[MD] the fool

[MarshaV]

 Chapter 5:  The Fool


Night is long for one lying awake.
Seven miles is long for one exhausted.
Samsara is long for fools
	Ignorant of true Dharma

If, while on your way,
	You meet no one your equal or better,
Steadily continue on your way alone.
	There is no fellowship with fools.

A fool suffers, thinking,
	"I have children!  I have wealth!"
One's self is not even one's own.
	How then are children?  How then is wealth?

A fool conscious of her foolishness
	Is to the extent wise.
But the fool who considers himself wise
	Is the one to be called a fool.

A fool associating with a sage,
	Even if for a lifetime,
Will no more perceive the Dharma
	Than a spoon will perceive the taste of soup.

Fools with no sense
	Go about as their own enemies,
Doing evil deeds that
	Bear bitter fruit.
 
 No deed is good
	That one regrets having done,
	That results in weeping
	And a tear-streaked face.

A deed is good
	That one doesn't regret having done,
	That results in joy
	And delight.  

As long evil has not borne fruit,
	The fool thinks it is like honey.
But when evil does bear fruit,
	Then the fool suffers.

The foolish ascetic who month after month
	Eats food with the tip of a blade of grass
Is not worth a fraction
	Of a person who has fathomed the Dharma.

Like fresh milk,
	Evil deeds do not immediately curdles;
Rather, like fire covered with ash,
	They follow the fool, smoldering.

Reasoning is harmful
	To fools;
It ruins their good fortune
	And splits open their heads.

Fools will want unwarranted status,
	Deference from fellow monks,
Authority in the monasteries,
	And homage from good families.
"Let both householders and renunciants
	Believe that I did this.
	Let them obey me in eery task!"
Such are the thoughts of a fool
	Who cultivates desire and pride.

The way to material gain is one thing,
	The path to Nirvana another.
Knowing this, a monk who is the Buddha's disciple
	Should not delight in being venerated,
	But cultivate solitude instead. 





 The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations
    by Gil Fronsdal  
 
 


 
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