Chapter
12, The Self
157.
If one holds oneself dear, one should diligently watch oneself.
Let the wise man keep vigil during any of the three watches
of the night.
158.
One should first establish oneself in what is proper; then only
should one instruct others. Thus the wise man will not be reproached.
159.
One should do what one teaches others to do; if one would train
others, one should be well controlled oneself. Difficult, indeed,
is self-control.
160.
One truly is the protector of oneself; who else could the protector
be? With oneself fully controlled, one gains a mastery that
is hard to gain.
161.
The evil a witless man does by himself, born of himself and
produced by himself, grinds him as a diamond grinds a hard gem.
162.
Just as a single creeper strangles the tree on which it grows,
even so, a man who is exceedingly depraved harms himself as
only an enemy might wish.
163.
Easy to do are things that are bad and harmful to oneself. But
exceedingly difficult to do are things that are good and beneficial.
164.
Whoever, on account of perverted views, scorns the Teaching
of the Perfected Ones, the Noble and Righteous Ones -- that
fool, like the bamboo, produces fruits only for self destruction.
[14]
165.
By oneself is evil done; by oneself is one defiled. By oneself
is evil left undone; by oneself is one made pure. Purity and
impurity depended on oneself; no one can purify another.
166.
Let one not neglect one's own welfare for the sake of another,
however great. Clearly understanding one's own welfare, let
one be intent upon the good.
