the self

"The self". The innermost part of you waiting to be discovered. The part of you which knows more, feels more, sees more, desires more then your ego possibly could. The part of you which speaks when you are involved in soul searching. The intuitive voice that tries to speak at night when you are winding down.

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i was once a lonely nodeshell

Back to The Dhammapada

Chapter Twelve -- The Self

1. If one holds oneself dear, one should
   diligently watch oneself. Let the wise person keep
   vigil during any of the three watches of the night.
   
2. One should first establish oneself in what
   is proper; then only should one instruct others.
   Thus the wise person will not be reproached.
   
3. One should do what one teaches others
   to do; if one would train others, one should be
   well-controlled oneself. Difficult, indeed is
   self-control.
   
4. One truly is the protector of oneself,
   who else could the protector be? With oneself
   fully controlled one gains a mastery
   which is hard to gain.
   
5. The evil a witless person does by oneself,
   born of oneself and produced by oneself, grinds
   one as a diamond grinds a hard gem.
   
6. Just as a jungle creeper strangles the tree
   on which it grows, even so a person who is exceedingly
   depraved harms oneself as an enemy might wish.
   
7. Easy to do are things that are bad and
   harmful to oneself, but exceedingly difficult to
   do are things that are good and beneficial.
   
8. Whoever, on account of perverted views,
   reviles the Teaching of the Arahats, the Noble Ones of righteous life--that fool, like the bamboo,
   produces fruits only for self-destruction.
   
9. By oneself is evil done, by oneself is
   one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone, by
   oneself is one purified. Purity and impurity depend
   on oneself--no one can purify another.
   
10. Let one not neglect one's own welfare for
    the sake of another, however great. Clearly understanding
    one's own welfare, let one be intent upon the good.