9 sutras or Buddhist teachings to live better

Sutras are small fragments of wisdom taught by Buddha or one of his disciples. Phrases that will help us wake up from lethargy.

Have you heard of the sutras? There was a time, now long ago, when we stopped looking up in amazement and admiration and began to look for other things. It happened when we began to underestimate, neglect and forget the spirit, letting other things take its place.

So it is that we begin to wander in a constant search for pleasure and securityin a continuous escape from fear, pain and discomfort that does not allow us to feel at peace.

The word Buddha comes from budh, which means “to awaken,” so Buddha means “the Awakened One.” A Buddha is someone who has completely woken up, as if emerging from the deepest sleep, and has discovered that he no longer suffers, that the suffering has only been a bad dream. We can all get out of that nightmaretrying to “do nothing but good, avoid any harm to others and purify the heart.”

The sutras: the teachings of Buddhism

As Buddhism states, The path that leads us to reconnect with our spirit consists of three stages: listen or read, reflect on what you read and put it into practice. It follows that Buddhist philosophy is something that has to be useful. If it doesn’t work, it is abandoned; On the other hand, if it is beneficial, it is worth cultivating.

A sutra is a literary composition based on short and simple aphoristic statements. They were designed this way to help students memorize them. The noun sūtra comes from the verb sūtr, which could be translated as “to spin.”

Thus, to allow a rapprochement, We bring you 9 of the many sutras or Buddhist teachings that invite us to reflect on our lives. The sutras are not phrases to remember, but teachings that together constitute the entire Buddhist doctrine and that we can adapt to our daily behavior.

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Sutra 1: He observes, he has clarity

“The fool sleeps as if he were already dead, but the teacher is awake and lives forever. He watches. He has clarity.”

Everything is within our heart, but we need to learn to observe. By doing so our mind becomes clearer and we become more delicate and focused. Be wise and observe; Don’t talk, just watch and learn.

A silent mind is a serene and calm mind. For this the meditation It is one of the main techniques. Quieting the mind will help us eradicate all that external conditioning that leads us to suffering and will release the genuine happiness.

Sutra 2: Only love dispels hatred

“In this world, hate has never dispelled hate. Only love dissipates hate. This is the law, ancestral and inexhaustible.”

Light dispels darkness, and darkness is hate. How to gain the light? Meditating on love and compassion. Detach yourself from the results that generate hatred and negative feelings in you. Silence wins, so light will enter you and hate will have no place in you.

In Buddhism, the love It is the desire and aspiration for all beings to achieve happiness and its causes. The compassion It is the desire and aspiration that all beings be freed from suffering and its causes. By meditating on these two profound concepts, we will uproot the hatred within us.

Sutra 3: How can you quarrel?

“You too will pass on to a better life. How can you fight?”

Life is short, fighting is spending it uselessly. Better use your time and energy to gain happiness, because you don’t fight for the flesh when your heart is lifted up. Dust we are and to dust we will become, what is the point of fighting then? What do we gain by wasting our energy?

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Sutra 4: Beyond judgments

“A mind beyond judgments observes and understands.”

Do not enter into considerations of what is right and what is wrong, because if you analyze it you will be divided. Choose an attitude of conscious attention, simply observe both options but do not choose.

Lama Rinchen Gyaltsena Buddhist teacher, teaches us that human beings tend to qualify the exterior in three categories: “I like it” (attachment), “it does not matter to me” (ignorance), and “I don’t like it” (hate). When we fall into these “three poisons”, we tend to prejudge everything that surrounds us. Therefore, if we do not cling to external judgment, we will be freer and much happier.

Sutra 5: Live hard

“It is sweet to live hard and be master of yourself.”

Would you climb Everest by helicopter? It will probably be easier, but it won’t be more pleasant. This is one of the sutras that reminds us that What is truly enriching is what we put our heart and effort into.. Life must be lived, not looked at. That is only done if you live your own life and not those of others.

Sutra 6: Overcoming

“With kindness overcome anger. With generosity overcome meanness. With the truth overcome disappointment.”

Transform the negative into positive. The world prepares you for the negative and pushes you down the paths of repression. An intelligent person is of no use to society, since what he needs are obedient people, not intelligent ones. Live your life intelligently.

Learning from the negative is a Buddhist premise. Everything that happens to us, no matter how negative, should give us energy to continue. Every time something happens that we classify as negative, we should try to analyze it and learn. In this way we will evolve and improve ourselves.

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Sutra 7: Awake forever

“Everything arises and disappears. But whoever wakes up, does so forever.”

You have two ways of living: falling or growing. Falling is easy because gravity, society and the crowd help you. To fall it is enough to let yourself go and be obedient.

But growing up is difficult. To grow you have to disobey, you have to overcome the ego, overcome oneself and evolve. We are all capable of achieving consciousness, but few seek and find it. If you take the path and manage to know yourself and live your own life, you will live forever.

Sutra 8: Words

“Control your words.”

The mind is full of words, often unnecessary. Get used to thinking what is necessary and speaking as little as possible. Be concrete and telegraphic. Assess first that what you are going to say makes sense. Always remember that words have power and that power can turn against you.

In Buddhism it is advocated that we only speak when we have something interesting to say, something enriching. If not, better keep quiet.

Sutra 9: Thoughts

“Control your thoughts.”

The thoughts are in your mind, they are chaos and it is important to unravel them. They come and go without any meaning. You invent things or interpret them and your thoughts fly on their own. Your thoughts are your executioners, think only when you want to do it. Learn to connect and disconnect.

There have been thousands of Buddhas in history, people who woke up and showed us the map they followed to reach the path of gratitude and wisdom. That’s why, If we are guided by these precepts, we can all achieve plenitude. It is enough to banish our ego, stop being obedient and live our own life walking the path of love and kindness.