Page:Henry Mulford Tichenor - The Buddhist Philosophy of Life.djvu/17

 Rh a child, will grow. Wield worldly power, and you will be burdened with trouble.

Better than sovereignty over men, better than lordship over all the earth, is the fruit of righteousness.

Pity me not. Rather pity those who are burdened with power and riches.

My soul longs not for gain; my soul is free.

Like everything else in Nature, the life of man is subject to the law of cause and effect. The present reaps what the past has sown, and the future is the product of the present.

Ignorance only makes men hold religious festivals and offer sacrifices. Far better to revere the truth than try to appease the gods by the shedding of blood. Can a new wrong expiate old wrongs? And can the slaughter of an innocent victim blot out the evil deeds of mankind?

Purify your hearts and cease to kill; this is true religion.

Rituals have no efficacy; prayers are but vain words; incantations have no saving power. To abandon covetousness and lust, to become free from evil desires, to renounce hatred and ill-will, this is true worship.

Surely if men saw the results of their evil deeds they would turn away from them. They crave pleasure for themselves, and they cause pain to others; when death destroys their individuality, they find no peace; their self-hood reappears in new births. Thus they continue to move in the coil, and can find no escape from the sufferings of their own making. How