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from the Dharma you depart, break the Buddha's heart

 step on a crack break your momma's back

“Step on a crack, break your momma's back” is a phrase said mostly by children in groups which acts a game.

 Group members, while walking on sidewalks or roads, must avoid stepping on cracks in the ground.

 A mistaken step might result in insults from the group or personal feelings of dishonoring one's mother.


What is the origin of the superstition stepping on cracks?

It's believed in the U.S. that stepping on a crack in the ground is considered bad luck.

 This superstition stems from one variation of an old children's rhyme that goes 

 "step on a crack, break your momma's back."

 So if you don't want to break your mother's back, don't step on a crack!



from the Dharma you depart, break the Buddha's heart

What is this?

It's a game for all ages. 

It's just another way to say "do satipaṭṭhāna. all the time!", as the Buddha instructed.

But many people aren't compelled by cold hard rationality, so 

"from the Dharma you depart, break the Buddha's heart"

adds some emotional stakes to the same instruction.

You wouldn't want to disappoint the Buddha, the arahants, and the noble sangha who kept a pure Dharma alive for 2500 years would you?


8.7 - 🐘Sammā-Sati: right remembering [of Dharma]

kāye kāyā-(a)nu-passī viharati
He lives continuously seeing the body as a body [as it truly is].
vedanāsu vedanā-(a)nu-passī viharati
He lives continuously seeing sensations as sensations [as it truly is].
citte cittā-(a)nu-passī viharati
He lives continuously seeing a mind as a mind [as it truly is].
dhammesu dhammā-(a)nu-passī viharati
He lives continuously seeing ☸Dharma as ☸Dharma [as it truly is].
(… elided refrain from each way…)
[in each of the 4 ways of remembering]:
ātāpī sampajāno satimā,
he is ardent 🏹, he has lucid discerning 👁, he remembers 🐘 [to apply relevant ☸Dharma].
vineyya loke abhijjhā-do-manassaṃ;
he should remove greed and distress regarding the world.




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