Dhammapad Vol4

The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 4

Talks given from 22/08/79 am to 31/08/79 am
English Discourse series
10 Chapters
Year published: 1990

The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 4
Chapter #1
Chapter title: Better than a hundred years
22 August 1979 am in Buddha Hall

BETTER THAN A HUNDRED YEARS OF MISCHIEF
IS ONE DAY SPENT IN CONTEMPLATION.
BETTER THAN A HUNDRED YEARS OF IGNORANCE
IS ONE DAY SPENT IN REFLECTION.
BETTER THAN A HUNDRED YEARS OF IDLENESS
IS ONE DAY SPENT IN DETERMINATION.
BETTER TO LIVE ONE DAY WONDERING
HOW ALL THINGS ARISE AND PASS AWAY.
BETTER TO LIVE ONE HOUR SEEING
THE ONE LIFE BEYOND THE WAY.
BETTER TO LIVE ONE MOMENT IN THE MOMENT
OF THE WAY BEYOND THE WAY.
Gautama the Buddha has raised the most important question for all those who are capable of inquiring into truth, into life, into existence. The most important question of all questions is: What is true happiness? And is there a possibility to achieve it? Is true happiness possible at all, or is all momentary? Is life only a dream, or is there something substantial in it too? Does life begin with birth and end with death, or is there something that transcends birth and death? Because without the eternal there is no possibility of true happiness. With the momentary, happiness will remain fleeting: one moment it is here, the other moment gone, and you are left in great despair and darkness.
That's how it is in ordinary life, in the life of the unawakened. There are moments of bliss and there are moments of misery; it is all mixed, hodge-podge. You cannot keep

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