Dhp III : The Mind

For a person of unsteady mind,

not knowing true Dhamma,

serenity

set                adrift:

discernment doesn’t grow full.

For a person of unsoddened mind,

unassaulted awareness,

abandoning merit & evil,

wakeful,

there is

no danger

no fear.

Knowing this body

is like a clay jar,

securing this mind

like a fort,

attack Mara

with the spear of discernment,

then guard what’s won

without settling there,

without laying claim.

All too soon, this body

will lie on the ground

cast off,

bereft of consciousness,

like a useless scrap

of wood.

Whatever an enemy might do

to an enemy,

or a foe to a foe,

the ill-directed mind

can do to you

even worse.