The Buddhist Way of Life : On self and self-conquest

6. On self and self-conquest.

 

• If one has self, let him practise self-conquest. 
• This is the Buddhist Way of Life. 
• Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord ? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find. 
• The foolish man who scorns the rule of the venerable (arahat), of the elect (ariya), of the virtuous and follows a false doctrine, he bears fruit to his own destruction, like the fruits of the Katthaka reed. 
• By oneself the evil is done, by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. The pure and the impure (stand and fall) by themselves, no one can purify another. 
• He who loves looking for senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle and weak, will certainly be overthrown by his own overdoing as the wind throws down a weak tree. 
• He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well controlled, moderate in his food, faithful and strong, he will not be overthrown any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain. 
• If to himself a man is dear, let him keep close watch upon himself. 
• First establish thyself in the right then thou mayest counsel others. Let not the wise man give occasion for reproach. 
• Oneself, they say is hard to control. If one shapes oneself according as one counsels others, thus well controlled one will have control over others. II. A man pays in himself for the evil he has done and in himself is purified. The good and evil are purified severally, no one purifies another.
• Though one should conquer in battle thousands and thousands of men, who shall conquer himself, he is the greatest of warriors. 
• First establish thyself in the right, then thou mayest counsel others. Let not the wise man give occasion for reproach.
• If one shapes oneself according as one counsels others, thus well controlled, one will have control over others. Oneself they say, is hard to control.
• Verily oneself is the guardian of oneself. What other guardian should there be. Guarded by oneself, one gets a guardian the like of which is not likely gotten.
• If to himself a man is dear, let him keep close watch upon himself. 
• A man pays in himself for the evil he has done, and in himself is purified. The good and evil are purified severally, no one purifies another. 
• Verily oneself is the guardian of oneself; what other guardian should there be? Guarded by oneself, one gets a guardian the like of which is not easily gotten.

The Buddhist Way of Life : On man, mind and impurities

5.On man, mind and impurities

• Man is what his mind makes him.
• The training of the mind to seek the good, is the first step in the path of Righteousness. 
• This is the main teaching in the Buddhist Way of Life. 
• In everything the primal element is mind. Mind is pre-eminent. 
• If a man speaks or does evil suffering follows him, close as the wheel of the hoof of the beast that draws the cart. 
• If a man speaks or acts from uprightness of mind, happiness follows him, close like his never-departing shadow. 
• This fickle, unsteady mind, difficult to guard, difficult to guide—the wise man makes it straight as the fletcher makes straight the arrow. 
• As quivers and throbs the water-dwelling fish, when thrown up out of the water on to the land, so quivers and throbs the mind forsaking 
• Hard to control, unstable is this mind, ever in quest of delight. Good is it to subdue the mind. A mind subdued brings happiness.
• Make thyself an island, work hard, when thy impurities are blown away, and thou art free from guilt, thou wilt enter into the heavenly world of the elect.
• Let a wise man blow off the impurities of himself, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver, one by one, little by little, and from time to time. 
• As the impurity which springs from the iron, when it springs from it, destroys it ; thus to a transgressor's own works, lead him to the evil path. 
• But there is a taint worse than all taints. Ignorance is the greatest taint. O ! mendicants, throw off that taint, and become taintless. 
• Life is easy to live for a man who is without shame, a crow here, a mischief maker, an insulting, bold and wretched fellow. 
• But life is hard to live for a modest man, who always looks for what is pure, who is disinterested, quiet, spotless and intelligent. 
• He who destroys life, who speaks untruth, who in the world takes what is not given him, who goes to another man's wife. 
• And the man who gives himself to drinking intoxicating liquors, he even in this world, digs up his own grave.
• 0 man, know this, that the unrestrained are in a bad state; take care that greediness and vice do not bring thee to grief for a long time. 
• The world gives according to its faith or according to its pleasure; if a man frets about the food and the drink given to others, he will find no rest either by day or by night. 
• He in whom that feeling is destroyed, and taken out with the very root, finds rest by day and by night. 
• There is no fire like passion, there is no torrent like greed. 
• The fault of others is easily perceived, but that of oneself is difficult to perceive; a man winnows his neighbour's faults like chaff but his own faults he hides, as a cheat hides the bad dice from the player.
• If a man looks after the faults of others, and is always inclined to be offended, his own passions will grow, and he is far from the destruction of passions. 
• Refrain from all evil; cultivate the good ; cleanse your own thoughts; this is the teaching of the Buddha.