Discourse of Buddha (3)

Setting the wheels of Dharma in Motion

Lord Buddha said:

The spokes of the wheel are the rules of pure conduct; justice is the uniformity of length: wisdom is the tire; modesty and thoughtfulness are the hub in which the unmovable axle of truth is fixed.

He who recognizes the existence of suffering, its cause, its remedy, and its cessation, has fathomed the Four Noble truths. He will walk in the right path. Right views will be the torch to light his way. Right aims will be his guide. Right words will be his dwelling-place on the road. His walk will be straight, for it is right behavior. His refreshments will be the right way of earning his livelihood. Right efforts will be his steps; Right thoughts his breath; and peace will follow in his footprints.

Then the Blessed One explained the instability of self:

Whatsoever is originated will be dissolved again. All worry about the self is vain; the ego is like mirage and all the tribulations that touch it will pass away. They will vanish like a nightmare when the sleeper awakes. He who has awakened, is freed from fear; he has become Buddha; he knows the vanity of all his cares, his ambitions, and also of his pains. Happy is he who has overcome all selfishness; happy is he who has attained peace and happy is he who has found the truth. Truth is noble and sweet; truth can deliver you from evil. There is no savior in the world except truth. Have confidence in truth although you may not be able to comprehend it, although you may suppose its sweetness to be bitter, although you may shrink from it at first. Trust truth.

Self is a fever, self is a transient vision, a dream, but truth is wholesome, truth is sublime, truth is everlasting. There is no immortality except in truth. For truth alone abides forever. A man who stands alone having decided to obey the truth may be weak and slip back into his old ways. Therefore stand together, assist one another, and strengthen one another's efforts. Be like brothers; one in love, one in holiness, and one in your zeal for the truth. Spread the truth and preach the doctrine in all quarters of the world, so that in the end all living creatures will be citizens of the kingdom of righteousness. Lead a holy life for extinction of suffering.