buddha daily wisdom image

iti.93 Itivuttaka

Fire

always perceiving ugliness;
This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
“Mendicants, there are these three fires.
What three?
The fires of greed, hate, and delusion.
These are the three fires.”
The Buddha spoke this matter.
On this it is said:
“The fire of greed burns a mortal,
lustful, infatuated by sensual pleasures;
while, fallen in the fire of hate,
a person kills living creatures;
and, bewildered by the fire of delusion,
they miss the teaching of the noble ones.
Not recognizing these three fires,
people are caught up in identity.
They fill the ranks of hell,
of birth as an animal,
or of demons and ghosts,
not freed from Māra’s bonds.
But as to those committed day and night
to the teaching of the Buddha:
they quench the fire of greed,
while those supreme persons
quench the fire of hate with love;
and the fire of delusion with the wisdom
that leads to penetration.
Having quenched these fires, alert,
tireless all day and night,
they become completely quenched,
completely transcending suffering.
Seers of the noble truths, knowledge masters,
the astute, understanding rightly,
directly know the ending of rebirth,
they come not back to future lives.”
This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.