Deep Commentary

This Dhammapada verse was taught by the Buddha at Jetavana Monastery, concerning Mara the Evil One. According to the story, "One day, Mara disguised himself and approached the Buddha, asking: 'Venerable Sir, you often speak of 'the farther shore.' Please tell me, what is the farther shore?' The Buddha, knowing it was Mara, said: 'O Evil One, what have you to do with the farther shore? Only one who has escaped from craving can reach it.'" (Excerpted from Dhammapada Stories, Vol. III, p. 326). In this verse, the Buddha teaches us not to let the mind get stuck on two extremes: past and future. These are two prisons that constantly bind us. "Neither the farther shore nor this shore, both shores are unreal." This shore and that shore are merely relative, fabricated concepts. The important thing for a practitioner is to transcend this dualistic, conceptual framework. Often we get caught up in conceptual labels. This is like someone who clings to the finger pointing at the moon, forgetting the moon itself. Both finger and moon are merely fabricated conceptual labels. In essence, they are empty. For a long time, we have been deceived by words and letters. This is like the story of a hunter lost in the forest, searching endlessly for a way out. He wandered until evening without finding an exit. Suddenly he saw a large sign at a gate reading: 'Beware of fierce dogs.' He thought to himself, better to go in and face fierce dogs than be eaten by wild beasts. Besides, even fierce dogs have owners. Thinking thus, he entered. He was terrified, but had no other way out. After a few steps, he saw an even larger sign: 'BEWARE OF FIERCE DOGS.' His heart pounded as if it would leap out. But he gritted his teeth and continued. Then he encountered a tiny puppy standing beside its owner. Surprised, he asked the owner: 'Sir, where are the fierce dogs?' 'There are no fierce dogs at all. This is my only dog.' 'Such a tiny dog—how could it stop anyone from entering?' 'You are completely mistaken. Though this dog cannot stop anyone, that sign is more than enough to keep strangers out. Do you understand?' The hunter was dumbfounded. So people are not afraid of fierce dogs, but rather of the sign reading 'BEWARE OF FIERCE DOGS.' How absurd! People are deluded, confused, suffocated by empty names and labels. Imagine in a cinema, everyone is absorbed in a film. Suddenly someone shouts, 'Fire! Fire!' Panicked, the crowd rushes to escape. Yet in reality, there is no fire. People live habitually by the inertia of language, heavily attached to fabricated words and names. From this arise countless tragic conflicts and mutual destruction, all due to clinging to empty labels. All humanity today is like this. In the Awakening of Faith, this is called 'clinging to the characteristic of names'—grasping the appearance of names and words when their essence is nothing at all. In the story above, the Buddha directly told Mara that he knows nothing of the farther shore. Not even understanding this shore, how could he understand the farther shore? So what is this shore? And what is the farther shore? 'This shore' refers to the six sense bases; 'the farther shore' refers to the six sense objects. When the six sense bases contact the six sense objects without getting stuck, without giving rise to grasping or attachment, without being defiled by the sense objects—right then one has transcended both shores, which naturally means liberation, Nibbana here and now. That is the permanent address: 'now and here.' How could Mara possibly achieve this? Therefore the Buddha said: 'Only one who has escaped from craving can reach it.'