Just as a line drawn on water with a stick will quickly vanish and will not last long; even so is human life like a line drawn on water. It is short, limited, and brief; it is full of suffering, full of tribulation. This one should wisely understand, one should do good and live a pure life; for none who is born can escape death.
I shall live here in the rains, there in winter, elsewhere in summer, muses the fool, not aware of the nearness of death.
All too soon this body will lie on the ground, cast aside, deprived of consciousness, like a useless scrap of wood.
Virtuous people always let go. They don't prattle about pleasures and desires. Touched by happiness and then by suffering, The sage shows no sign of being elated or depressed.
Unindicated and unknown is the length of life of those subject to death.
Those who have come to be, those who will be: All will go, leaving the body behind. The skillful person, realizing the loss of all, should live the holy life ardently.
Life is swept along, next-to-nothing its span. For one swept to old age no shelters exist. Perceiving this danger in death, one should drop the world's bait and look for peace.
Love is a fleeting emotion, to reach true nirvana one must know themselves and forsake love, for it breeds contempt.
Fearless, free of craving, and without blemish, Having reached the goal and destroyed the arrows of becoming, One is in one's final body.
Who have not led the holy life nor riches won while young, they linger on as aged cranes around a fished-out pond.
You must make the effort yourself. The Masters only point the way.
What is the happiness ? Is it really happiness ? Nothing stable, just happen, stay and decay... Everything is impermanence, dissatisfaction and nothing can ever belong to itself.
First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words; Second, rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher; Third, rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation; And fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind, not on judgmental perceptions.
Let those who desire Buddhahood not train in many Dharmas but only one. Which one? Great compassion. Those with great compassion possess all the Buddha's teaching as if it were in the palm of their hand.
Who leaves behind all human bonds, And has cast off the bonds of heaven, Detached from all bonds everywhere: He is the one I call a brahmin.
Others will misapprehend according to their individual views, hold on to them tenaciously and not easily discard them; we shall not misapprehend according to individual views nor hold on to them tenaciously, but shall discard them with ease - thus effacement can be done.
Among all the sutras I have expounded, Lotus Sutra is the first and foremost! If you are able to uphold the Lotus Sutra, it means you are able to uphold the body of a Buddha.
Among all shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas are the foremost. So is the Lotus Sutra; among all sutras, it is the foremost! Just as the Buddha is the King of the Law; so is the Lotus Sutra, it is the King of all Sutras!
Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse.
In life, we can't always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. This second arrow is optional.
