LETTING GO · DHAMMAPADA 337
Traveling With Less
This salutary word I tell you, `Do ye, as many as are here assembled, dig up the root of thirst, as he who wants the sweet-scented Usira root must dig up the Birana grass, that Mara (the tempter) may not crush you again and again, as the stream crushes the reeds.
Dhammapada 337 · Chapter 24, Thirst · trans. F. Max Müller · Read the full text at Project Gutenberg
Reflection
The verse begins, “This salutary word I tell you, `Do ye, as many as are here assembled, dig up….” In its chapter, this image points toward craving and the possibility of release. It treats speech as an action with consequences, asking for truth and care before a reaction becomes language. Because this is a historic English translation, test the teaching in experience rather than treating its wording as a demand for belief.
Practice prompt
What freedom appears when you do not need to win?