MINDFULNESS · DHAMMAPADA 279

The Strength of Awareness

`All forms are unreal,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way that leads to purity.

Dhammapada 279 · Chapter 20, The Way · trans. F. Max Müller · Read the full text at Project Gutenberg

Reflection

The verse begins, “`All forms are unreal,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain.” In its chapter, this image points toward a practical path of attention, ethics, and understanding. 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 sound remind you to return to the body.