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Chapter Sixteen -- Affection
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Giving oneself to things to be shunned
and not exerting oneself where exertion is needed,
seekers after pleasures forsake their own true
welfare and will come to envy those intent
upon their welfare.
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Seek no intimacy with the beloved and
also not with the unloved, for not to see the
beloved and to see the unloved, both are painful.
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Therefore, hold nothing dear, for separation
from the dear is painful. There are no bonds
for those who have nothing beloved or unloved.
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From endearment springs grief, from
endearment springs fear. For those who are
wholly free from endearment there is no grief,
whence then fear?
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From affection springs grief, from affection
springs fear. For those who are wholly free
from affection there is no grief, whence then fear?
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From attachment springs grief, from
attachment springs fear. For those who are wholly
free from attachment there is no grief,
whence then fear?
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From lust springs grief, from lust springs
fear. For those who are wholly free from lust
there is no grief, whence then fear.
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From craving springs grief, from craving
springs fear. For those who are wholly free from
craving there is no grief, whence then fear?
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People hold dear one who embodies
virtue and insight, who is principled, has realized
the Truth, and who oneself does what one ought
to be doing.
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One who is intent upon the Ineffable
(Nibbana) and dwells with mind inspired (by
wisdom), such a person--no more bound by sense
pleasures--is called "One Bound Upstream."
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When, after a long absence, a person safely
returns home from afar, relatives, friends and
well-wishers welcome the person home on arrival.
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As kinspeople welcome a dear one on arrival,
even so one's own good deeds will welcome the doer
of good who has gone from this world to the next.