6.1
Look upon the man who tells
you your faults
as a revealer of hidden treasure.
Associate with the sage who
sees clearly
and speaks reprovingly.
Only good can come of this.
6.2
The sage counsels, corrects,
deters one from base
behavior.
Seeing good, he is pleasant.
Seeing bad, he is
unpleasant.
6.3
Do not choose vulgar companions.
Do not associate with low
people.
Associate with noble
companions and worthy friends.
6.4
One who drinks deeply of
Dhamma
Rests at ease with a clear
mind.
The sage delights always in
Dhamma –
the great noble Truth.
6.5
Irrigators straighten water.
Fletchers straighten arrows.
Carpenters straighten
lumber.
The sage straightens
himself.
6.6
Like a boulder in the wind,
the sage is not stirred by
praise or blame.
6.7
Like a deep, still lake,
the sage is clear in the
presence of Dhamma.
6.8
The realized man is attached
to nothing.
The wise do not make small
talk for enjoyment.
Sometimes visited by
pleasure,
sometimes visited by pain,
the sage is neither elated
nor depressed.
6.9
Do not for your own or for
another’s sake
crave children, wealth, or
empire.
Do not pursue prosperity at
all costs.
Be virtuous, noble, wise.
6.10
Few in this world cross to
the far shore.
The multitudes scurry back
and forth on the near bank.
6.11
Only those who live Dhamma
cross to the far shore.
It is difficult to break free
of death.
6.12
The sage turns his back on
darkness
and walks in light.
Moving from the familiar to
no place at all,
he lives a solitude few can
enjoy.
6.13
And there he finds bliss.
Free of possessions, free of
desire,
free of all that clouds the
mind.
6.14
One whose mind has been
stilled by Awareness,
who enjoys with indifference
freedom from bondage,
who is pure and radiant in
this realm of dark passion –
such a one, even in mortal
life,
has realized Nirvana.