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129
Having empathy for others
one sees that all beings are afraid
of punishment and death.
Knowing this,
one does not attack or cause attack.
130
Having empathy for others
one sees that all beings
love life and fear death.
Knowing this,
one does not attack or cause attack.
131
To harm living beings
who, like us, seek contentment,
is to bring harm to ourselves.
132
To avoid bringing harm to living beings
who, like us, seek contentment,
is to bring happiness to ourselves.
133
Avoid speaking harshly to others;
harsh speech prompts retaliation.
Those hurt by your words may hurt you back.
134
If spoken to harshly,
make yourself as silent as a cracked gong;
non-retaliation is a sign of freedom.
135
Just as a herdsman
drives cattle to pasture,
old age and death
direct living beings.
136
Though while they perform their evil acts
they do not realise what they are doing,
fools suffer the results
of their own actions accordingly,
just as one is burnt when handling fire.
137 - 140
To cause harm to the defenceless
soon brings suffering
to those who attack.
They will reap pain or poverty or loss,
illness, insanity or persecution,
abuse, distress or devastation,
and, alone, after death
they must confront their misdeeds.
141
Neither outer asceticisms,
nor self-humiliation
nor physical deprivation of any kind,
can purify the heart
of one still obscured by doubt.
142
Flamboyant outer appearance
does not in itself constitute
an obstruction to freedom.
Having a heart at peace,
pure, contained,
awake and blameless,
distinguishes a renunciate,
a Wayfarer, a noble being.
143
A well-trained horse
gives no cause for restraint.
Rare are those beings who,
through modesty and discipline,
give no cause for rebuke.
144
Let the dread of endless mediocrity
spur you into great effort,
like a well-trained horse
encouraged by the mere touch of the whip.
Relinquish the burden of endless struggle
with unapologetic confidence,
with purity of action, effort, concentration,
and by conscious and disciplined
commitment to the path.
145
Those who build canals
channel the flow of water.
Arrowsmiths make arrows.
Woodworkers craft wood.
The good tame themselves.
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