Translated by Simone Tai
Kamma
Killing results in shortness of life, while longevity comes from lack of strife.
Torture leads to suffering and pain, while good health from empathy is gained.
Ugliness from fiery anger springs, while patience shining beauty brings.
Few friends are found if jealousy is there, while rejoicing will bring followers near.
Stinginess leads to poverty low, while giving causes wealth to grow.
Low rank comes from haughty pride, while humility leads to a noble life.
Dullness comes from neglecting to seek, while inquiry leads to knowledge deep.
From doing evil, evil comes, from doing good, good is won.
Good and bad will come to you, by the law of kamma true.
Kamma is the only thing, which all beings own.
Faring along on kamma's road, bliss or ill is known.
Vipassana Fundamentals
How does insight knowledge come about?
Noting the five aggregates will bring it out.
Why and when should one note these things?
Note at the moment in order not to cling.
Without noting at once, clinging can come in.
It's permanent, it's good, it's I, you'll think.
Note at the moment so clinging is cleared,
Impermanence and suffering will then appear.
When clinging's gone, Nibbana will be attained.
This method of Vipassana must be retained.
Five factors for yogis
Faith and health must be owned by you,
The mind must then be straight and true.
Striving to note without pause or gaps,
Rising and passing away you'll grasp.
These five factors must be complete,
To reach the goal for which you seek.
Dependent Origination
Not knowing the truth and knowing it wrongly, you yearn for happiness due to delusion. Because of this wanting, three kinds of kamma are conditioned. Relinking consciousness accompanied by the mind and body arises. The six sense bases and six sense contacts come into being, and six kinds of feelings lead to six kinds of craving. Caused by clinging, kamma is generated anew, and you return again and again to good and bad existences. Then comes aging and death, along with sorrow, lamentation and pain, grief and despair. This is the entire mass of suffering.
How present effects arise from past causes
Knowing not the truth and knowing it amiss,
Blinded by delusion you see it all as bliss.
If deeds are thus done by body, speech and mind,
Rebirth through relinking you will surely find.
Analogy of the Four Poisonous Snakes
Earth, water, air and fire,
Are like four deadly vipers.
Five khandhas of the body too,
Are the slayers who murder you.
Then attachment, to which you hold,
Seems a friend, but is a foe.
Six sense doors of sight and sound,
Are nothing but an empty town.
Six sense objects of body and mind,
Are six bandits who rob you blind.
Four floods along which you're swept,
Are greater than the ocean's depth.
From delusion's shore of heavy dark,
To Nibbana's peace you must embark.
With the Eightfold Path a raft do build,
And row without pause to escape from ill.
Those who reach the other bank,
Are the Arahats of noble rank.
The Buddha is a genuine friend,
Who helps all beings reach sorrow's end.
The Value of Life
Not seeing arising and passing away,
What use is life over a hundred years, pray?
Though you may live but for a day in all,
If seeing the mind-body's rise and fall,
Your wisdom will blossom and ever shine,
A life most noble shall truly be thine.
From the Discourse on Protecting the Sasana from Danger
Unwholesomeness should be abstained from and removed,
Wholesomeness must also be developed and improved.
One's own mind must then be purified and cleaned,
The Buddha's teachings contains these three things.
If you note every arising without a pause,
You'll see mind and body, and effect and cause.
Impermanence and suffering will appear in your mind,
Only by seeing non-self, Nibbana will you find.
Involved in few activities, restrained in speech,
Delighting in solitude, and not indulging in sleep.
Having good friends, accepting admonishment with ease,
These six qualities will help your dhamma to increase.
Giving, morality, and meditation,
Are one's own property.
Day after day, for oneself without fail,
Strive to develop these.
Discourse on Giving (Dana)
Generosity is the cause for gaining prosperity,
The basis for wealth and affluence in your life.
It saves you from falling into the lower realms,
A sure refuge in noble generosity you'll find.
Discourse on Morality (Sila)
The fragrance of morality spreads a sweet scent,
Adorned with morality, with inner beauty you'll shine.
You won’t go to the lower realms if morality is kept,
A sure refuge in noble morality you'll find.
Four Supporting Factors
Be generous in giving, sweet in speech,
Work without fail to fulfill others' needs.
Establish understanding and empathy,
For these four factors create harmony.
Observing the Four Elements
(Their characteristic, function and manifestation)
It is that which is rough, hard and smooth,
Its duty is to provide a base,
It carries and supports, and is experienced as lightness and heaviness,
The yogi thus notes and knows the element of earth.
It is that which is liquid and flowing,
It increases expansion and wetness,
It is experienced as stickiness, cohesion, solidification,
The yogi thus notes and knows the element of water.
It is that which is hot, warm and cold,
It provides heat that causes things to ripen and mature,
And to become tender and flexible step by step,
The yogi thus notes and knows the element of fire.
It is that which supports, is stiff, and slack,
It is experienced as swaying, vibration and movement,
It pushes and carries things to where one wants,
The yogi thus notes and knows the element of air.