Thursday, June 13, 2013

My Favorite Teaching

Nagarjuna's String of Precious Jewels

I’ll tell you briefly the fine qualities of those
on the path of compassion:
giving and ethics, patience and effort,
concentration, wisdom, compassion and such.

Giving is giving away what you have,
and ethics is doing good to others.
Patience is giving up feelings of anger,
and effort is joy that increases all good.

Concentration’s one-pointed, free of bad thoughts,
and wisdom decides what truth really is.
Compassion’s a kind of high intelligence,
mixed deep with a love for all living kind.

Giving brings wealth, a good world comes from ethics,
patience brings beauty, eminence comes from effort.
Concentration brings peace, and from wisdom comes freedom,
compassion achieves everything we all wish for.

A person who takes all seven of these and
perfects them together will reach that place
of inconceivable knowledge, no less than
the world’s protector.