which I believe give a good tone for understanding that chapter.
The first of the chapters which is about the twin verses, Uyama kavagga. The emphasis of it is very much on the question of the mind. Remember our Caibalion, where we started with this idea of the principle of mentalism, that the universe is mental. Buddhism talks about mind preceding matter and the mental forms of men writing their lives, that is, what we live today is what we think yesterday, and so life goes on. So, the twin verses begins talking exactly about this idea of thought. First: "What we think today is what we will be tomorrow, our
life is a creation of our mind." Understand that this very universal principle, gives us the possibility, the freedom to hold the reins of our life in our hand. What we mentally build today is what we will live tomorrow. Our projections, our plans, sometimes even the unconscious element of our rebellions, of our grief and resentments, all this creates an accountability, running after things of tomorrow. Sometimes we don't realize that what we did today was programmed at some point in the past. Something unresolved. If we had a very clear awareness of the consequences of our thoughts into
our practical life, we would begin a necessary practice of mastering our mind. Which would even give us a very great state of peace of mind, because deep down, inner life is about control the mind. When we manage to put a certain order, a certain focus in this world, we have peace, we have serenity, as we said there in "Light of the Path": "We have the flower that blossoms after the storm". The second verse will say, "If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness accompanies him like his inseparable shadow." That is, pure mind,
you will have peace, you will have coherence, you will have happiness. What he needs to be happy, to coincide with himself. The adversities of the external world are not able to offend this inner world that he alone decides, he is absolutely sovereign. Remember, we have already talked many times about the philosophical current of Stoicism, especially Roman Stoicism. When they said that there are things that depend and don't depend on us. We should be unhappy for what depends on us and what we haven't done. The external circumstances, must have the necessary fortitude to get through them,
but the internal ones bring us down deeply, when we fail in what corresponds to us. And all internal circumstances comes from the way we think about life, our thinking is the workshop of our life. Third verse: "He insulted me, mistreated me, demeaned me, robbed me, those who harbor such thoughts, will not be free from hatred and resentment." That is, those who harbor a thought of resentment, a thought of victimization, which we have talked so much about because today it is a terrible addiction. That's going to be forever hanging over your life. Eternally thinking that there
are external factors that justify why he has not gone in the direction of his dreams, has not fulfilled his life. That makes a cane for weakness, that is, I didn't do it, why? because such people prevented it. I didn't do it, why? because such circumstances stood in my way. And people who have had in much worse circumstances than that and have done it. So our mental shape, our resilience, our inability to get through adversity, is our responsibility. Do not take external factors as a stick, those who nurture this type of thinking get stuck in life.
I really like that very current book, I've already taken a course about it, which is "The War of Art" by Pressfield, where he goes on to talk about these rationalizations that keep us from running towards our dreams, as weapons of resistance and here we have deep roots, a classic book, talking about this very idea. "Hate will never be vanquished by hate, hate is only extinguished by love; this is an eternal Law". In other words, remember the Caibalion, the principle that says that hate and love are actually different vibrations of a single straight line, which is
feeling. We may not necessarily. Understand well, when we want to transmute a feeling of hate into love, it doesn't mean that I'm going to transmute it into a passion. I don't need to bring this person very close to my life or this situation, I don't need to live with him all the time. I simply need to begin to see her as a complex being, who may have these very faults, but who has countless other qualities. By knowing how to put things in the right distance and at the right pace, I can learn a lot from
her, I can teach her a lot. By knowing how to keep the distance and the correct rhythm, we can see things in sober, balanced way. And we begin to realize that the whole world is dual, it would not be this person who would be an exception, it would not be this circumstance that would be an exception. Simply because of a negative feeling, I prevented seeing the other side, there is another side. I can make a practice of every time a criticism comes to me, to look for the positive elements of that same person, of that
same circumstance, and thus I neutralize hatred through love. Not passion, but a love, balanced, sober, that knows how to keep its distance and the necessary rhythm to harmonize with the All. This must be our search. Remember, I am a philosopher, I have no wisdom. This too, I have struggled, as have you. I do not speak of what I already have, but of what I am seeking to have, I do not own any truth. What differentiates a philosopher from an ordinary person is simply, the will to improve, that is, he is defeated and fights back, but
it doesn't mean that I fight like you against the same problems. The Philosopher is not a Wise Man. He is one who has a relentless drive for improvement, falls a thousand times, gets up a thousand and one, I too struggle with these very same things. "Many don't know that we are in this world to live in harmony, forgetting that they will die one day. For those who meditate on this, there are no disagreements, and life becomes smoother." Meditating on that is a fantastic element, I work with that a lot, when I do, for example, time
management, which is a tremendously philosophical course. Where I say: look! Do you want to plan your time? Great! Start with life as a whole. Know where you want to go with all this. Know what will be real at the end of the line. Start with the great circle, then frame the smallest of the decade, of the year, of the month, of today, but thinking big makes us value things in their proper proportion. To give correct value, to give the correct weight to each circumstance. Harmony is achieved, when we think big. When we think small, we
drown in a glass of water, because we simply become the size of it. Then, in counseling life as a whole, we realize that harmony is something fundamental, and that it has a specific value far greater than our little vanities, and wounded pride, and somewhat trivial grudges. We find the proper proportion to deal with each thing. The Justice path, where each thing is dealt with in due proportion, in due rhythm, in due distance, so that everything harmonizes. Seven... "He who lives only seeking pleasures, idle, uncontrolled in the senses, intemperate in eating is dominated by Mara (temptation),
as weak trees are blown down by the gale". Understand, it is one thing to have pleasure, it is another thing to be a slave to pleasures, in such a way that when the pleasures go there, I let go of my way to run after it. Like that old line I always quote from Sir Ram. When he says: "I walk towards my goal, I walk towards my ideal. If a gentle breeze blows, I delight in the gentle breeze. If a caustic sun blows, I suffer with a caustic sun, but neither one nor the other takes me
out of my way." I didn't run after him. Who goes out chasing after pleasures, his life will be a mere collection of pleasures. Of passing moments and that perhaps in the end always leave that bitterness in the mouth. Because they were not worth the price you paid for them, too fleeting, too inconsistent. To have pleasures, we are not medieval, nor do we want to put some code of temptations and austerities here, but simply to say that we must know where we want to get to and not let elements that are not bad in themselves, but
too futile, rob us of the things that really have value. Deep down it also has to do with time management of what we are putting important, ahead of the urgent, the pleasant, the sensitive, putting what we understand, above what we merely feel. The senses are good, they are necessary, and they are tools that bring us many elements, but be careful that they are not our masters, they were not made for this. And finally, verse 12 in that first chapter, says: "Whoever recognizes the Real as Real and illusion as illusion, will safely attain Truth." Realize that
by having this great dimension of time and knowing where we are going with this, who we are and what we want to build in ourselves, we give a sense of reality, that we can counter with momentary elements, which are often detours off the path that take up precious time, time is life. Who rob us of time that they are not worth. Knowing the specific value of each thing, knowing how to invest our time, our life. We need to have a large dimension of time. We need to seek to know what is real, to have great
love, and for this to confront the meaning of our life with momentary things. Having a sense of reality and the max of reality that we can reach is to know: Where do we want to go with our lives? What do we want to add to the world? Do we want to leave here greater than we arrived? Do we want to make a difference to the world and to ourselves? Even if it's a small difference, we want to be a sum factor? This is the real thing, and supported on it we should confront all the momentary
circumstances of life. Verse 13... "Just as rain penetrates the poorly straw-covered house, passions invade the poorly guarded mind." An unsupervised mind is disoriented it is unfocused. It doesn't know where it wants to go, so any distraction can come in and rob it of it's goals. Remember, our identity has to do with our sense of life. Who am I? I am Lucia. And who is Lucia? She is the one who wants to become more right, more balanced, more fraternal than she is today, at the end of her life. This is me I cannot forget who I
am and confuse myself with momentary elements. That means a poorly covered house full of cracks through which the rain will get in. So, when banal elements pass through my head, if I know who I am, I look at them and say: "here comes a banal thought". "here comes a trite thought, bye! trite thought". I don't run after it and I know how to distinguish what is and what is not mine inside my mind. They say that great sages prevent that which is not healthy, not productive, not coherent with their principles, from entering their mental plane.
Well, we are not those great sages. We have to learn to recognize within our minds all that is there, who is us and who is not, that which is not ours. Remember that definition of intelligence, intelege, (choose from among). Knowing all the time within the mental plane what is mine and what is not, and let that which is not, pass. A mere observation of something that floats on the mental plane, but without creating bonds or identity. In other words, an attentive mind ensures that you are not influenced by that which is not yours. Now, who
has an attentive mind? It's a matter of practice, it's like a muscularity. Today I think we live in a more dispersed moment of history. I have not heard of a time when men were more dispersed than today, because the unhappiness, the existential angst of not having a very clear meaning to life, makes anything, be a distraction for us not to find ourselves. And society produces a heap of distractors that is capable of keeping a human being distracted from himself his whole life. Look at when we get involved in something, on the computer, on the internet.
The internet easily steals an hour from you. When you least realize it, there goes an hour, two, three, that is, distractions of all kinds, we have never had a society that offered so many. So if you want to escape from yourself, look! you have many escape routes. There must be a pact with yourself, with your destiny, with your meaning of life. And stick to it, as its said popularly: "not taking your eye off the ball", because who loses his eye from the ball has three hundred things in his field of vision, in the stands, in
the gate, in every corner, there are three hundred objects that he can turn away from and not come back again. So, detours that are dangerous and difficult to find your way out, form addictions. Finally, for this first chapter, verse 20. "Speak and recite the sacred texts little, but practice them, freeing yourself from greed, anger, and every delusion with true wisdom, with a mind free from the bonds of this world or any other, truly this man participates in the holy life." So interesting, see how strong this is. There was already in this context, in fact, Buddhism
is born in a context of already decaying Hinduism. Already there was in this context the idea of man repeating to himself sacred words all the time. As if this somehow penetrated his soul, generated a state of consciousness. Remember that phrase that I always repeat: "you do not live by what you eat, but by what you assimilate". So, repeat, repeat, repeat, sacred phrases, without assimilating any of it, without bringing it into your life is as another passage from a sacred book says: "The soup and the spoon". It says that "sometimes man perceives the truths, as the
spoon perceives the taste of the soup". In other words, he is stuck to it, but doesn't perceive anything. The tongue, on the other hand, in a mere touch, perceives the taste of the soup. So, it's not just a matter of proximity, or memorizing, or reciting a sacred verse a thousand times, but it's taking it and going to life with it. Today I'm going to walk with this verse from the Dhammapada, until I find within me, echo, I don't let go of it. I want to find an echo in my life, how does that come about,
what does that have to say to my practical life. I often take this, a book like this, and carry it around in my purse for months at a time. Until I can codify it, translate it into my practical life, I don't let go, because it's not enough to read it three hundred times, it means nothing, it's like the spoon and the soup. Let's then go to the second chapter, which is Appamadavagga (merit). Which is about merit. Actually, it's going to talk about vigilance. And verse number 25 is going to say the following: "By effort, reflection,
vigilance, and self mastery, the wise man becomes an island never submerged by the waves." Realize that what is inside is outside, what is above is below, as the Caibalion says. If I have within me the fundamental truths that is what I am getting at, the existence of Dharma, the existence of Karma, the need to control the mental forms that come from outside, controlling the structures of my own personality so that they are not distracting, so that they do not fight against me, that is, the cardinal points of life. If I'm aware of that and I
know where I want to go, there won't be anything from the outside that can submerge my identity. And if my identity doesn't let itself be submerged inside, no circumstances outside will be able to submerge my determination towards my path. They say of ancient martial arts schools, usually from within Buddhism itself, that sometimes those older masters, they walked on a line and placed several disciples trying to make him stop. And the disciples would throw themselves down, curl up among themselves, and the master would go through the cracks and go away. In other words, a man who
has focus, is centered and doesn't let inside, nothing submerge his identity, outside also very hardly anyone will be able to do it. In other words, where there is a will, there is a way, and where there is a way and a determined and focused hiker, nothing can stop him. So, vigilance as a fundamental element inside first, and outside, whatever happens is a consequence. Twenty-nine... "Vigilant among the inattentive, awake among the indolent, the wise man advances swiftly like a steed, which leaves after him, a poor rattler." I've told you a few times that, you can have
several ways to highlight yourself: or it's many lying on the ground, or a single one standing up. This only one highlight too. We are not seeking prominence, but the ability to not let anything or anyone steal us from ourselves. And that's fundamental, staying on your toes, and staying focused, and knowing where we want to go with all of this. Identity comes from the sense of life, and looking for tools that are coherent with that sense that allow us to walk, that is, attentive to the meaning and attentive to the path, seeking at every moment, to
bring out the best tools. As we always talk about fairy tales. The prince who is going to free the princess from the dragon, paying attention to everything in between that can help him, to better undertake this task. At 31, still talking about vigilance, he will say: "The monk who delights in vigilance and knows the danger of negligence, advances on the path like fire, burning small and large obstacles." By negligence we understand our vices, our evil thoughts, which we often absorb from the environment, often created by ourselves, in negligence are all the indispositions of all the
planes. In other words, a badly closed door, sooner or later something undesirable will get in. We don't have much control of what is capable of determining our identity. You see, for example: I want to dominate the people; I have two ways; Either I go there and secure, infiltrate into that people ideas that are alien to their nature, their identity, make them deny their own tradition, their own symbols, their own folklores, and that will cause them to lose themselves, or I get into their mental plane and start making them feel ashamed of everything that is proper
to their identity. In other words, either you go on the physical plane or you go on the mental plane. When it often happens, one of these days I saw that. It's 2018, and we just came off a world cup, we lost. I was driving my car down the street and I saw one of those trunk flags that had been torn down and was lying in the middle of the avenue. I couldn't stop, but it was very sad to see that. The flag all dirty, all torn and hitting the passing cars. I was thinking, the person
who threw this in the middle of a road, he does not know the damage he causes to himself and to an entire nation. Because a symbol is highly structuring, a symbol represents our identity. Disrespecting symbols causes us to lose confidence, not only in ourselves as a nation, but each of us as individuals. It erodes the foundations of our identity. So one of the key elements, to stay on the path and to be able like fire, to overcome adversity, is to take care of our identity. And when it is represented by symbols, to take care of
our symbols. Be careful with the things we undervalue. It's terrible that our national symbols, for example, are often depredated, mistreated, because this deeply affects the psyche of every human being that is placed under the covering of this symbol. Think, reflect a little about this. So watching our identity is our meaning of life and staying on the path. Staying on the path outside is a consequence of staying on the path inside. There is no way. The more inside, the more outside, the old maxim we've already talked about. The opposite is very difficult, there is a training
to walk outside, but inside there is no conviction. Well... the first new idea that comes along will get you out of the way. The third chapter of thought (CITTAVAGGA). Let's take verse 33. "Just as the gunsmith makes arrows that are straight, the wise man corrects his uncertain and unstable mind, which is difficult to watch and direct." That is, we wake up in the morning, clean our house, take care of the dog, clean the area, fix the kitchen. We have to have an internal protocol of also cleaning our mind too. By the way, I have told
you many times about the way when we wake up in the morning, a good music, a good reading even if very fast, a page, a paragraph. We should give a tidy up in our mind to start the day with everything organized. With the mind at the highest possible level, consciousness focused on high, noble things that inspire us for the day. So this element of correcting our mind, every time it goes astray, necessarily goes through attention, on what is happening to our mind. I've talked about this in several lectures and those that follow me know this.
That on one occasion, I passed on an exercise to my students, philosophy students of New Acropolis. I asked: Are you critics? No, nobody is a critic, nobody was, a room of twenty people, there was no critic, a phenomenon. Then ask them three times a day to stop, and realize where their mind was. Three times a day, set the time, eight, noon, six o'clock in the afternoon, and see where their mind was. And a week had passed. Most of them that had the courage to tell me, said: "Look! the three times that my mind stopped, I
was criticizing something or someone". Do you know what it is like to not even know where your mind is going? To be so inattentive that you don't even know what you think during the day. Do you know what you thought today? How many times have you criticized something or someone? What kind of thought did you have? In other words, the attention and vigilance to know where our mind is, sometimes we don't even have that. We don't have a clear vision of what went through our head, of our emotions throughout a day. Watching our mind. Pulling
it up every time it declines. Being attentive to what really matters in our life. Being aware of reality. Where we want to get to with all this. One day is not so little to waste like this. Remember... We live seventy, eighty years. One day within the context like that is a lot. If we lived eighty thousand years, it might not be so much, but in such a short life, one day is precious. Where has your mind been today? How close did you get to your ideal, your identity, today? If not, why? because that factor that
held you back today, or that led you astray today, if you pay attention to it, you can fight it tomorrow, otherwise it will steal tomorrow's day too. In other words, attention, vigilance that allows us to move forward like fire. "36. The mind is invisible and subtle, difficult to be watched, running where it pleases, let the wise man watch over it: watched over it is a source of happiness." So we know how to acquire more and more command over it. I say to my legs: "take me to the wall! and they take me". I say to
my emotions, "feel such a thing now! do not obey!" I say to my mind, "think such a thing! do not!" I think it's funny those little boxes they put inside libraries, universities, so the student can sit there and just look at his book and study. Soon you will see, the little boxes are full of written things. The student goes in there and keeps reading the things that are written in the little box. You have not been through this? I have! But I find it curious, how it is that we are always escaping, always taking evasion
paths. There is a big resistance to giving ourselves that which corresponds to us at each moment. Know how to educate that mental dispersion. Do concentration practices. Remembering every day what is important. Doing a good time planning. In other words, go training muscles to have a basic mental control that does not allow you to lose one day after another due to dispersion. What did I do? A lot of things. How many were the things you should have done? none, so you lost your day. You walked randomly... Maybe he's even done things that have some use, but
if they were not within what you were supposed to do, they were a waste of time too, and that's even one of the justifications. We do a lot of things... ah! but that was important. If it was important, why wasn't it within your planning? If it wasn't, because it wasn't a priority, it wasn't the time to be done. Beware of the excuses we create to justify our dispersion. "40. Considering this frail body as a jar of clay, let us make the mind a fortress, subduing Mara (temptation), with the sword of wisdom. After victory, conquest is
maintained by constant vigilance". So don't think we are strong by our body, our body is extremely fragile, as he says: "a vessel of clay". Epithet who was a stoic philosopher, he said: "Protect your mind and it will protect you". Who can protect us is mindfulness, is heightened awareness, is intelligence. These are phenomena that only occur when the mind is concentrated and awake, otherwise we are a leaf at the mercy of the wind. Whether the day will be good or disastrous depends on the wind, not on you. You become a puppet in the hand of natural
or sometimes unnatural circumstances. So beware of this, the greatest fortress we have is our only guarantee, is to be vigilant, having a basic control of our mind. Our body guarantees us nothing, it is much more fragile than we imagine, fleeting. Full of limitations. It is our mind that has to watch over our body, and never the other way around. The priority is the mental plane, which is where everything is born and everything can be maintained, that is, conquering oneself and maintaining vigilance. Don't let go, we have nothing definitively conquered. If today you are a person
who has controlled, for example, laziness, take care! because tomorrow it will come running after you again, and a moment of inattention, it sets in again. Ah! so life is hell! no, life is not hell, we have to find vigilance, it's a good thing. One has to find this conquest of oneself, daily, a good thing. I recently said that in a lecture. A child loves to go to a park, and take a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, he likes the adventure. A young person who goes to a game, likes higher and higher levels of difficulty, likes
the adventure. Why don't you like it? Because we don't like the adventure of constantly fighting against dispersion. That's a hero. More than he who conquers a thousand men in battle, is he who conquers himself. Anyway, that is the great adventure of our life, to enjoy, otherwise life really becomes hell. Enjoying the art of living as a human being. Realizing that this is the best we can do for ourselves, and for all those we love around us. "41. Before long, this body will lie on the ground, abandoned, lifeless, unconscious, unfeeling, like a useless dried twig. But
the consequences of his thoughts will not perish, the good ones will engender good actions, and the evil ones will engender evil actions". This one is a very used example also in Hinduism, is something very worrying. This idea of the brevity of life is constantly used as a stimulus, and not as a "bogeyman". Death was not used to scare, but to call man back to the center so that he would not waste time, because time is fleeting. Death was not used as a scary thing, but as a good companion to remind us what we should do.
Now, he says that even after the body has died, ideas continue to act in the world. This is something serious to be considered. They continue to act and generate Karma. That is, sometimes a person has died, it is not difficult to see this historically. A person who lived two, three centuries ago, but projected a prejudice, a negative mental form, and this still produces victims today. Someone who lived a thousand years, two thousand years ago and created highly positive ideas, as the Dhammapada itself says, that word that brings comfort to those who hear it, that word
has been echoing for two thousand years. It still generates positive karma. A person who errs, according to the Indian and Buddhist tradition a person who makes a mistake, because he copied your example, some of that karma is still yours. A person who gets it right, because he/she was inspired by your example, a little of this karma is still yours. What to say, ideas will stick around, echoing. Many times we see people in the streets living certain ideas, that they don't even know the name of the author. Sometimes we know a little more and know: that
was so-and-so! This person no longer even knows who generated this idea, but still lives it and takes it as his own, and is still the source of a lot of misunderstandings in today's world. So be careful, our ideas are bigger than our life. Here the fruits of our mental plane, are more lasting than the fruits of our physical body. Much more, and can bring proportionally much greater harm and benefit, even when we are no longer here. It is hard, but important from time to time to give an electric shock to our conscience, so that it
perceives what is essential, what is real, what we are in fact sowing in the world. "42. Whatever evil someone does to someone he hates, or whatever two enemies do to each other, greater evil is that caused by the misdirected mind." That is, a circular, negative thought, of complex, of prejudice, of offense, there is no enemy of yours in the world, that can do you as much harm as it does. It infiltrates your social relationships, it infiltrates your professional actions, it infiltrates your intimate and public moments, and it comes out causing devastated earth. Damage in all
your life. No human being would be able to do this to you. To harm you so deeply as to rob you of the beauty of life, to rob you of peace. A thought can do this, there can be no worse enemy, no better friend, than a good thought, a good mental form, a good principle, that guides your mental plan. Continuing... The fourth chapter, the last one we're going to deal with today. About the flowers, Upavagga. He's going to deal mostly with the question of making our best bloom, being careful of insects. To bring out the
nobility, the beauty, being careful of the insects of the passions, of excessive sensuality, of a series of elements that divert us from the path. Always considering, we are not in the Middle Ages, we are not considering that things are bad in themselves, but each thing in its place and in its measure. Then, the Human Consciousness is born. Many times we have confusions. I notice people sometimes reading Nietzsche, for example, when he talks about the Dionysiac, about Apollinium. They think that the Dionysiac is to surrender to the passions and pleasures down here and that the Apollinium
is the idea of unity. In fact, you will realize, the idea is to surrender, not to the passions of the animal plane, but to the passions of the soul, up there. That they also exist. The soul, too, falls in love. It falls in love with grandiose ideas, it falls in love with lofty goals, there are passions of the soul as well, not only those of the body. They are filtered through Apollinium, that is, this lower triangle of Dionysian duality, will generate not Dionysus à greus, shattered, but a Dionysus up there that generates the pleasures of
the soul, that is, reconciling Dionysus with Apollo does not mean falling into matter, falling into instincts. You have to know how to deal with human passions, which also exist, with human pleasures, which also exist. And the pleasures of the animal plane? Some at their right time too, but not becoming slaves to them, that is, each thing in its place, is the Platonic concept of justice. Each thing in its place, there is no evil in the world, that is, this is not puritanism, this is discernment. It is important to understand this. "46. He who knows that
this body is ephemeral as the foam of the waves, and illusory as a mirage, will deflect the flowering arrow of Mara( sensuality), and unnoticed by the king of death, will continue on his way". All the while realizing that what we take as absolute is fleeting. Realize that is in contrast that consciousness is born. I always tell you about this, that the theory of impact, the contrast between two things, you perceive both, in the contrast between silence and sound, you perceive both, silence and sound. The flat, homogeneous world, there is no discernment, consciousness is not born.
So, from time to time, we have to confront the transient with the eternal. The short-lived with the enduring, so that we can give the right value to things. So, the very pleasant sensations, in their moment, not bad, but making our life an accumulation of sensations. As they say: "what counts is the accumulation of moments", be careful! because you may have a puzzle where nothing fits. The accumulation of moments that all fit together in one direction, all right! but disconnected and connected simply by sensuality, by uncontrolled passions, can simply generate wasteland, a junkyard, where nothing connects
to anything and nothing is built. Forty-eight, continuing on that same theme will say: "Whose eager with desires, reaps the flowers of the passions, is surprised by death even before satiety." Cus desires multiply there is a theory of the genus principle there, as the Caibalion said. One desire combines with another, soon you have a huge offspring, it breeds an addiction, it is never satiated. Before you satiate the last of your desires, you will have given your last breath of life. Life is not enough for an insatiable fever of desires. And you see, one day I will
do something serious and now let me distract myself, when you realize your life has been one big distraction. Life is a lot of leaks and sometimes it's hard to pass this idea on to a young person. Someone in my age group, in their fifties, has the impression that twenty years, thirty years, was there, now. Time is very elusive. The only thing that can be said about life is, that it passes quickly, that is, it's important to realize, to confront the lasting with the fleeting to get a sense of what's worth our attention, of what our
energy is worth, and not get lost in a world of futility. Let us not submerge ourselves in a world of ruins and futility. And to be futile and transient like it that we end up having identity with it. "49. Let the wise man live in his village just as the bee gathers nectar, without harming the color and fragrance of the flower." You see, even this harmony has to do with having a certain sobriety in our satiety. That we may, like the bee, take the nectar from the flower without harming it in any way. It does
not become less beautiful, it does not become less fragrant because we take the nectar from it. The interaction with the world, where we are not always consumers and never givers; What do we give to the world? I have already told you about that rather hopeless mathematical calculation, which is how much water we consume, how much we consume of food in general, from the land, from the animals, and what we give to the land. What do we add? What do we contribute? with positive ideas, with building good things; what do we add? What is the account
of our life? Are we just big consumers? That we are leaving devastated land? We should have this capacity to consume yes but the minimum we need, as much as we need with to a dignified life, but to be able to realize that we are also a sum factor, we also contribute to this world. I love that passage from Khalil Gibran, from the Prophet, I've talked about so many times, that when you sacrifice an animal or sacrifice a plant for food, you say: "Look, the same knife that immolates you, will immolate me one day". We both
work to build something even greater in life. We both add up, we will be nourishment for something much greater in the future, we add up for life. I am not simply a consumer of your life, your life will live in me and through my life, many will live in the future. Imagine being able to say that. In other words, we have a relationship where we don't hurt the flower that feeds us. We are able to leave it intact, and also to spread its pollen throughout the world. To add up, to make a difference, this would
be the synthesis of life, in the end, this is what will remain. "50. Do not be occupied with the harsh words, faults, or negligence of others, but be conscious of your own words, deeds, and negligence." Once again the old victimization story. Let others do, say, in what they depend on us, we try to set an example, we try to help, but we are particularly responsible for our words, our actions. It's that old phrase that is already a buzzword. But is very true, people. "Teaching is by example". And sometimes the way you live with someone in
an environment, for example at work, is much more transmuting and impactful than making a speech to that person. No one can stand more speeches. People need someone to prove, that what they say is possible, to prove it through their life. So stop worrying so much, whether it's negative words, negative behavior, and start committing, to be us, the sum factor. Good! The world has no virtues! If you have virtue, the world already has virtue, because you are part of the world. In other words, to supply in yourself what the world lacks, it is difficult, it is
a beautiful word, but if you insist a little more each time, you will find it in yourself. It's not possible that we will get that album of old photographs, open it and realize that we have changed, not only physically, but that we are more mature, more whole, more fraternal, more conscious of what we are doing in the world. It is not possible that only fashion changes and that inside we are always the same. So that's a fundamental element, to get away from victimization, to get away from looking to others for answers. and take responsibility with
life, doing our part. "51. Similar to beautiful flowers that are colorful but without perfume, beautiful words are of those who say them but do not follow them are fruitless." It reaches such a point nowadays... It's hard... Words are getting so empty, it's hard to tell someone soberly and reliably, I love you. The words are worn out. Anyone who works in advertising knows that it is difficult to convince someone of something. Nobody believes it, when someone says: "this product is good, I used it", because, it's a game of masks, it's a farce, that is, it is
necessary to say with your own life, it is necessary coherence, and that coherence feeds our Soul and the only way to inspire those who follow us. More than ever, we need coherence, it is the only way to pass a compelling message to someone, it is to be strongly committed, which doesn't mean being infallible, but having the spirit of improvement. That is, I will make that mistake, but I will correct it as soon as it falls into my field of consciousness. And with that, I'm creating more and more resistance to certain factors, that doesn't get me
anymore, other things will get me later on, but I will also learn to prevent myself from it, I will become more and more resistant, until one day, I won't fall anymore. But at this moment, I am already committed to this day, in the future. In a way, it is already here, because I am committed to it. "54. The perfume of flowers, sandalwood, jasmine or incense, is not carried on the wind, but the perfume of virtue surpasses the wind, reaching to the ends of the earth." That is, a flower, some have wonderful perfumes, I have here
the lady of the night, which is a wonderful perfume, but if the wind comes and blows against it, it has no way of beating the wind, the perfume goes behind, the wind is capable of breaking the soft scent of a flower. Now the aroma of virtue, I find a very impressive thing. Tell me how two thousand years ago, two thousand six hundred years to be more specific, we know the message of a Buddha. A time when there were no means of communication and indeed these means of communication that we have today, are particularly from the
mid-twentieth century on, before that we had very little. How did this message spread around the world? It was born in India. Two thousand six hundred years ago. How did this message spread around the world? It is an aroma that nothing and no one can stop. It seems that even unconsciously, this aroma is perceived by all human beings. When one tells about the life of the Buddha, it is said that without knowing why all humanity feels a certain relief from their pains, when a man becomes enlightened. In other words, the perfume of virtue finds no barriers
that are capable of stopping it. And knowing or not knowing where it came from, all humanity for a very long time, benefits from it. It is the greatest inheritance we can leave to humanity, even if we are not and will not be a Buddha so soon, but in our measure, we can leave a scent that extends throughout the world and benefit as many people as we can benefit. "58 e 59. As the fragrant lily grows and blossoms in the mud by the roadside, so the disciple of the Supreme Liberator shines, by purity and wisdom, among
the blind crowd of this world." That is, for those who know that story from "Bernares' Sermon", where an old lady with a small lamp, on top of a mountain, when a great storm falls, extinguishes the torches of all the princes of the earth, but she who had a very small lamp protects this lamp with her own body. And even in the middle of the maximum gale, she is not put out because she is very small. And when it is absolutely dark, this little lamp is able to be seen from a very great distance. You are
the Light of the World. You can't hide a city built on a mountain. That is, when something beautiful in us awakens, it is something very high, it is on a hill, it is at the apex of the human condition. It is a light even though small, in the moment of darkness, it can illuminate a very great distance. Try turning off all the lights in your house, and turn on a very small light, a small candle, a lighter, a small flame, and you will realize the possibility of illumination. The more the world becomes dark, a small
light is able to shine. May we shine for purity and wisdom among the blind crowd of the world. May we be a drop in an arid time. And this consists of being attentive, vigilant, controlling our mind, and staying true to our identity. This is the beginning of our journey in the Dhammapada, and I hope you will read these first four chapters. Reflect, chew on them, walk with them through the day. Invite a verse from Dammapada to spend the day with you. Reflect, deepen, chew. May you draw from this, some teaching that is engraved in your
life. And let us go on. Next week a few more chapters starting with the fifth. Thank you very much!
