If we use not earnest diligence in drilling wood in wood for
fire, we shall not obtain the spark, so ought we to be diligent and
persevere, as the skilful master drills the wood for fire. A 'virtuous
friend' though he be gentle is not to be compared with right
reflection--right thought kept well in the mind, no evil thing can ever
enter there.
"Wherefore those who practise a religious life should always think about
'the body'; if thought upon one's self be absent, then all virtue dies.
For as the champion warrior relies for victory upon his armor's
strength, so 'right thought' is like a strong cuirass, able to withstand
the six sense-robbers. Right faith enwraps the enlightened heart, so
that a man perceives the world throughout is liable to birth and death;
therefore the religious man should practise faith.
"Having found peace in faith, we put an end to all the mass of sorrows,
wisdom then can enlighten us, and so we put away the rules by which we
acquire knowledge by the senses. By inward thought and right
consideration following with gladness the directions of the 'true law,'
this is the way in which both laymen of the world and men who have left
their homes should walk.
"Across the sea of birth and death, 'wisdom' is the handy bark; 'wisdom'
is the shining lamp that lightens up the dark and gloomy world. 'Wisdom'
is the grateful medicine for all the defiling ills of life; 'wisdom' is
the axe wherewith to level all the tangled forest trees of sorrow.
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