Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 76–89

6. The Astute

dhp76:1 Regard one who sees your faults

dhp76:2 as a guide to a hidden treasure.

dhp76:3 Stay close to one so intelligent and astute

dhp76:4 who curbs you when you need it.

dhp76:5 Sticking close to such an impartial person,

dhp76:6 things get better, not worse.

dhp77:1 Advise and instruct;

dhp77:2 curb wickedness:

dhp77:3 for you shall be loved by the good,

dhp77:4 and disliked by the bad.

dhp78:1 Don’t mix with bad friends,

dhp78:2 nor with the worst of men.

dhp78:3 Mix with spiritual friends,

dhp78:4 and with the best of men.

dhp79:1 Through joy in the teaching you sleep at ease,

dhp79:2 with clear and confident heart.

dhp79:3 An astute person always delights in the teaching

dhp79:4 proclaimed by the Noble One.

dhp80:1 While irrigators guide water,

dhp80:2 fletchers bend arrows straight,

dhp80:3 and carpenters bend timber straight,

dhp80:4 the astute tame themselves.

dhp81:1 As the wind cannot stir

dhp81:2 a solid mass of rock,

dhp81:3 so too blame and praise

dhp81:4 do not affect the wise.

dhp82:1 Like a deep lake,

dhp82:2 clear and unclouded,

dhp82:3 so clear are the astute

dhp82:4 when they hear the teachings.

dhp83:1 True persons give up everything,

dhp83:2 they don’t cajole for the things they desire.

dhp83:3 Though touched by sadness or happiness,

dhp83:4 the astute appear neither depressed nor elated.

dhp84:1 Never wish for success by unjust means,

dhp84:2 for your own sake or that of another,

dhp84:3 desiring children, wealth, or nation;

dhp84:4 rather, be virtuous, wise, and just.

dhp85:1 Few are those among humans

dhp85:2 who cross to the far shore.

dhp85:3 The rest just run around

dhp85:4 on the near shore.

dhp86:1 When the teaching is well explained,

dhp86:2 the people who practice accordingly

dhp86:3 will cross over

dhp86:4 Death’s dominion so hard to pass.

dhp87:1 Rid of dark qualities,

dhp87:2 an astute person would develop the bright.

dhp87:3 Having left home for homelessness

dhp87:4 in seclusion, where joy is hard,

dhp88:1 they’d long for satisfaction there.

dhp88:2 Forsaking sensual pleasures, owning nothing,

dhp88:3 an astute person would cleanse themselves

dhp88:4 of mental corruptions.

dhp89:1 And those whose minds are rightly developed

dhp89:2 in the awakening factors;

dhp89:3 who, letting go of attachments,

dhp89:4 delight in not grasping:

dhp89:5 with defilements ended, brilliant,

dhp89:6 they are quenched in this world.