Translation of the Dhammapada (Verses on Dhamma) and Khuddakapatha (The Text of the Minor sayings). Pali text included with the English.
The Dhammapda is a collection of the Buddha's words considered basic and essential principles of the Buddha's teaching. It consists of 423 verses arranged according to the topics in twenty-six vaggas or chapters. The Dhammapada describes the path which a wayfarer should follow. It states that all conditioned things are transitory and impermanent; that all conditioned things are subject to suffering; and that all things (dhammas) are insubstantial, incapable of being called one's own. When one sees the nature of things with Vipassana insight, one becomes disillusioned with the charms and attractions of the five aggregates. Such disillusionment constitutes the path of purity (nibbana).
The Khuddakapatha is a collection of nine formulae and suttas which are arranged in such a way as to form a continuous theme, demonstrating the practice of the holy life. It includes how a person accepts the Buddha's teaching by taking refuge in the Three Gems and then how he observes the ten precepts for moral purification. Next he meditates on the 32 constituents of the body, to develop non-attachment. He is shown next the virtues and merits of giving and how one handicaps oneself by not performing acts of merit. In the meanwhile he safeguards himself by reciting the Mangala Sutta and provides protection to others by reciting the Ratana sutta. Finally, he develops loving-kindness towards all beings, thereby keeping himself safe from harm. At the same time he achieves jhana concentration which will eventually lead him to reach the goal of spiritual life, nibbana, by means of knowledge of insight and the path.