"Affection" (verses from the Dhammapada)

Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Acharya Buddharakkhita, Dhammapada, XVI, "Affection"*

Inspiring quotes from the Dhammapada, the imprint or path of Dharma (House of Doves)

 

Verse 209. Giving oneself over to things to be shunned then not exerting where exertion is needed, one who craves and seeks after [sensual] pleasures, having given up one's own true welfare, envies those intent upon theirs.
210. Seek no intimacy with the desired nor with the undesired, for not to see the desired or to see the undesired, both are anguish.
 

(The Dhammapada/flickr.com)

211. Therefore, cling not to what is held dear. For loss of or separation from the dear is painful. Yet, there are no bonds for those who cling to nothing desired or undesired.
212. From endearment springs grief, from endearment springs fear. For one who is wholly free of endearment there is no grief. How then any fear?
 
213. From addiction springs grief, from addiction springs fear. For one who is wholly free of addiction there is no grief. How then any fear?
214. From attachment springs grief, from attachment springs fear. For one who is wholly free of attachment there is no grief. How then any fear?
215. From lust springs grief, from lust springs fear. For one who is wholly free of craving there is no grief. How then any fear?
216. From craving springs grief, from craving springs fear. For one who is wholly free of craving there is no grief. How then any fear?

• How can one possibly be free of clinging, endearment, addiction, attachment, lust, and craving? It is only possible through liberating absorption (jhana) and insight (vipassana), not by a triumph of will, deprivation, or austere self-torment.

(The Dhammapada/flickr.com)

217. People consider dear one who embodies virtue and insight, who is principled, who has realized the (liberating) truth, and who does what one ought to be doing.
218. One who is intent upon complete freedom (nirvana) dwells with heart/mind inspired (by supramundane wisdom) and is no more trapped by sense pleasures -- such a person is called "One Moving Upstream." 
219. When, after a long absence, a person safely returns from afar, relatives, friends, and well-wishers welcome one home on arrival.
220. As relatives welcome a dear one on arrival, even so one's own good deeds will welcome the doer of skillful deeds who has gone from this world to the next. More
 

*Edited from Buddhist Publication Society's The Dhammapada: The Buddha's Path of Wisdom, translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita introduction by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Kandy, BPS, 1985).