Dhamma in Eight Words

A man asks Bhante§, "What is Dhamma?
Can you summarize it in simple words?"
"Do good, do no evil, purify your mind,
That is Dhamma", replied Bhante.

"So simple!", the man replied,
"Even a boy of six knows it!"
Bhante replies, "Sure, a boy of six knows it,
Hard it is for a man of sixty to follow it!"

Buddha gave 84000 discourses, opened 84000 doors,
In 45 years of propagating Dhamma.
All he said can be summarized in eight words,
Do good, do no evil, purify your mind!

To follow the Dhamma,
To follow the way,
Is to remember and follow these words,
The rest of Buddha's teachings are but details!

§Bhante: One addresses a monk as Bhante. Corresponds to addressing a Minister as Reverend