This is peace, this is excellent, namely the calm of all impulses, the casting out of all “basis”, the extinction of craving, dispassion, stopping-nirvana.
Do not race after riches, do not risk your life for success, or you will let slip the heaven within you.
If an evil man comes and creates a disturbance, you should hold your peace. You must not angrily upbraid his; then he who has come to curse you will merely harm himself.
The worthy person is grateful and mindful of benefits done to him. This gratitude, this mindfulness, is congenial to the best people.
It is the Path of the Good Mind which Thou hast manifested to me, O Ahura! Whereby the welldoers, in accordance with the teaching of the Spiritual Guides, acting in harmony with Truth alone, Shall pass onward to the assigned reward of which Thou art the bestower, O Mazda! This precious reward of Thine, O Mazda, Thou givest by way of the Good Mind, Thou givest to those who perform actions through knowledge and pure thought; who attempt for the progress and development of the world; fulfil God’s desire and try for the progress of God’s Will through truth and righteousness.
You look at it, but it is not to be seen; Its name is Formless. You listen to it, but it is not to be heard; Its name is Soundless. You grasp it, but it is not to be held; Its name is Bodiless. These three elude all scrutiny. And hence they blend and become one.
Behold the man who shields his family from all suffering. Has not his body become a willing vessel for affliction? Without good men to hold it up, the family house will fall when misfortune descends.
The evil ruler spoils the word, the plan of life, by his teachings. He, indeed, deprives me of the exalted goal of good thought. With the word of my spirit, I pray to You, O Wise One, and to truth!
Those who are ignorant of the supreme purpose of life will never be able to attain nirvana (liberation) in spite of their observance of the vratas (vows) and niyamas (rules) of religious conduct and practice of shila (celibacy) and tapas (penance).
Lao Tan said, “I was letting my mind wander in the beginning of things.”
“What does this mean?” asked Confucius. Lao Tan said, “It means to attain Perfect Beauty and wander in Perfect Happiness. He who attains Perfect Beauty and wanders in Perfect Happiness may be called the Perfect Man.”
