  Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To
  speak or act with a defiled mind is to draw pain after oneself, like a
  wheel behind the feet of the animal drawing it. 1

  Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To
  speak or act with a peaceful mind, is to draw happiness after oneself,
  like an inseparable shadow. 2

		-- John Richard
%
  I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I have been beaten! I have been
  robbed! Anger does not cease in those who harbour this sort of thought.
  3

  I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I have been beaten! I have been
  robbed! Anger ceases in those who do not harbour this sort of thought. 4

		-- John Richard
%
  Occasions of hatred are certainly never settled by hatred. They are
  settled by freedom from hatred. This is the eternal law. 5

		-- John Richard
%
  Others may not understand that we must practice self-control, but
  quarrelling dies away in those who understand this fact. 6

		-- John Richard
%
  The Tempter masters the lazy and irresolute man who dwells on the
  attractive side of things, ungoverned  in his senses, and unrestrained
  in his food, like the wind overcomes a rotten tree. 7

  But the Tempter cannot master a man who dwells on the distasteful side
  of things, self- controlled in his senses, moderate in eating, resolute
  and full of faith, like the wind cannot move a mountain crag. 8

		-- John Richard
%
  The man who wears the yellow-dyed robe but is not free from stains
  himself, without self- restraint and integrity, is unworthy of the robe.
  9

  But the man who has freed himself of stains and has found peace of mind
  in an upright life, possessing self-restraint and integrity, he is
  indeed worthy of the dyed robe. 10

		-- John Richard
%
  To see the essence in the unessential and to see the essence as
  unessential means one can never get to the essence, wandering  as one is
  in the road of wrong intentions. 11

  But to see the essence in the essential and the unessential as the
  unessential it is means one does get to the essence, being on the road
  of right intentions. 12

		-- John Richard
%
  In the same way that rain breaks into a house with a bad roof, desire
  breaks into the mind that has not been practising meditation. 13

  While in the same way that rain cannot break into a well-roofed house,
  desire cannot break into a mind that has been practising meditation
  well. 14

		-- John Richard
%
  Here and beyond he suffers. The wrong-doer suffers both ways. He suffers
  and is tormented to see his own depraved behaviour. 15

  Here and beyond he is glad. The doer of good is glad both ways. He is
  glad and rejoices to see his own good deeds. 16

		-- John Richard
%
  Here and beyond he is punished. The wrong-doer is punished both ways. He
  is punished by the thought, "I have done evil", and is even more
  punished when he comes to a bad state. 17

  Here and beyond he rejoices. The doer of good rejoices both way. He
  rejoices at the thought, "I have done good", and rejoices even more when
  he comes to a happy state. 18

		-- John Richard
%
  Even if he is fond of quoting appropriate texts, the thoughtless man who
  does not put them into practice himself is like cowherd counting other
  people's cows, not a partner in the Holy Life. 19

  Even if he does not quote appropriate texts much, if he follows the
  principles of the Teaching by getting rid of greed, hatred and delusion,
  deep of insight and with a mind free from attachment, not clinging to
  anything in this world or the next - that man is a partner in the Holy
  Life. 20

		-- John Richard
%
  Attention leads to immortality. Carelessness leads to death. Those who
  pay attention will not die, while the careless are as good as dead
  already. 21

  So having clearly understood the value of attention, wise men take
  pleasure in it, rejoicing in what the saints have practised. 22

		-- John Richard
%
  Those who meditate with perseverance, constantly working hard at it, are
  the wise who experience Nirvana, the ultimate freedom from chains. 23

  When a man is resolute and recollected, pure of deed and persevering,
  when he is attentive and self-controlled and lives according to the
  Teaching, his reputation is bound to grow. 24

		-- John Richard
%
  By resolution and attention, by discipline and self-control, a clever
  man may build himself an island that no flood can overthrow. 25

  Foolish, ignorant people indulge in careless lives, whereas a clever man
  guards his attention as his most precious possession. 26

		-- John Richard
%
  Don't indulge in careless behaviour. Don't be the friend of sensual
  pleasures. He who meditates attentively attains abundant joy. 27

  When a wise man has carefully rid himself of carelessness and climbed
  the High Castle of Wisdom, sorrowless he observes sorrowing people, like
  a clear-sighted man on a mountain top looking down on the people with
  limited vision on the ground below. 28

		-- John Richard
%
  Careful amidst the careless, amongst the sleeping wide-awake, the
  intelligent man leaves them all behind, like a race-horse does a mere
  hack. 29

  It was by attention that Indra attained the highest place among the
  gods. People approve of attention, while carelessness is always
  condemned. 30

		-- John Richard
%
  A bhikkhu taking pleasure in being attentive, and recognising the danger
  of carelessness, makes progress like a forest fire, consuming all
  obstacles large or small in his way. 31

  A bhikkhu taking pleasure in being attentive, and recognising the danger
  of carelessness, is incapable of falling away. In fact he is already
  close to Nirvana. 32

		-- John Richard
%
  Elusive and unreliable as it is, the wise man straightens out his
  restless, agitated mind, like a fletcher crafting an arrow. 33

		-- John Richard
%
  Trying to break out of the Tempter's control, one's mind writhes to and
  fro, like a fish pulled from its watery home onto dry ground. 34

  It is good to restrain one's mind, uncontrollable, fast moving, and
  following its own desires as it is. A disciplined mind leads to
  happiness. 35

		-- John Richard
%
  A wise man should guard his mind for it is very hard to keep track of,
  extremely subtle, and follows its own desires. A guarded mind brings
  happiness. 36

		-- John Richard
%
  The mind goes wandering off far and wide alone. Incorporeal, it dwells
  in the cavern of the heart. Those who keep it under control escape from
  Mara's bonds. 37

		-- John Richard
%
  If he is unsettled in mind, does not know the true Teaching, and has
  lost his peace of mind, a man's wisdom does not come to fulfilment. 38

  With his mind free from the inflow of thoughts and from restlessness, by
  abandoning both good and evil, an alert man knows no fear. 39

		-- John Richard
%
  Seeing your body as no better than an earthen pot, make war on Mara with
  the sword of wisdom, and setting up your mind as a fortress, defend what
  you have won, remaining free from attachment. 40

  Before long this body will be lying on the ground, discarded and
  unconscious, like a useless bit of wood. 41

		-- John Richard
%
  One's own misdirected thought can do one more harm than an enemy or an
  ill-wisher. 42

  Even your mother, father or any other relative cannot do you as much
  good as your own properly directed thought. 43

		-- John Richard
%
  Who will master this world and the world of Death with its devas? Who
  will gather well taught aphorisms (dhammapadas), like an connoisseur
  picking a flower? 44

  A disciple will master this world and the world of Death with its devas.
  A disciple will gather well taught aphorisms (dhammapadas), like a
  connoisseur picking a flower. 45

		-- John Richard
%
  Seeing the foam-like nature of the body, and awakening to its
  mirage-like quality, one can escape the sight of the King of Death,
  snapping Mara's flowery bonds. 46

		-- John Richard
%
  Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like
  a great flood does a sleeping village. 47

		-- John Richard
%
  Death, the end-maker, will exercise his will on a man busy picking
  flowers with a besotted mind, before he has even found satisfaction. 48

		-- John Richard
%
  A holy man should behave in the village like a bee which takes its food
  from a flower without hurting its appearance or its scent. 49

		-- John Richard
%
  It is not the shortcomings of others, nor what others have done or not
  done that one should think about, but what one has done or not done
  oneself. 50

		-- John Richard
%
  Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words
  are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them. 51

  Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at and scented too, fine words
  bear fruit in a man who acts well in accordance with them. 52

		-- John Richard
%
  Just as one can make a lot of garlands from a heap of flowers, so man,
  subject to birth and death as he is, should make himself a lot of good
  karma. 53

		-- John Richard
%
  The scent of flowers cannot travel against the wind, and nor can that of
  sandalwood or jasmine, but the fragrance of the good does travel against
  the wind, and a good man perfumes the four quarters of the earth. 54

		-- John Richard
%
  Sandalwood, tagara, lotus, jasmine - the fragrance of virtue is
  unrivalled by such kinds of perfume. 55

		-- John Richard
%
  The perfume of tagara and sandalwood is of little enough power, while
  the supreme fragrance, that of the virtuous, reaches even up to the
  devas. 56

		-- John Richard
%
  Perfect of virtue, always acting with recollection, and liberated by
  final realisation - Mara does not know the path such people travel. 57

		-- John Richard
%
  Like a beautiful, fragrant lotus, springing up on a pile of rubbish
  thrown out on the highway, so a disciple of the Enlightened One stands
  out among rubbish-like and blinded ordinary people by virtue of his
  wisdom. 58, 59

		-- John Richard
%
  Long is the night for the sleepless. Long is the road for the weary.
  Long is samsara (the cycle of continued rebirth) for the foolish, who
  have not recognised the true teaching. 60

		-- John Richard
%
  If on one's way one does not come across one's better or an equal, then
  one should press on resolutely alone. There is no companionship with a
  fool. 61

		-- John Richard
%
  "I've got children", "I've got wealth." This is the way a fool brings
  suffering on himself. He does not even own himself, so how can he have
  children or wealth? 62

		-- John Richard
%
  A fool who recognises his own ignorance is thereby in fact a wise man,
  but a fool who considers himself wise - that is what one really calls a
  fool. 63

		-- John Richard
%
  Even if a fool lived with a wise man all his life, he would still not
  recognise the truth, like a wooden spoon cannot recognise the flavour of
  the soup. 64

  Even if a man of intelligence lives with a wise man only for a moment,
  he will immediately recognise the truth, like one's tongue recognises
  the flavour of the soup. 65

		-- John Richard
%
  Stupid fools go through life as their own enemies, doing evil deeds
  which have bitter consequences. 66

		-- John Richard
%
  A deed is not well done if one suffers after doing it, if one bears the
  consequences sobbing and with tears streaming down one's face. 67

  But a deed is well done if one does not suffer after doing it, if one
  experiences the consequences smiling and contented. 68

		-- John Richard
%
  A fool thinks it like honey so long as the bad deed does not bear fruit,
  but when it does bear fruit he experiences suffering. 69

		-- John Richard
%
  Even if a fool were to take his food month after month off the tip of a
  blade of grass, he would still not be worth a fraction of those who have
  understood the truth. 70

		-- John Richard
%
  Like fresh milk a bad deed does not turn at once. It follows a fool
  scorching him like a smouldering fire. 71

		-- John Richard
%
  A fool acquires knowledge only to his own disadvantage. It destroys what
  good he has, and turns his brains. 72

		-- John Richard
%
  One may desire a spurious respect and precedence among one's fellow
  monks, and the veneration of outsiders. "Both monks and laity should
  think it was my doing. They should accept my authority in all matters
  great or small." This is a fool's way of thinking. His self-seeking and
  conceit just increase. 73, 74

  One way leads to acquisition, the other leads to nirvana. Realising this
  a monk, as a disciple of the Buddha, should take no pleasure in the
  respect of others, but should devote himself to solitude. 75

		-- John Richard
%
  Like one pointing out hidden treasure, if one finds a man of
  intelligence who can recognise one's faults and take one to task for
  them, one should cultivate the company of such a wise man. He who
  cultivates a man like that is the better for it, not worse. 76

		-- John Richard
%
  If a man disciplines, instructs and restrains them from what is not
  right, he will be dear to the good, and disliked by the bad. 77

		-- John Richard
%
  Don't cultivate the company of bad companions. Don't cultivate depraved
  men. Cultivate companions of good character. Cultivate superior men. 78

		-- John Richard
%
  He who drinks in the Truth will live happily with a peaceful mind. A
  wise man always delights in the Truth taught by the saints. 79

		-- John Richard
%
  Navvies channel water, fletchers fashion arrows, and carpenters work on
  wood, but the wise disciple themselves. 80

		-- John Richard
%
  Like a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not moved
  by praise or blame. 81

		-- John Richard
%
  The wise find peace on hearing the truth, like a deep, clear,
  undisturbed lake. 82

		-- John Richard
%
  The good renounce everything. The pure don't babble about sensual
  desires. Whether touched by pleasure or pain, the wise show no change of
  temper. 83

		-- John Richard
%
  If a man does not seek children, wealth or power either for himself or
  for someone else, if he does not seek his own advantage by unprincipled
  means, he is a virtuous man, a wise man and a righteous man. 84

		-- John Richard
%
  Few are those among men who have crossed over to the other shore, while
  the rest of mankind runs along the bank. However those who follow the
  principles of the well-taught Truth will cross over to the other shore,
  out of the dominion of Death, hard though it is to escape. 85, 86

		-- John Richard
%
  A wise man, abandoning the principle of darkness, should cultivate what
  is pure. Leaving home for the homeless life, let him seek his joy in the
  solitude which people find so hard to enjoy, and, abandoning sensual
  pleasures, let him cleanse himself of inner defilements, looking on
  nothing as his own. 87, 88

		-- John Richard
%
  Those whose minds are thoroughly practices in the factors of
  enlightenment, who find delight in freedom from attachment in the
  renunciation of clinging, free from the inflow of thoughts, they are
  like shining lights, having reached final liberation in the world. 89

		-- John Richard
%
  Journey over, sorrowless, freed in every way, and with all bonds broken
  - for such a man there is no more distress. 90

		-- John Richard
%
  The recollected go forth to lives of renunciation. They take no pleasure
  in a fixed abode. Like wild swans abandoning a pool, they leave one
  resting place after another. 91

		-- John Richard
%
  Those for whom there is no more acquisition, who are fully aware of the
  nature of food, whose dwelling place is an empty and imageless release -
  the way of such people is hard to follow, like the path of birds through
  the sky. 92

		-- John Richard
%
  He whose inflowing thoughts are dried up, who is unattached to food,
  whose dwelling place is an empty and imageless release - the way of such
  a person is hard to follow, like the path of birds through the sky. 93

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man's senses have come to peace, like a horses well broken by the
  trainer, when he is rid of conceit and without inflowing thoughts - even
  devas envy such a well set man. 94

		-- John Richard
%
  Like the earth he is not disturbed, like a great pillar he is firmly set
  and reliable, like a lake he is free from defilement. There are no more
  rebirths for such a well set man. 95

		-- John Richard
%
  Freed by full realisation and at peace, the mind of such a man is at
  peace, and his speech and action peaceful. 96

		-- John Richard
%
  He has no need for faith who knows the uncreated, who has cut off
  rebirth, who has destroyed any opportunity for good or evil, and cast
  away all desire. He is indeed the ultimate man. 97

		-- John Richard
%
  Whether in the village or the forest, whether on high ground or low,
  wherever the enlightened live, that is a delightful spot. 98

		-- John Richard
%
  Delightful for them are the forests where men find no delight. The
  desire-free find delight there, for they seek no sensual joys. 99

		-- John Richard
%
  Better than a thousand pointless words is one saying to the point on
  hearing which one finds peace. 100

		-- John Richard
%
  Better than a thousand pointless verses is one stanza on hearing which
  one finds peace. 101

		-- John Richard
%
  Better than reciting a hundred pointless verses is one verse of the
  teaching (one dhammapada) on hearing which one finds peace. 102

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to defeat thousands upon thousands of men in battle, if
  another were to overcome just one - himself, he is the supreme victor.
  103

		-- John Richard
%
  Victory over oneself is better than that over others. When a man has
  conquered himself and always acts with self-control, neither devas,
  spirits, Mara or Brahma can reverse the victory of a man like that. 
  104, 105

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to perform sacrifices by the thousand month after month
  for a hundred years, if another were to pay homage to a single inwardly
  perfected man for just a moment, that homage is better than the hundred
  years of sacrifices. 106

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to tend the sacrificial fire for a hundred years in the
  forest, if another were to pay homage to a single inwardly perfected man
  for just a moment, that homage is better than the hundred years of
  sacrifice. 107

		-- John Richard
%
  All the sacrifices and offerings a man desiring merit could make in a
  year in the world are not worth a quarter of the better merit of homage
  to the righteous. 108

		-- John Richard
%
  Four principal things increase in the man who is respectful and always
  honours his elders - length of life, good looks, happiness and health.
  109

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to live a hundred years immoral and with a mind
  unstilled by meditation, the life of a single day is better if one is
  moral and practises meditation. 110

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to live a hundred years without wisdom and with a mind
  unstilled by meditation, the life of a single day is better if one is
  wise and practises meditation. 111

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to live a hundred years lazy and effortless, the
  life of a single day is better if one makes a real effort. 112

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to live a hundred years without seeing the rise and
  passing of things, the life of a single day is better if one sees the
  rise and passing of things. 113

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to live a hundred years without seeing the deathless
  state, the life of a single day is better if one sees the deathless
  state. 114

		-- John Richard
%
  Though one were to live a hundred years without seeing the supreme
  truth, the life of a single day is better if one sees the supreme truth.
  115

		-- John Richard
%
  Be urgent in good; hold your thoughts off evil. When one is slack in
  doing good the mind delights in evil. 116

		-- John Richard
%
  If a man has done evil, let him not keep on doing it. Let him not create
  an inclination to it. The accumulation of evil means suffering. 117

  If a man has done good, let him keep on doing it. Let him create an
  inclination to it. The accumulation of good means happiness. 118

		-- John Richard
%
  An evil man encounters good so long as his evil behaviour does not bear
  fruit, but when his evil behaviour bears fruit, then the evil man
  encounters the evil consequences. 119

  An good man encounters evil so long as his good behaviour does not bear
  fruit, but when his good behaviour bears fruit, then the good man
  encounters the good consequences. 120

		-- John Richard
%
  Do not think lightly of evil that not the least consequence will come of
  it. A whole waterpot will fill up from dripping drops of water. A fool
  fills himself with evil, just a little at a time. 121

  Do not think lightly of good that not the least consequence will come of
  it. A whole waterpot will fill up from dripping drops of water. A wise
  man fills himself with good, just a little at a time. 122

		-- John Richard
%
  One should avoid evil like a merchant with much goods and only a small
  escort avoids a dangerous road, and like a man who loves life avoids
  poison. 123

  If there is no wound on one's hand, one can handle poison. Poison has no
  effect where there is no wound. There is no evil for the non-doer. 124

		-- John Richard
%
  Whoever does harm to an innocent man, a pure man and a faultless one,
  the evil comes back on that fool, like fine dust thrown into the wind.
  125

		-- John Richard
%
  Some are reborn in a human womb, evil-doers go to hell, the good go to
  heaven, and those without inflowing thoughts achieve final liberation.
  126

		-- John Richard
%
  Not in the sky, nor in the depths of the sea, nor hiding in the cleft of
  the rocks, there is no place on earth where one can take one's stand to
  escape from an evil deed. 127

  Not in the sky, nor in the depths of the sea, nor hiding in the cleft of
  the rocks, there is no place on earth where one can take one's stand to
  not be overcome by death. 128

		-- John Richard
%
  All fear violence, all are afraid of death. Seeing the similarity to
  oneself, one should not use violence or have it used. 129

  All fear violence, life is dear to all. Seeing the similarity to
  oneself, one should not use violence or have it used. 130

		-- John Richard
%
  He who does violence to creatures seeking happiness like himself does
  not find happiness after death. 131

  He who does no violence to creatures seeking happiness like himself does
  find happiness after death. 132

		-- John Richard
%
  Don't speak harshly to anyone. If you do people will speak to you in the
  same way. Harsh words are painful and their retaliation will hurt you.
  133

		-- John Richard
%
  If you don't disturb yourself, like a broken gong does not vibrate, then
  you have achieved nirvana. Irritability no longer exists for you. 134

		-- John Richard
%
  Like a cowherd driving cows off to the fields, so old age and death take
  away the years from the living. 135

		-- John Richard
%
  Even when he is doing evil, the fool does not realise it. The idiot is
  punished by his own deeds, like one is scorched by fire. 136

		-- John Richard
%
  He who does violence to the peaceful and harmless soon encounters one of
  ten things - He may experience cruel pain, disaster, physical injury,
  severe illness, or insanity, or else trouble with the authorities, grave
  accusation, bereavement, or loss of property, or else destruction of his
  house by fire, and on the death of his body the fool goes to hell.
  137, 138, 139, 140

		-- John Richard
%
  Neither naked asceticism, matted hair, dirt, fasting, sleeping on the
  ground, dust and mud, nor prolonged sitting on one's heels can purify a
  man who is not free of doubts. 141

  Even if richly dressed, when a man behaves even-mindedly and is at
  peace, restrained and established in the right way, chaste and
  renouncing violence to all forms of life, then he is a brahmin, he is a
  holy man, he is a bhikkhu (true Buddhist monk). 142

		-- John Richard
%
  Where is that man in the world who is so restrained by shame that he
  avoids laziness like a thoroughbred horse avoids the whip? 143

		-- John Richard
%
  Like a thoroughbred horse touched by the whip, be strenuous and
  determined. Then you will be able to rid yourself of this great
  suffering by means of faith, morality, energetic behaviour, stillness of
  mind and reflection on the teaching, after you have become full of
  wisdom, good habits and recollection. 144

		-- John Richard
%
  Navvies channel water, fletchers fashion arrows, and carpenters work on
  wood, but the good disciple themselves. 145

		-- John Richard
%
  What is this laughter, what is this delight, forever burning (with
  desires) as you are? Enveloped in darkness as you are, will you not look
  for a lamp? 146

		-- John Richard
%
  Look at the decorated puppet, a mass of wounds and of composite parts,
  full of disease and always in need of attention. It has no enduring
  stability. 147

		-- John Richard
%
  This body is worn out with age, a nest of diseases and falling apart.
  The mass of corruption disintegrates, and death is the end of life. 148

		-- John Richard
%
  When these grey bones are cast aside like gourds in autumn, what
  pleasure will there be in looking at them? 149

		-- John Richard
%
  It is a city built of bones, and daubed with flesh and blood, in which
  old age and death, pride and hypocrisy are the inhabitants. 150

		-- John Richard
%
  Even kings' splendid carriages wear out, and the body is certain bound
  to grow old, but the Truth found by the saints is not subject to aging.
  That is what the saints themselves proclaim. 151

		-- John Richard
%
  An ignorant man ages like an ox. His flesh may increase, but not his
  understanding. 152

		-- John Richard
%
  I have passed in ignorance through a cycle of many rebirths, seeking the
  builder of the house. Continuous rebirth is a painful thing. But now,
  housebuilder, I have found you out. You will not build me a house again.
  All your rafters are broken, your ridge-pole shattered. My mind is free
  from active thought, and has made an end of craving. 153, 154

		-- John Richard
%
  Those who have not lived the holy life, and have not acquired wealth in
  their youth, grow old like withered cranes beside a fishless pool. 155

		-- John Richard
%
  Those who have not lived the holy life, and have not acquired wealth in
  their youth, lie like spent arrows, grieving for times past. 156

		-- John Richard
%
  Knowing that one is dear to oneself, one should guard oneself well. For
  one out of the three watches of the night a wise man should keep watch.
  157

		-- John Richard
%
  First he should establish himself in what is right. Then if he teaches
  others, the wise man will not be corrupted. 158

		-- John Richard
%
  If one would only apply to oneself what one teaches others, when one was
  well disciplined oneself one could train others. It is oneself who is
  hard to train. 159

		-- John Richard
%
  One is one's own guardian. What other guardian could one have? With
  oneself well disciplined one obtains a rare guardian indeed. 160

		-- John Richard
%
  The evil he has done himself and which had its origin and being in
  himself breaks a fool, like a diamond breaks a precious stone. 161

		-- John Richard
%
  A man of great immorality is like a creeper, suffocating the tree it is
  on. He does to himself just what an enemy would wish him. 162

		-- John Richard
%
  Things which are wrong and to one's own disadvantage are easily enough
  done, while what is both good and advantageous is extremely hard to do.
  163

		-- John Richard
%
  The fool, who out of attachment to a wrong view speaks ill of the
  religion of the enlightened and noble ones who live according to truth,
  brings forth fruit to his own downfall, like the offspring of the
  bamboo. 164

		-- John Richard
%
  By oneself one does evil. By oneself one is defiled. By oneself one
  abstains from evil. By oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity are
  personal matters. No one can purify someone else. 165

		-- John Richard
%
  One should not neglect one's own welfare for that of someone else,
  however great. When one has understood what one's own welfare really
  consists of, one should apply oneself to that welfare. 166

		-- John Richard
%
  Don't practice an ignoble way of life, don't indulge in a careless
  attitude. Don't follow a wrong view, and don't be attached to the world.
  167

		-- John Richard
%
  Wake up and don't be careless, but lead a life of well-doing. He who
  follows righteousness lives happily in this world and the next. 168

		-- John Richard
%
  Lead a life of righteousness, and not a life of wrong-doing. He who
  follows righteousness lives happily in this world and the next. 169

		-- John Richard
%
  Look on the world as a bubble, look on it as a mirage. The King of Death
  never finds him who views the world like that. 170

		-- John Richard
%
  Come, look at the world as a gilded royal carriage, in which fools get
  bogged down, while men of understanding have no attachment to it. 171

		-- John Richard
%
  Even if previously careless, when a man later stops being careless, he
  illuminates the world, like the moon breaking away from a cloud. 172

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man's bad deeds are covered over by good ones, he illuminates the
  world, like the moon breaking away from a cloud. 173

		-- John Richard
%
  Blinded indeed is this world. Few are those who see the truth. Like a
  bird breaking out of the net, few are those who go to heaven. 174

		-- John Richard
%
  Wild swans take the path of the sun. Men with powers travel through
  space, but the wise step right out of the world, by conquering Mara and
  his host. 175

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man has already violated one rule, when he is a liar and rejects
  the idea of a future world, there is no evil he is not capable of. 176

		-- John Richard
%
  Miserly people certainly do not go to heaven. Fools for sure do not
  praise generosity, but the wise man who takes pleasure in giving is
  thereby happy hereafter. 177

		-- John Richard
%
  Better than being sole king of the whole earth, better than going to
  heaven or sovereignty over the whole universe is the fruit of becoming a
  stream-winner. 178

		-- John Richard
%
  He whose victory is not relost, and whose victory no-one in the world
  can take away, that Buddha, whose home is in the infinite, pathless as
  he is, by what path will you lead him? 179

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has no entrapping, clinging desire to lead him in any direction,
  that Buddha, whose home is in the infinite, pathless as he is, by what
  path will you lead him? 180

		-- John Richard
%
  Those wise men, who are much given to meditation and find pleasure in
  the peace of a spiritual way of life, even the devas envy them perfect
  Buddhas and recollected as they are. 181

		-- John Richard
%
  A human birth is hard to achieve. Difficult is the life of mortals. To
  hear the true teaching is difficult, and the achievement of Buddhahood
  is difficult. 182

		-- John Richard
%
  To abstain from all evil, the practice of good, and the thorough
  purification of one's mind - this is the teaching of the Buddhas. 183

		-- John Richard
%
  Long-suffering patience is the supreme ascetic practice. Nirvana is
  supreme, say the Buddhas. He is certainly not an ascetic who hurts
  others, and nor is he a man of religion who causes suffering to others.
  184

		-- John Richard
%
  Not to speak harshly and not to harm others, self restraint in
  accordance with the rules of the Order, moderation in food, a secluded
  dwelling, and the cultivation of the higher levels of consciousness -
  this is the teaching of the Buddhas. 185

		-- John Richard
%
  There is no satisfying the senses, not even with a shower of money. "The
  senses are of slight pleasure and really suffering." When a wise man has
  realised this, he takes no pleasure, as a disciple of the Buddhas, even
  in the pleasures of heaven. Instead he takes pleasure in the elimination
  of craving. 186, 187

		-- John Richard
%
  Driven by fear, men take to many a refuge, in mountains, forests, parks,
  sacred groves and shrines, but these are not a secure kind of refuge. By
  taking to this sort of refuge one is not released from suffering. He who
  has gone to Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha for refuge, though, and who with
  true wisdom understands the Four Noble Truths of Suffering, the Origin
  of Suffering, the End of Suffering and the Noble Eightfold Path, leading
  to the Elimination of Suffering, this is a secure refuge, this is the
  ultimate refuge; by taking to this refuge one is indeed released from
  all suffering. 188, 189, 190, 191, 192

		-- John Richard
%
  A truly thoroughbred man (a Buddha) is hard to find. He is not born
  anywhere, but where that seer is born, the people prosper. 193

		-- John Richard
%
  Happy is the attainment of Buddhahood, happy the teaching of the true
  Teaching, happy is the concord of the Sangha, happy the training of
  those in concord. 194

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man venerates those worthy of veneration, be they Buddhas or
  their disciples, who have transcended all obstacles and passed beyond
  sorrow and tears - venerating such as these, whose passions are
  extinguished and for whom there is no further source for fear, no one
  can calculate how great his merit is. 195, 196

		-- John Richard
%
  Happy indeed we live who are free from hatred among those who still
  hate. In the midst of hate-filled men, we live free from hatred. 197

		-- John Richard
%
  Happy indeed we live who are free from disease among those still
  diseased. In the midst of diseased men, we live free from disease. 198

		-- John Richard
%
  Happy indeed we live who are free from worry among those who are still
  worried. In the midst of worried men, we live free from worry. 199

		-- John Richard
%
  Happy indeed we live who have nothing of our own. We shall feed on joy,
  just like the radiant devas. 200

		-- John Richard
%
  A victor only breeds hatred, while a defeated man lives in misery, but a
  man at peace within lives happily, abandoning up ideas of victory and
  defeat. 201

		-- John Richard
%
  There is no fire like desire. There is no weakness like anger. There is
  no suffering like the khandhas. There is no happiness greater than
  peace. 202

		-- John Richard
%
  Hunger is the supreme disease. Mental activity is the supreme suffering.
  When one has grasped this as it really is, nirvana is the supreme
  happiness. 203

  Health is the supreme possession. Contentment is the supreme wealth. A
  trustworthy friend is the supreme relation. Nirvana is the supreme
  happiness. 204

		-- John Richard
%
  After enjoying the taste of solitude and the taste of peace, one is
  freed from distress and evil, as one enjoys the taste of spiritual joy.
  205

		-- John Richard
%
  It is good to meet with the saints. Living with them is always sweet. By
  not meeting fools one can be happy all the time. 206

  A man who keeps company with a fool, will suffer for it a long time. It
  is always painful to live with fools, like with an enemy, but a wise man
  is good to live with, like meeting up with relatives. 207

		-- John Richard
%
  Therefore, if he is a man of understanding and penetration, learned and
  habitually moral, devout and noble, one should cultivate the company of
  that just and wise man, in the same way as the moon keeps to a path
  among the stars. 208

		-- John Richard
%
  He who applies himself to what is not really an appropriate subject for
  application, and fails to apply himself to what is, missing the real
  purpose to grasp after what appeals to him, may well envy the man who
  does apply himself. 209

		-- John Richard
%
  Never have anything to do with likes and dislikes. The absence of what
  one likes is painful, as is the presence of what one dislikes. 210

  Therefore don't take a liking to anything. To lose what one likes is
  hard, but there are no bonds for those who have no likes and dislikes.
  211

		-- John Richard
%
  From preference arises sorrow, from preference arises fear, but he who
  is freed from preference has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 212

		-- John Richard
%
  From affection arises sorrow, from affection arises fear, but he who is
  freed from affection has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 213

		-- John Richard
%
  From pleasure arises sorrow, from pleasure arises fear, but he who is
  freed from pleasure has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 214

		-- John Richard
%
  From sensuality arises sorrow, from sensuality arises fear, but he who
  is freed from sensuality has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 215

		-- John Richard
%
  From craving arises sorrow, from craving arises fear, but he who is
  freed from craving has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 216

		-- John Richard
%
  Well may people hold dear the man who is endowed with morality and
  insight, who is well established in righteousness, a seer of the truth,
  and applying himself to his own business. 217

		-- John Richard
%
  He whose longing has been aroused for the indescribable, whose mind has
  been quickened by it, and whose thought is not attached to sensuality is
  truly called one who is bound upstream. 218

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man who has been away a long time at last comes home safely from
  far away, his family, friends and acquaintances rejoice to see him back.
  In the same way, when a man who has done good goes from this world to
  the next, his good deeds receive him like relations welcoming a loved
  one back again. 219, 220

		-- John Richard
%
  Abandon anger, give up pride, and overcome all fetters. Suffering does
  nor befall him who is without attachment to names and forms, and
  possesses nothing of his own. 221

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man governs his rising anger like a chariot going out of control,
  that is what I call a charioteer. The rest are just holding the reins.
  222

		-- John Richard
%
  Overcome anger with freedom from anger. Overcome evil with good.
  Overcome meanness with generosity, and overcome a liar with
  truthfulness. 223

		-- John Richard
%
  Speak the truth, don't get angry, and always give, even if only a
  little, when you are asked. By these three principles you can come into
  the company of the devas. 224

		-- John Richard
%
  Those sages who do harm to no-one, and who are always physically
  restrained, go to the everlasting abode, reaching which they will face
  no more suffering. 225

		-- John Richard
%
  Inflowing thoughts come to an end in those who are ever alert of mind,
  training themselves night and day, and ever intent on nirvana. 226

		-- John Richard
%
  It was so of old, Atula. It is not just so today. They criticise him who
  sits in silence, they criticise him who talks a lot. They even criticise
  him who speaks in moderation. There is not a man in the world who is not
  criticised. 227

		-- John Richard
%
  There never has been, there never will be, and there is not now any man
  exclusively criticised or exclusively praised. 228

		-- John Richard
%
  If a wise man of unblemished behaviour and endowed with wisdom, morality
  and stillness of mind, is praised by the discriminating after day in day
  out acquaintance with him, like a pure gold coin, then who is fit to
  find fault with him? Even the King of the devas praises him. 229, 230

		-- John Richard
%
  Guard against physical unruliness. Be restrained in body. Abandoning
  physical wrong doing, lead a life of physical well doing. 231

		-- John Richard
%
  Guard against mental unruliness. Be restrained in mind. Abandoning
  mental wrong doing, lead a life of mental well doing. 232

		-- John Richard
%
  Guard against verbal unruliness. Be restrained in speech. Abandoning
  verbal wrong doing, lead a life of verbal well doing. 233

		-- John Richard
%
  The wise who are restrained in body, speech and mind - such are the well
  and truly restrained. 234

		-- John Richard
%
  You are now like a withered leaf. Death's messengers themselves are in
  your presence. You are standing in the jaws of your departure, and
  provisions for the road you have none. 235

  In such a case, build yourself an island. Make the effort quickly and
  become a wise man. Cleansed of your faults and now without blemish, you
  will go to the heavenly land of the saints. 236

		-- John Richard
%
  You are now at your life's conclusion. You are in the presence of the
  King of Death. There is no stopping off place on the way, and provisions
  for the road you have none. 237

  In such a case, build yourself an island. Make the effort quickly and
  become a wise man. Cleansed of your faults and now without blemish, you
  will come no more to birth and aging. 238

		-- John Richard
%
  Little by little, moment by moment, a wise man should cleanse himself of
  blemishes, like a smith purifying silver. 239

		-- John Richard
%
  Just as the rust which develops on iron, derives from it but then
  proceeds to eat it away, so a person of unrestrained behaviour is drawn
  to hell by his own actions. 240

		-- John Richard
%
  Lack of repetition is the blight of scriptures. Lack of repairs is the
  blight of buildings. The blight of beauty is laziness, and carelessness
  is the blight of a guard. 241

		-- John Richard
%
  The blight of a woman is misconduct. The blight of a giver is meanness.
  Bad mental states are indeed blights in this world and the next. 242

		-- John Richard
%
  But the supreme blight, ignorance, is the blight of blights. Destroying
  this blight, be free of blights, bhikkhus. 243

		-- John Richard
%
  Life is easy enough for the shameless, the crow-hero type of man,
  offensive, swaggering, impudent and depraved. But it is hard for the man
  of conscience, always striving after purity, alert, reserved, pure of
  behaviour and discerning. 244, 245

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man takes life, tells lies, takes what he is not entitled to in
  the world, resorts to other men's wives and indulges in drinking wine
  and spirits - such a man is digging up his own roots here and now in
  this world. 246, 247

  So understand this, my man - Unrestrained men are evil. Don't let greed
  and wrong doing subject you to lasting suffering. 248

		-- John Richard
%
  People give according to their faith, or as they feel well disposed. If
  one is put out for that reason with other people's food and drink, then
  one will not achieve stillness of mind in meditation, day or night. But
  he who has destroyed that sort of reaction, has rooted it out and done
  away with it - he will achieve stillness of mind in meditation, day and
  night. 249, 250

		-- John Richard
%
  There is no fire like desire. There is no hold like anger. There is no
  net like ignorance. There is no river like craving. 251

		-- John Richard
%
  Other people's faults are easily seen. One can winnow out other people's
  faults like chaff. One hides one's own faults though, like a dishonest
  gambler hides an unlucky throw. 252

		-- John Richard
%
  When one notices the mistakes of others and is always finding fault with
  them, the inflow of one's thoughts just increases and one is a long way
  from the cessation of this influx. 253

		-- John Richard
%
  Just as there is no path in the sky, there is no man of religion
  outside. Other people take pleasure in multiplicity, but the Buddhas are
  free from it. 254

		-- John Richard
%
  Just as there is no path in the sky, there is no man of religion
  outside. There are no lasting functions of the mind, but there is no
  oscillation of mind for the Buddhas. 255

		-- John Richard
%
  One is not righteous if one decides a case without due consideration,
  but the wise man who takes into account both for and against, and comes
  to his decision about others with due consideration - such a man of
  discrimination who keeps to the truth, he is to be called righteous.
  256, 257

		-- John Richard
%
  One is not a learned man by virtue of much speaking. He who is patient,
  without anger and fearless, he is to be called learned. 258

		-- John Richard
%
  One is not a bearer of the teaching by virtue of much speaking, but he
  who, even if he has only studied a little, has experienced the truth in
  person, he is indeed a bearer of the teaching, who has not forgotten the
  teaching. 259

		-- John Richard
%
  One is not an elder by virtue of having white hair. One is just advanced
  in years, and called "grown old in vain". He in whom there is
  truthfulness, non violence, restraint and self control, however - that
  wise and faultless sage is to be called an elder. 260, 261

		-- John Richard
%
  It is not just by fine speech or by flower-like beauty that one is
  admirable, if one is envious, mean and deceitful, but when that sort of
  behaviour has been eliminated, rooted out and destroyed, that faultless
  sage is said to be admirable. 262, 263

		-- John Richard
%
  A shaven head does not make one a man of religion, if one is irreligious
  and untruthful. How could a man full of desires and greed be a man of
  religion? But when a man has put aside all evil deeds, both great and
  small, by that putting away of evil deeds he is indeed called a man of
  religion. 264, 265

		-- John Richard
%
  One is not a bhikkhu by virtue of taking alms from others. By taking up
  any old teaching, one is not a bhikkhu on that account. But he who has
  here and now ejected both good and evil, and in leading the holy life
  lives in accordance with reason - he is indeed called a bhikkhu. 
  266, 267

		-- John Richard
%
  Silence does not make a sage if he is stupid and ignorant, but when a
  man avoids evil as if he were choosing something of value on the scales
  - he is a sage. That indeed makes him a sage. He who discriminates in
  both worlds is for that reason called a sage. 268, 269

		-- John Richard
%
  One is not noble if one harms other living creatures. It is by non
  violence to all forms of life that one is called noble. 270

		-- John Richard
%
  It is not just by means of morality and religious observances, not by
  great learning nor by attainments in meditation, nor by living alone,
  nor by thinking,"I am enjoying a spiritual happiness which ordinary
  people do not know" that a bhikkhu achieves peace if he has not achieved
  the elimination of inflowing thoughts. 271, 272

		-- John Richard
%
  Of paths the Eightfold one is best, and of truths the Fourfold.
  Dispassion is the best of mental states, and of human beings the best is
  the seer. 273

		-- John Richard
%
  This indeed is the Way - there is no other - for the  purification of
  one's vision. Follow this way. It leads to Mara's confusion. 274

		-- John Richard
%
  Following this Path you will put an end to suffering. I have taught you
  the Way after realising the removal of the arrow myself. 275

		-- John Richard
%
  Making the effort is your affair. The Buddhas have pointed out the Way.
  Those who are on the way and practising meditation will be freed from
  Mara's bonds. 276

		-- John Richard
%
  All processes are impermanent. When one sees this with understanding,
  then one is disillusioned with the things of suffering. This is the Path
  of Purification. 277

		-- John Richard
%
  All processes are painful. When one sees this with understanding, then
  one is disillusioned with the things of suffering. This is the Path of
  Purification. 278

		-- John Richard
%
  All processes are out of my control. When one sees this with
  understanding, then one is disillusioned with the things of suffering.
  This is the Path of Purification. 279

		-- John Richard
%
  Since he will not exert himself at the time for exertion, and although
  young and strong is full of indolence and irresolution and idleness, the
  lazy man is incapable of recognising the way of wisdom. 280

		-- John Richard
%
  Be guarded in speech, restrained of mind and not doing anything wrong
  physically. Perfect these three forms of action, and fulfil the way
  taught by the sages. 281

		-- John Richard
%
  From meditation springs wisdom. From lack of meditation, loss of wisdom.
  Recognising these alternative roads of progress and decline, one should
  so direct oneself so that one's wisdom will increase. 282

		-- John Richard
%
  Cut down the forest, not just a tree. Out of the forest of desire
  springs danger. By cutting down both the forest of desire and the
  brushwood of longing, be rid of the forest (pun on the word "nirvana"),
  bhikkhus. 283

		-- John Richard
%
  So long as the least desire of a man for women has not been eradicated,
  he is fettered in mind, like a sucking calf to its mother. 284

		-- John Richard
%
  Pluck out your desire, like one does an autumn lotus with one's hand.
  Devote yourself to the path of peace, the nirvana proclaimed by the
  Blessed One. 285

		-- John Richard
%
  "Here I will spend the rainy season, and here the hot season." This is
  the way a fool thinks. It does not occur to him what may happen in
  between. 286

		-- John Richard
%
  Death comes and snatches away the man infatuated with children and
  livestock, while his mind is still full of desire, like a great flood
  sweeping away a sleeping village. 287

		-- John Richard
%
  There are no children to take refuge in them, no father or any other
  relative. When a man is seized by that terminator, Death, there is no
  taking refuge in family. 288

  When he has seen the implications of this, a wise man, restrained by
  morality, should quickly develop the path leading to nirvana. 289

		-- John Richard
%
  If he sees that by sacrificing a slight happiness he can obtain a
  greater happiness, then a wise man should sacrifice the lesser happiness
  with a view to the greater happiness. 290

		-- John Richard
%
  He who seeks his own happiness by inflicting suffering on others, does
  not reach freedom from hatred, caught as he is in the toils of hatred.
  291

		-- John Richard
%
  What IS their affair is put aside. What is NOT their affair gets done.
  The inflow of thoughts in such brazen and careless people just goes on
  increasing. They whose recollection of the body is always well
  established, however, have nothing to do with what is not their affair,
  always persevering in what IS their affair. The inflow of thoughts in
  such recollected and aware people simply dies away. 292, 293

		-- John Richard
%
  After killing mother (desire), father ("I am" conceit) and two warrior
  kings, and destroying the kingdom along with its subjects, the brahmin
  goes on his way unperturbed. 294

  After killing mother, father and two priestly kings, and killed a tiger
  as his fifth victim, the brahmin goes on his way unperturbed. 295

		-- John Richard
%
  A good awakening have ever Gotama's disciples, whose recollection is
  always established, day and night on the Buddha. 296

		-- John Richard
%
  A good awakening have ever Gotama's disciples, whose recollection is
  always established, day and night on the Teaching. 297

		-- John Richard
%
  A good awakening have ever Gotama's disciples, whose recollection is
  always established, day and night on the Order. 298

		-- John Richard
%
  A good awakening have ever Gotama's disciples, whose recollection is
  always established, day and night on the body. 299

		-- John Richard
%
  A good awakening have ever Gotama's disciples, whose minds are always
  rejoicing in non violence. 300

		-- John Richard
%
  A good awakening have ever Gotama's disciples, whose minds are always
  rejoicing in the practice of meditation. 301

		-- John Richard
%
  It is hard to take up a life of renunciation, and difficult to find
  satisfaction in it, but it is also difficult to live in bad households,
  and painful to live with people unlike oneself, when one is forever
  tangled in suffering and restless. Therefore don't always be restless,
  and don't let yourself be tangled in suffering. 302

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man has faith, is endowed with virtue, and possessed of fame and
  wealth, wherever he lives he will be honoured. 303

		-- John Richard
%
  The good are conspicuous a long way off, like a Himalayan peak, while
  the bad are just not noticed, like arrows shot into the dark. 304

		-- John Richard
%
  Living alone, sleeping alone, travelling alone, and resolute, alone and
  self disciplined, should take pleasure in living in the forest. 305

		-- John Richard
%
  He who speaks untruth goes to hell, as does he who, having done
  something, says, "I didn't do it." Men of ignoble behaviour, they both
  end up the same in the next world. 306

		-- John Richard
%
  Many of those dressed in the yellow robe are evil and unrestrained, and
  the evil end up in hell because of their evil deeds. 307

		-- John Richard
%
  It is better to swallow a red-hot, flaming iron ball than for an
  unrestrained and immoral person to eat the alms food of the land. 308

		-- John Richard
%
  The thoughtless man who consorts with another man's wife encounters four
  things - accumulation of demerit, disturbed sleep, thirdly disgrace, and
  hell fourth. 309

		-- John Richard
%
  Accumulation of demerit, a bad rebirth and the slight pleasure of a
  frightened man and a frightened woman - while the authorities impose a
  severe penalty too. Therefore a man should not consort with another
  man's wife. 310

		-- John Richard
%
  In the same way that a wrongly handled blade of grass will cut one's
  hand, so a badly fulfilled life in religion will drag one down to hell.
  311

		-- John Richard
%
  Lax behaviour, broken observances and dubious chastity - these are of no
  great benefit. 312

		-- John Richard
%
  If it ought to be done, then do it; apply yourself to it strenuously. A
  lax man of religion just spreads even more dust. 313

		-- John Richard
%
  A bad action is best left undone. One is punished later for a bad
  action. But a good deed is best done, for which one will not be punished
  for doing it. 314

		-- John Richard
%
  Guard yourself like a frontier town, guarded inside and out. Don't let a
  moment slip you by. Those who have missed their opportunity grieve for
  it when they end up in hell. 315

		-- John Richard
%
  Ashamed of what is not a matter for shame, and not ashamed of what is,
  by holding to wrong views people go to a bad rebirth. 316

		-- John Richard
%
  Seeing danger where there is no danger, and not seeing danger where
  there is, by holding to wrong views people go to a bad rebirth. 317

		-- John Richard
%
  Seeing a fault in what is not a fault, and not seeing a fault in what
  is, by holding to wrong views people go to a bad rebirth. 318

  Recognising a fault as a fault, and what is not a fault as not one, by
  holding to right views people go to a good rebirth. 319

		-- John Richard
%
  I will bear criticism like an elephant in battle bears an arrow from a
  bow. Most people are bad behaviour. 320

		-- John Richard
%
  One can take a trained elephant even into a crowd. The king himself will
  ride a trained elephant. He who is disciplined is the best of men, since
  he can bear criticism. 321

		-- John Richard
%
  Trained mules are excellent, and so are thoroughbred horses from the
  Sindh, and so are great battle elephants, but more excellent than them
  all is a disciplined man. 322

		-- John Richard
%
  There is no reaching the unattainable with mounts like these, but with
  himself well under control a disciplined man can get there. 323

		-- John Richard
%
  Dhammapalo, the elephant, is hard to control in rut. Even when tied up,
  he refuses his food. The great tusker is thinking of the elephant
  forest. 324

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man is a lie-abed and over-eats, a lazy person who wallows in
  sleep like a great over-fed hog, a fool like that will be reborn time
  after time. 325

		-- John Richard
%
  My mind used formerly to go off wandering wherever it felt like,
  following its own inclination, but today I shall control it carefully,
  like a mahout does a rutting elephant. 326

		-- John Richard
%
  Take pleasure in being careful. Guard your mind well. Extricate yourself
  from the mire, like a great tusker sunk in the mud. 327

		-- John Richard
%
  If you find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person
  going the same way as yourself, then go along with him, overcoming all
  dangers, pleased at heart and mindful. 328

  But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved
  person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a
  king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the
  deep forest. 329

		-- John Richard
%
  It is better to travel alone. There is no companionship with a fool. Go
  on your way alone and commit no evil, without cares like a great
  elephant in the deep forest. 330

  It is good to have companions when occasion arises, and it is good to be
  contented with whatever comes. Merit is good at the close of life, and
  the elimination of all suffering is good. 331

		-- John Richard
%
  Good is filial devotion to one's mother in the world, and devotion to
  one's father is good. It is good to be a sanyasi in the world and to be
  a brahmin too. 332

		-- John Richard
%
  Good is good behaviour up to old age, good is firmly established faith,
  good is the acquisition of understanding, and abstention from evil is
  good. 333

		-- John Richard
%
  The desire of a thoughtlessly living man grows like a creeper. He drifts
  from one life to another like a monkey looking for fruit in the forest.
  334

		-- John Richard
%
  When one is overcome by this wretched, clinging desire in the world,
  one's sorrows increase like grass growing up after a lot of rain. 335

  But when one masters this wretched desire, which is so hard to overcome,
  then one's sorrows just drop off, like a drop of water off a lotus. 336

		-- John Richard
%
  This is what I say to you - Good luck be with you, gathered here. Dig up
  the root of craving, as one does a weed for its fragrant root. Don't let
  Mara destroy you again and again, like a stream does its reeds. 337

		-- John Richard
%
  In the same way that even a felled tree will grow again if its root is
  strong and undamaged, so if latent desire has not been rooted out, then
  suffering shoots up again and again. 338

		-- John Richard
%
  When the thirty six pleasure-bound streams of craving are strong in a
  man, then numerous desire-based thoughts pull the deluded man along. 339

		-- John Richard
%
  The streams (of craving) flow everywhere, and the creeper hoots up and
  establishes itself, so when you see the creeper shooting up, cut away
  its root with your understanding. 340

		-- John Richard
%
  The recollection and attraction of pleasures occur to a man, and those
  who are attached to the agreeable and seeking enjoyment, they are the
  people subject to birth and aging. 341

		-- John Richard
%
  People beset by desire run here and there, like a snared rabbit, and
  those trapped in the bonds of attachments keep returning for a long time
  to suffering. 342

		-- John Richard
%
  People beset by desire run here and there, like a snared rabbit, so one
  should get rid of one's craving if it is freedom from desire that one
  wants. 343

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man out of the forest of desire is drawn back into the forest,
  then free from the forest as he is, he runs back into it. Look at him -
  free, he is running back to chains. 344

		-- John Richard
%
  The wise say that it is not an iron, wooden or fibre fetter which is a
  strong one, but the besotted hankering after trinkets, children and
  wives, that, say the wise, is the strong fetter. It drags one down, and
  loose as it feels, it is hard to break. Breaking this fetter, people
  renounce the world, free from longing and abandoning sensuality.
  345, 346

		-- John Richard
%
  Those on fire with desire follow the stream of their desires, like a
  spider follows the strands of its self-made web. Breaking the bond, the
  wise walk on free from longing, and leaving all suffering behind. 347

		-- John Richard
%
  Let go the past, let go the future, and let go what is in between,
  transcending the things of time. With your mind free in every direction,
  you will not return to birth and aging. 348

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man is stimulated by his own thoughts, full of desire and
  dwelling on what is attractive, his craving increases even more. He is
  making the fetter even stronger. But he who takes pleasure in stilling
  his thoughts, practising the contemplation of what is repulsive, and
  remaining recollected, now he will make an end of craving, he will snap
  the bonds of Mara. His aim is accomplished, he is without fear, rid of
  craving and without stain. He has removed the arrows of changing
  existence. This is his last body. 349, 350, 351

		-- John Richard
%
  Rid of craving and without clinging, an expert in the study of texts,
  and understanding the right sequence of the words, he may indeed be
  called "In his last body", "Great in wisdom" and a "Great man". 352

		-- John Richard
%
  All-conquering and all-knowing am I. Amidst all states of mind,
  unaffected am I. By abandoning everything, I am liberated by the
  cessation of desire. Having achieved Realisation by myself, who should I
  point to as my teacher? 353

		-- John Richard
%
  The gift of the Truth beats all other gifts. The flavour of the Truth
  beats all other tastes. The joy of the Truth beats all other joys, and
  the cessation of desire conquers all suffering. 354

		-- John Richard
%
  Riches destroy a fool, but not those who are seeking the other shore.
  The fool destroys himself by his craving for riches, as he destroys
  others too. 355

		-- John Richard
%
  Weeds are the blight of fields. Desire is the blight of mankind.
  Consequently offerings to those free from desire are of great fruit. 356

		-- John Richard
%
  Weeds are the blight of fields. Anger is the blight of mankind.
  Consequently offerings to those free from anger are of great fruit. 357

		-- John Richard
%
  Weeds are the blight of fields. Delusion is the blight of mankind.
  Consequently offerings to those free from delusion are of great fruit.
  358

		-- John Richard
%
  Weeds are the blight of fields. Self-seeking is the blight of mankind.
  Consequently offerings to those free from self-seeking are of great
  fruit. 359

		-- John Richard
%
  Restraint of the eyes is good. So is restraint of the ears. Restraint of
  the nose is good, and so is restraint of the palate. 360

		-- John Richard
%
  Restraint of the body is good. So is restraint of speech. Restraint of
  mind is good, and so is restraint in everything. The bhikkhu who is
  restrained in everything, is freed from all suffering. 361

		-- John Richard
%
  Restrained of hand, restrained of foot, restrained of speech and
  restrained in his highest faculty, with his joy turned inwards, his mind
  still, alone and contented - that is what they call a bhikkhu. 362

		-- John Richard
%
  When a bhikkhu is restrained of tongue, quotes wise sayings, and is
  peaceful, expounding both letter and spirit - his speech is good to
  hear. 363

		-- John Richard
%
  With joy in the Teaching, delighting in the Teaching, and pondering over
  the Teaching, the bhikkhu who remembers the Teaching does not fall away
  from the Teaching. 364

		-- John Richard
%
  One should not underestimate what one has got, and one should not live
  envying others. A bhikkhu who envies others does not achieve stillness
  of mind in meditation. 365

		-- John Richard
%
  Even if he has only received a little, if a bhikkhu does not look down
  on what he has received, even the devas praise him, pure of life and
  determined as he is. 366

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man is without self-identification with any object or idea, and
  does not grieve for what does not exist - that is what is called a
  bhikkhu. 367

		-- John Richard
%
  The bhikkhu who lives full of goodwill, with faith in the religion of
  the Buddha - he will reach the place of peace, the satisfaction of
  stilling the functions of the mind. 368

		-- John Richard
%
  Empty the boat, bhikkhu. Empty it will sail lightly for you. When you
  have cut away desire and aversion, you will come to nirvana as a result.
  369

		-- John Richard
%
  Cut away the five (lower fetters), abandon the five (remaining fetters),
  and then develop the five (faculties). The bhikkhu who has transcended
  the five fetters is said to be "crossed over the flood". 370

		-- John Richard
%
  Meditate, bhikkhu, don't be careless, don't let your mind take pleasure
  in the senses. Don't have to swallow the iron ball for being careless.
  Don't have to cry out, "This is terrible" as you burn. 371

		-- John Richard
%
  There is no meditation without wisdom, and there is no wisdom without
  meditation. When a man has both meditation and wisdom, he is indeed
  close to nirvana. 372

		-- John Richard
%
  When he has gone off to a lonely building, the bhikkhu whose mind is at
  peace experiences a more than human joy, when he recognises the supreme
  Truth. 373

		-- John Richard
%
  Whenever he meditates on the rise and fall of the constituent elements
  of existence, he experiences joy and rapture. It is immortality for men
  of discrimination. 374

		-- John Richard
%
  Therefore in this religion, this is what comes first for a wise bhikkhu
  - guarding of the senses, contentment, and discipline in accordance with
  the rules of the Order. He should cultivate friends of good character,
  of pure behaviour and resolute. He should be friendly in his manner, and
  well-behaved. As a result he will experience great joy, and put an end
  to suffering. 375, 376

		-- John Richard
%
  In the same way that the jasmine drops its withered flowers, you too
  should discard desire and aversion, bhikkhus. 377

		-- John Richard
%
  Peaceful of body, peaceful of speech and with his mind thoroughly
  stilled, the bhikkhu who has rid himself of attachment to the world - is
  called "at peace". 378

		-- John Richard
%
  You should encourage yourself, yourself. You should restrain yourself,
  yourself. When you are self-protected like that, you will live happily
  as a bhikkhu. 379

		-- John Richard
%
  One is one's own guard. What other guard could one have? One is one's
  own destiny. Therefore one should train oneself, like a merchant does a
  thoroughbred horse. 380

		-- John Richard
%
  The bhikkhu who experiences great joy, and has faith in the religion of
  the Buddha, will attain the place of peace, the satisfaction of stilling
  the functions of the mind. 381

		-- John Richard
%
  When a bhikkhu applies himself when still young to the religion of the
  Buddha, he illuminates the world, like the moon breaking breaking away
  from a cloud. 382

		-- John Richard
%
  Cut the stream and go across, abandon sensuality, brahmin. When you have
  achieved the stilling of the activities of the mind, you will know the
  unconditioned, brahmin. 383

		-- John Richard
%
  When a brahmin has crossed beyond duality, then all the fetters of such
  a seer come to an end. 384

		-- John Richard
%
  When a man knows no this shore, other shore, or both - such a one, free
  from anxiety, liberated, that is what I call a brahmin. 385

		-- John Richard
%
  Meditating, free from stain, settled in mind, with job accomplished,
  without inflowing thoughts, and having achieved the supreme purpose -
  that is what I call a brahmin. 386

		-- John Richard
%
  By day it is the sun which shines, at night the moon shines forth. A
  warrior shines in his armour, and a brahmin shines in meditation. But at
  all times, by day and by night, the Buddha shines in his glory. 387

		-- John Richard
%
  A brahmin is called so by breaking with evil deeds. It is by pious
  behaviour that a man is called a man of religion, and by casting out
  blemishes one is called one gone forth. 388

		-- John Richard
%
  One should not strike a brahmin, and nor should a brahmin lose his
  temper. Shame on him who strikes a brahmin, and shame on him who loses
  his temper because of it. 389

		-- John Richard
%
  Nothing is better in a brahmin than this - that he restrains his mind
  from pleasurable things. Suffering disappears for him to the same extent
  that he gets rid of thoughts of harming anyone. 390

		-- John Richard
%
  He who does no wrong with body, speech or mind, but is restrained in all
  three spheres - that is what I call a brahmin. 391

		-- John Richard
%
  One should reverently pay homage to the man from whom one has learned
  the Truth, taught by the True Buddha, like a brahmin does to the
  sacrificial fire. 392

		-- John Richard
%
  One is not a brahmin by virtue of matted hair, lineage or caste. When a
  man possesses both Truth and truthfulness, then he is pure, then he is a
  brahmin. 393

		-- John Richard
%
  What use is your matted hair, you fool? What use is your antelope skin?
  You are tangled inside, and you are just making the outside pretty. 394

		-- John Richard
%
  The man who wears robes made from rags off the dust heap, who is gaunt,
  with his sinews standing out all over his body, alone meditating in the
  forest - that is what I call a brahmin. 395

		-- John Richard
%
  I do not call him a brahmin who is so by natural birth from his mother.
  He is just a supercilious person if he still has possessions of his own.
  He who owns nothing of his own, and is without attachment - that is what
  I call a brahmin. 396

		-- John Richard
%
  He who, having cut off all fetters, does not get himself upset, but is
  beyond bonds - that liberated man is what I call a brahmin. 397

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has cut off both bond and strap, halter as well as bridle, who
  has removed the barrier, himself a Buddha - that is what I call a
  brahmin.  398

		-- John Richard
%
  He who endures undisturbed criticism, ill-treatment and bonds, strong in
  patience, and that strength his power - that is what I call a brahmin.
  399

		-- John Richard
%
  Without anger, devout, upright, free from craving, disciplined and in
  his last body - that is what I call a brahmin. 400

		-- John Richard
%
  Like water on a lotus leaf, like a mustard seed on the point of an pin,
  he who is not stuck to the senses - that is what I call a brahmin. 401

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has experienced the end of his suffering here in this life, who
  has set down the burden, freed! - that is what I call a brahmin. 402

		-- John Richard
%
  The sage of profound wisdom, the expert in the right and wrong road, he
  who has achieved the supreme purpose - that is what I call a brahmin.
  403

		-- John Richard
%
  Not intimate with laity or monks, wandering about with no abode, and few
  needs - that is what I call a brahmin. 404

		-- John Richard
%
  Abandoning violence to all living creatures moving or still, he who
  neither kills or causes killing - that is what I call a brahmin. 405

		-- John Richard
%
  Unagitated amongst the agitated, at peace among the violent, without
  clinging among those who cling - that is what I call a brahmin. 406

		-- John Richard
%
  He from whom desire and aversion, conceit and hypocrisy have fallen
  away, like a mustard seed on the point of a pin - that is what I call a
  brahmin. 407

		-- John Richard
%
  He who utters only gentle, instructive and truthful speech, criticising
  no-one - that is what I call a brahmin. 408

		-- John Richard
%
  He who takes nothing in the world that has not been given him, long or
  short, big or small, attractive or that is what I call a brahmin. 409

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has no desires in this world or the next, without longings,
  freed! - that is what I call a brahmin. 410

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has no attachments and has been freed from uncertainty by
  realisation, who has plunged into the deathless - that is what I call a
  brahmin. 411

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has even here and now transcended the fetter of both good and
  evil, who is sorrowless, faultless and pure - that is what I call a
  brahmin. 412

		-- John Richard
%
  The man who is stainless, pure, clear and free from impurities like the
  moon, the search for pleasure extinguished - that is what I call a
  brahmin. 413

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has transcended the treacherous mire of samsara and ignorance,
  who has crossed over, reached the other shore, meditating, motionless of
  mind, free from uncertainty, and who is at peace by not clinging to
  anything - that is what I call a brahmin. 414

		-- John Richard
%
  He who by here and now abandoning sensuality, has gone forth a homeless
  wanderer, the search for pleasure extinguished - that is what I call a
  brahmin. 415

		-- John Richard
%
  He who by here and now abandoning craving, has gone forth a homeless
  wanderer, the search for pleasure extinguished - that is what I call a
  brahmin. 416

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has abandoned human bonds, and transcended those of heaven,
  liberated from all bonds - that is what I call a brahmin. 417

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has abandoned pleasure and displeasure, is cooled off and without
  further fuel, the hero who has conquered all worlds - that is what I
  call a brahmin. 418

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has seen the passing away and rebirth of all beings, free of
  clinging, blessed, awakened - that is what I call a brahmin. 419

		-- John Richard
%
  He whose path devas, spirits and men cannot know, whose inflowing
  thoughts are ended, a saint - that is what I call a brahmin. 420

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has nothing of his own, before, after or in between,
  possessionless and without attachment - that is what I call a brahmin.
  421

		-- John Richard
%
  Bull-like, noble, a hero, a great sage, and a conqueror, he who is
  motionless of mind, washed clean and awakened - that is what I call a
  brahmin. 422

		-- John Richard
%
  He who has known his former lives and can see heaven and hell
  themselves, while he has attained the extinction of rebirth, a seer,
  master of transcendent knowledge, and master of all masteries - that is
  what I call a brahmin. 423

		-- John Richard
