LETTING GO · DHAMMAPADA 215

The Freedom of Enough

From love comes grief, from love comes fear; he who is free from love knows neither grief nor fear.

Dhammapada 215 · Chapter 16, Pleasure · trans. F. Max Müller · Read the full text at Project Gutenberg

Reflection

The verse begins, “From love comes grief, from love comes fear.” In its chapter, this image points toward the stress created by possessiveness. Its value is practical when it changes how you meet one choice, relationship, or difficult feeling today. Because this is a historic English translation, test the teaching in experience rather than treating its wording as a demand for belief.

Practice prompt

Let one preference be unmet without turning it into a problem.