Craving Is the Builder of This House
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Craving is the builder of this house; Craving is the builder of this house.
Through many a rebirth, In Samsara wandering,
I sought but did not find, The builder of this house. How painful!
How sorrowful!
To be born again and again.
Craving is the builder of this house; Craving is the builder of this house.
O House-builder! I see you at last; You will build no house anymore. Your ridgepole shatters,
Your rafters all fall down,
My mind realizes the unborn,
And craving comes, craving comes, Craving comes to an end.
Craving is the builder of this house; Craving is the builder of this house.
© Rev. Heng Sure 2005 All Rights Reserved Music: Rev. Heng Sure
Lyrics: Shakyamuni Buddha (Dhammapada #11)
These are the words the Buddha spoke immediately upon awakening. Known as “the Buddha’s song of libera- tion,” this verse likens craving to a house builder. The mind is the host of craving, where we build our houses
of words and thoughts, loves, hates and desires, until liberation from suffering is hard to imagine and even harder to achieve. When the Buddha beneath the Bodhi Tree put an end to craving, the house of suffering came down for good.