§ VI The Wise Man

The Buddha's Way of Virtue, by W.D.C Wagiswara and K.J. Saunders, [1920], at sacred-texts.com

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§ VI

THE WISE MAN

76. Look upon him who shows you your faults as a revealer of treasure: seek his company who checks and chides you, the sage who is wise in reproof: it fares well and not ill with him who seeks such company.

77. Let a man admonish, and advise, and keep others from strife! So will he be dear to the righteous, and hated by the unrighteous.

78. Avoid bad friends, avoid the company of the evil: seek after noble friends and men of lofty character.

79. He who drinks in the law lives glad, for his mind is serene: in the law preached by the Noble the sage ever finds his joy.

80. Engineers control the water; fletchers straighten the arrow; carpenters fashion their wood. Sages control and fashion themselves.

81. As some massive rock stands unmoved by the storm-wind, so the wise stand unmoved by praise or blame.

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82. As a deep lake, clear and undefiled, so are sages calmed by hearing the law.

83. Freely go the righteous; the holy ones do not whine and pine for lusts; unmoved by success or failure, the wise show no change of mood.

84. Desire not a son for thyself nor for another, nor riches nor a kingdom; desire not thy gain by another's loss; so art thou righteous, wise, and good.

85. Few amongst men are they who reach the farther shore: the rest, a great multitude, stand only on the bank.

86. The righteous followers of the well-preached law, these are the mortals who reach the far shore. But hard is their journey through the realm of Death.

87, 88. Leaving the way of darkness, let the sage cleave to the way of light: let him leave home for the homeless life, that solitude so hard to love (Nirvāna). Putting away lust and possessing nothing, let the sage cleanse himself from every evil thought.

89. They are serene in this world, whose mind is perfected in that clear thought which leads to Arahatship, whose delight is in renunciation, free from taints, and lustrous.