The Dhammapada on being your own refuge. From The Dhammapada by the Buddha, gathered 3rd century BC.
An old account of the Buddha’s last year finds him at about 80, badly ill during the rains near Vesali. When he got better, his attendant Ananda said he had clung to one hope: last instructions for the monks.
The Buddha said he had held nothing back. Nor did he see himself as the one they depended on. Be your own island, he told Ananda, your own refuge.
In an old account of his last year, the Buddha, ill at about 80, told Ananda to be an island and a refuge to himself. Dhammapada verses 160 and 165 say the self is its own protector, and no one can make another pure. In 1929, Jiddu Krishnamurti shut down the order built around him, saying each person had to find the truth alone.
Others can drive you to the door, but only you can walk in. Practical advice: take help gladly, then do the part that only you can do.
Likely, on the evidence · checked against 10 sourcesName one thing you are waiting for someone else to fix, and take the first step.
“I keep waiting for someone to rescue me from a bad situation. What part of it is mine to do?”
Stand on Your Own Ground and the other 11 ideas of The Dhammapada, a minute at a time.
Download on theApp StoreEvery idea is drawn from the public-domain text, and its names, dates and quotes are checked against the sources listed with it. The paintings are made for Counsel; they show the scene, not a historical record.
