Chapter 16

Devoting himself to the unbefitting and not devoting himself to the fitting, he, rejecting the (truly) good and grasping the (merely) pleasant, envies those who are devoted to the (truly) good.

Don’t associate with the dear, and never with the undear. Not seeing those who are dear is painful, (as is) seeing those who are not dear.

Therefore let nothing be dear to you, for separation from the dear is (experienced as an) evil. There exist no bonds for those for whom there is neither the dear nor the undear.

From the dear arises grief; from the dear arises fear. For the one who is wholly free from the dear there exists no grief. Whence (should) fear (come)?

From affection (pema) arises grief; from affection arises fear. For one who is wholly free from affection there exists no grief. Whence (should) fear (come)?

From (sensual) enjoyment (rati) arises grief; from (sensual) enjoyment arises fear. For one who is wholly free from (sensual) enjoyment there is no grief. Whence (should) fear (come)?

From (lustful) desire (kama) arises grief; from (lustful) desire (kama) arises fear. For one who is wholly free from (lustful) desire there is no grief. Whence (should) fear (come)?

From craving arises grief; from craving arises fear. For one who is wholly free from craving there is no grief. Whence (should) fear (come)?

People hold him dear who is perfect in right conduct (sῑla) and vision (dassana), who is principled (dhammaṭṭha) and a speaker of the truth, and who carries out his own (spiritual) tasks.

He is called ‘One whose stream goes upward’11 in whom is born an ardent aspiration (chanda) after the Undefined, whose mind (manasā) would be permeated (by the thrill of his progress so far), and whose heart (citta) is unattached to sensual pleasures.

When a man long absent (from home) returns safely from a distant place, his relatives, friends, and well-wishers rejoice exceedingly at his return.

Similarly, his own good deeds receive him when he goes from this world to the other (world) as relatives (receive) a dear one on his return (home).