The Wise Man
Books:
Sacred Books Of The East
If you see a man who shows you what is to be avoided, who administers
reproofs, and is intelligent, follow that wise man as you would one who
tells of hidden treasures; it will be better, not worse, for him who
follows him.
Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper!--he
will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will be hated.
Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not
have low people for friends:
have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men.
He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage
rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect.
Well-makers lead the water wherever they like; fletchers bend the arrow;
carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.
As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst
blame and praise.
Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a
deep, smooth, and still lake.
Good men indeed walk warily under all circumstances; good men speak not
out of a desire for sensual gratification; whether touched by happiness
or sorrow wise people never appear elated or depressed.
If, whether for his own sake, or for the sake of others, a man wishes
neither for a son, nor for wealth, nor for lordship, and if he does not
wish for his own success by unfair means, then he is good, wise, and
virtuous.
Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become Arhats);
the other people here run up and down the shore.
But those who, when the law has been well preached to them, follow the
law, will pass over the dominion of death, however difficult to cross.
A wise man should leave the dark state of ordinary life, and follow the
bright state of the Bhikshu. After going from his home to a homeless
state, he should in his retirement look for enjoyment where enjoyment
seemed difficult. Leaving all pleasures behind, and calling nothing his
own, the wise man should purge himself from all the troubles of the
mind.
Those whose mind is well grounded in the seven elements of knowledge,
who without clinging to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment,
whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, they are
free even in this world.