Page:Henry Mulford Tichenor - The Buddhist Philosophy of Life.djvu/28

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THE BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

You yourself must make the effort. The Buddhas are but teachers. The thoughtful who enter the path are freed from the bondage of evil.

He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise; who, though young and strong, is slothful; whose mind and thoughts are weak; the slothful and idle man will not find the path to enlightenment.

The truth guards him who guards himself.

In order to teach others, first teach yourself.

He who conquers himself is the greatest of conquerors.

Fools do not care for the duty to be performed, or the aim to be reached. They think of self alone.

Bad deeds, hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; good deeds, beneficial to ourselves, are difficult to perform.

Ere long this body will lie in the earth, without understanding; yet our thoughts will endure. They will be thought again, and will create action. Good thoughts will produce good actions, and bad thoughts will produce bad actions.

Earnestness is the path of immortality, thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die; those who are thoughtless are as though dead already.

Those who imagine they find truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth, will never arrive at truth.

As the rain breaks through a poorly thatched house, so passion breaks through an unreflecting mind.