Whoever gives oneself to distractions
and does not give oneself to meditation,
forgetting true purpose and grasping at pleasure,
will eventually envy the one who practices meditation.
Let no one cling to what is pleasant or unpleasant.
Not to see what is pleasant is painful,
as it is to see what is unpleasant.
Therefore do not become attached to anything;
loss of what is loved is painful.
Those who have neither likes nor dislikes have no chains.
From pleasure comes grief; from pleasure comes fear.
Whoever is free from pleasure knows neither grief nor fear.
From attachment comes grief; from attachment comes fear.
Whoever is free from attachment knows neither grief nor fear.
From greed comes grief; from greed comes fear.
Whoever is free from greed knows neither grief nor fear.
From lust comes grief; from lust comes fear.
Whoever is free from lust knows neither grief nor fear.
From craving comes grief; from craving comes fear.
Whoever is free from craving knows neither grief nor fear.
Whoever has virtue and insight,
who is just, truthful, and does one’s own work,
the world will love.
The one in whom a desire for the ineffable has arisen,
whose mind is satisfied
and whose thoughts are free from desires
is called one who ascends the stream.
Family, friends, and well-wishers welcome a person
who has been away long and returns safely from afar.
Similarly, one’s good actions receive the good person
who has gone from this world to the other,
as family receive a friend who is returning.