Favourite Non-Abrahamic Scripture Quotes

shankara

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That is to say not from the Bible or Quran. Will start with one from a rather poetic English rendition of THE DIAMOND SUTRA:

"So I tell you -
Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream."
 
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From the Katha Upanishad, in the second chapter:

The Hereafter never rises before the thoughtless child (the
ignorant), deluded by the glamour of wealth. "This world alone
is, there is none other": thinking thus, he falls under my sway
again and again.

There are many in the world, who, puffed up with intellectual conceit, believe
that they are capable of guiding others. But although they may possess a
certain amount of worldly wisdom, they are devoid of deeper understanding;
therefore all that they say merely increases doubt and confusion in the minds
of those who hear them. Hence they are likened to blind men leading the
blind.

The Hereafter does not shine before those who are lacking in the power of
discrimination and are easily carried away therefore by the charm of fleeting
objects. As children are tempted by toys, so they are tempted by pleasure,
power, name and fame. To them these seem the only realities. Being thus
attached to perishable things, they come many times under the dominion of
death. There is one part of us which must die; there is another part which
never dies. When a man can identify himself with his undying nature, which is

one with God, then he overcomes death.
 
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The Heart Sutra:

Avalokiteshvara
while practicing deeply with
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore,
suddenly discovered that
all of the five Skandhas are equally empty,
and with this realization
he overcame all Ill-being.


“Listen Sariputra,
this Body itself is Emptiness
and Emptiness itself is this Body.
This Body is not other than Emptiness
and Emptiness is not other than this Body.
The same is true of Feelings,
Perceptions, Mental Formations,
and Consciousness.


“Listen Sariputra,
all phenomena bear the mark of Emptiness;
their true nature is the nature of
no Birth no Death,
no Being no Non-being,
no Defilement no Immaculacy,
no Increasing no Decreasing.


“That is why in Emptiness,
Body, Feelings, Perceptions,
Mental Formations and Consciousness
are not separate self entities.


The Eighteen Realms of Phenomena
which are the six Sense Organs,
the six Sense Objects,
and the six Consciousnesses
are also not separate self entities.


The Twelve Links of Interdependent Arising
and their Extinction
are also not separate self entities.
Ill-being, the Causes of Ill-being,
the End of Ill-being, the Path,
insight and attainment,
are also not separate self entities.


Whoever can see this
no longer needs anything to attain.


Bodhisattvas who practice
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore
see no more obstacles in their mind,
and because there
are no more obstacles in their mind,
they can overcome all fear,
destroy all wrong perceptions
and realize Perfect Nirvana.


“All Buddhas in the past, present and future
by practicing
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore
are all capable of attaining
Authentic and Perfect Enlightenment.


“Therefore Sariputra,
it should be known that
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore
is a Great Mantra,
the most illuminating mantra,
the highest mantra,
a mantra beyond compare,
the True Wisdom that has the power
to put an end to all kinds of suffering.
Therefore let us proclaim
a mantra to praise
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore.


Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!
Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!
Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!”
 

z gharib

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“Ekam Evadvitiyam”
“He is one only without a second.”
(Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1)

“Nacasya kascij janita na cadhipah”
“Of Him there are neither parents nor Lord.”
(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 6:9)

It is mentioned in Shwetashvatara Upanishad
“Na tasya pratima asti”
“There is no likeness of Him”.
(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 4:19)


“na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam”.
“His form cannot be seen, no one sees Him with the eye”.
(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 4:20)

It is mentioned in Rigveda
“Ma Chidanyadvi Shansata”
“Do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One, Praise Him alone”
(Rigveda 8:1:1)
 

shankara

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"Mind is the chief forerunner of all evil states.
Experiences are led by and produced chiefly by the mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupted impure mind,
Suffering will follows just like the wheel of an ox-cart when the ox pulls.


Mind is the chief forerunner of all good states.
Experiences are led by and produced by the mind.
If one speaks or acts with a pure mind,
Happiness will follow along just like one's shadow that never departs.


Those who harbors and entertains thoughts like" He has abused, beaten, ill-treated and robbed me",
Will not appease the hatred in them.
Those who doesn't harbors and entertains thoughts like" He has abused, beaten, ill-treated and robbed me",
Will appease the hatred in them.


Hatred is never appeased by Hatred.
Only through LOVE alone, hate ceases.
This is the eternal law.


The unwise does not realize the reality of impermanence and death,
They engaged in endless quarrels and fights,
The wise who realizes that we do not live forever,
They stopped fruitless quarrels and seek peace instead."


(THE DHAMMAPADA)
 

shankara

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From Isha Upanishad, the first few verses:

"All this—whatever exists in this changing universe—should be covered by the Lord. Protect the Self by renunciation. Lust not after any man's wealth.

If a man wishes to live a hundred years on this earth, he should live performing action. For you, who cherish such a desire and regard yourself as a man, there is no other way by which you can keep work from clinging to you.

Verily, those worlds of the asuras are enveloped in blind darkness; and thereto they all repair after death who are slayers of Atman.

That non—dual Atman, though never stirring, is swifter than the mind. The senses cannot reach It, for It moves ever in front. Though standing still, It overtakes others who are running. Because of Atman, Vayu, the World Soul apportions the activities of all.

It moves and moves not; It is far and likewise near. It is inside all this and It is outside all this.

The wise man beholds all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings; for that reason he does not hate anyone.

To the seer, all things have verily become the Self: what delusion, what sorrow, can there be for him who beholds that oneness?"
 
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From Chapter two of the Bhagavad Gita:

Lord Shri Krishna said: "Why grieve for those for whom no grief is due, and yet profess wisdom? The wise grieve neither for the dead nor the living. There was never a time when I was not, nor thou, nor these princes were not; there will never be a time when we shall cease to be. As the soul experiences in this body infancy, youth and old age, so finally it passes into another. The wise have no delusion about this. Those external relations which bring cold and heat, pain and happiness, they come and go; they are not permanent. Endure them bravely, O Prince! The hero whose soul is unmoved by circumstance, who accepts pleasure and pain with equanimity, only he is fit for immortality.
That which is not, shall never be; that which is, shall never cease to be. To the wise, these truths are self-evident. The Spirit, which pervades all that we see, is imperishable. Nothing can destroy the Spirit. The material bodies which this Eternal, Indestructible, Immeasurable Spirit inhabits are all finite. Therefore fight, O Valiant Man! He who thinks that the Spirit kills, and he who thinks of It as killed, are both ignorant. The Spirit kills not, nor is It killed. It was not born; It will never die, nor once having been, can It cease to be. Unborn, Eternal, Ever-enduring, yet Most Ancient, the Spirit dies not when the body is dead. He who knows the Spirit as Indestructible, Immortal, Unborn, Always-the-Same, how should he kill or cause to be killed? As a man discards his threadbare robes and puts on new, so the Spirit throws off Its wornout bodies and takes fresh ones. Weapons cleave It not, fire burns It not, water drenches It not, and wind dries It not. It is impenetrable; It can be neither drowned nor scorched nor dried. It is Eternal, Allpervading, Unchanging, Immovable and Most Ancient. It is named the Unmanifest, the Unthinkable, the immutable. Wherefore, knowing the Spirit as such, thou hast no cause to grieve. Even if thou thinkest of It as constantly being born, constantly dying, even then, O Mighty Man, thou still hast no cause to grieve. For death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable. The end and the beginning of beings are unknown. We see only the intervening formations. Then what cause is there for grief? One hears of the Spirit with surprise, another thinks It marvellous, the third listens without comprehending. Thus, though many are told about It, scarcely is there one who knows It. Be not anxious about these armies. The Spirit in man is imperishable. Thou must look at thy duty. Nothing can be more welcome to a soldier than a righteous war. Therefore to waver in this resolve is unworthy, O Arjuna! Blessed are the soldiers who find their opportunity. This opportunity has opened for thee the gates of heaven. Refuse to fight in this righteous cause, and thou wilt be a traitor, lost to fame, incurring only sin. Men will talk forever of thy disgrace; and to the noble, dishonour is worse than death.
Great generals will think that thou hast fled from the battlefield through cowardice; though once honoured thou wilt seem despicable. Thine enemies will spread scandal and mock at thy courage. Can anything be more humiliating? If killed, thou shalt attain Heaven; if victorious, enjoy the kingdom of earth. Therefore arise, O Son of Kunti, and fight! Look upon pleasure and pain, victory and defeat, with an equal eye. Make ready for the combat, and thou shalt commit no sin. I have told thee the philosophy of Knowledge. Now listen and I will explain the philosophy of Action, by means of which, O Arjuna, thou shalt break through the bondage of all action. On this Path, endeavour is never wasted, nor can it ever be repressed. Even a very little of its practice protects one from great danger. By its means, the straying intellect becomes steadied in the contemplation of one object only; whereas the minds of the irresolute stray into bypaths innumerable. Only the ignorant speak in figurative language. It is they who extol the letter of the scriptures, saying, `There is nothing deeper than this.’ Consulting only their own desires, they construct their own heaven, devising arduous and complex rites to secure their own pleasure and their own power; and the only result is rebirth. While their minds are absorbed with ideas of power and personal enjoyment, they cannot concentrate their discrimination on one point. The Vedic Scriptures tell of the three constituents of life – the Qualities. Rise above all of them, O Arjuna, above all the pairs of opposing sensations; be steady in truth, free from worldly anxieties and centered in the Self. As a man can drink water from any side of a full tank, so the skilled theologian can wrest from any scripture that which will serve his purpose. But thou hast only the right to work, but none to the fruit thereof. Let not then the fruit of thy action be thy motive; nor yet be thou enamored of inaction. Perform all thy actions with mind concentrated on the Divine, renouncing attachment and looking upon success and failure with an equal eye. Spirituality implies equanimity. Physical action is far inferior to an intellect concentrated on the Divine. Have recourse then to Pure Intelligence. It is only the petty-minded who work for reward. When a man attains to Pure Reason, he renounces in this world the results of good and evil alike. Cling thou to Right Action. Spirituality is the real art of living. The sages guided by Pure Intellect renounce the fruit of action; and, freed from the chains of rebirth, they reach the highest bliss."
 
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Only those really familiar with Hindu thought will get this one properly, from the Prasña Upanishad: (chapter three)

1. Then Kausalya Âsvalâyana asked: 'Sir, whence is that Prâna (spirit) born? How does it come into this body? And how does it abide, after it has divided itself? How does it go out? How does it support what is without, and how what is within?'
2. He replied: 'You ask questions more difficult, but you are very fond of Brahman ("God"), therefore I shall tell it you.
3. This Prâna (spirit) is born of the Self. Like the shadow thrown on a man, this (the prâna) is spread out over it (the Brahman - or "God") By the work of the mind does it come into this body.
4. As a king commands officials, saying to them: Rule these villages or those, so does that Prâna (spirit) dispose the other prânas, each for their separate work.
5. The Apâna (the down-breathing) in the organs of excretion and generation; the Prâna himself dwells in eye and ear, passing through mouth and nose. In the middle is the Samâna (the on-breathing); it carries what has been sacrificed as food equally (over the body), and the seven lights proceed from it.
6. The Atman is in the heart. There are the 101 arteries, and in each of them there are a hundred (smaller veins), and for each of these branches there are 72,000 In these the Vyâna (the back-breathing) moves.
7. Through one of them, the Udâna (the out-breathing) leads (us) upwards to the good world by good work, to the bad world by bad work, to the world of men by both.
8. The sun rises as the external Prâna, for it assists the Prâna in the eye The deity that exists in the earth, is there in support of man's Apâna (down-breathing). The ether between (sun and earth) is the Samâna (on-breathing), the air is Vyâna (back-breathing).
9. Light is the Udâna (out-breathing), and therefore he whose light has gone out comes to a new birth with his senses absorbed in the mind.
10. Whatever his thought (at the time of death) with that he goes back to Prâna, and the Prâna, united with light, together with the self (the gîvâtmâ) leads on to the world, as deserved.
11. He who, thus knowing, knows Prâna, his offspring does not perish, and he becomes immortal. Thus says the Sloka:

12. He who has known the origin, the entry, the place, the fivefold distribution, and the internal state of the Prâna, obtains immortality, yes, obtains immortality.'
 
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The chapter (#9) on Evil from the Dhammapada, spoken by the Buddha:

116. Hasten to do good; restrain your mind from evil. He who is slow in doing good, his mind delights in evil.
117. Should a person commit evil, let him not do it again and again. Let him not find pleasure therein, for painful is the accumulation of evil.
118. Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.
119. It may be well with the evil-doer as long as the evil ripens not. But when it does ripen, then the evil-doer sees (the painful results of) his evil deeds.
120. It may be ill with the doer of good as long as the good ripens not. But when it does ripen, then the doer of good sees (the pleasant results of) his good deeds.
121. Think not lightly of evil, saying, "It will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil.
122. Think not lightly of good, saying, "It will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.
123. Just as a trader with a small escort and great wealth would avoid a perilous route, or just as one desiring to live avoids poison, even so should one shun evil.
124. If on the hand there is no wound, one may carry even poison in it. Poison does not affect one who is free from wounds. For him who does no evil, there is no ill.
125. Like fine dust thrown against the wind, evil falls back upon that fool who offends an inoffensive, pure and guiltless man.
126. Some are born in the womb; the wicked are born in hell; the devout go to heaven; the stainless pass into Nibbana.
127. Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one may escape from the results of evil deeds.

128. Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one will not be overcome by death.
 

DavidSon

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“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~ Rumi
 
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Tao Te Ching - Chapter 33:

"He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is
intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes
himself is mighty. He who is satisfied with his lot is rich; he who
goes on acting with energy has a (firm) will.


He who does not fail in the requirements of his position, continues
long; he who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity."
 
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From the Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji, in the 660th section:

One Universal Creator God. Truth Is The Name. Creative Being Personified.
No Fear. No Hatred. Image Of The Undying. Beyond Birth. Self-Existent. By Guru's Grace:

My soul is afraid; to whom should I complain?
I serve Him, who makes me forget my pains; He is the Giver, forever and ever.
My Lord and Master is forever new; He is the Giver, forever and ever.

Night and day, I serve my Lord and Master; He shall save me in the end.
Hearing and listening, O my dear sister, I have crossed over.
O Merciful Lord, Your Name carries me across.
I am forever a sacrifice to You.

In all the world, there is only the One True Lord; there is no other at all.
He alone serves the Lord, upon whom the Lord casts His Glance of Grace.
Without You, O Beloved, how could I even live?
Bless me with such greatness, that I may remain attached to Your Name.

There is no other, O Beloved, to whom I can go and speak.

Something that Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims should all be able to relate to well :)
 
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From the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 5, chapter 14, part 1:

"The wise [S'ukadeva] said: 'Those who take the body for the real self, being different with the mode of goodness and such, consider matters from the wrong perspective. Basing themselves on the six gateways of their senses and their mind, they alternatively operating favorably, unfavorably or with a mixed approach, have to deal with a never ending process of transmigration through different series of physical frames they time and again have to forsake and pick up again. In relation to Vishnu, the Transcendental Personality who is the Lord, the bound soul who acting under the control of mâyâ, the illusory of matter, moves on the difficult path of the hard to cross forest of material existence, is engaged like a merchant who wants to make money with things desired by the people. He who engages his body for the sake of the profit experiences the material world in which he landed as a cemetery [a dead-end street for his self-realization] where he encounters a lot of resistance for as long as he does not succeed to progress in following the example of the bumblebees, the ones devoted to the lotus feet of the Lord and His representatives, who put an end to the trouble of reaching His jewel [His glory]. In that forest he is guaranteed faced with the six senses and the mind whom one, because of their activities may call one's plunderers. From the wanton soul, who as someone lacking in self-control is walking the wrong path, they steal away every little bit of hard-won wealth so perfectly suited for performing sacrifices. The acquired wealth, that one at home for the purpose of gratifying one's senses cherishes in one's determination to see, touch, hear, taste and smell, leads, so say the sages, only to a better life in the hereafter when one directly uses it for the religious [varnâs'rama] practice according to the principles, a practice that is characterized by the worship of the Supreme Personality. In this respect the members of his family, beginning with those whom he calls his wife and children, are tigers and jackals in their actions; they seize, despite his resistance against it, the wealth he miserly does not want to share, just like a lamb that before the eyes of the herdsman [by predators] by force is seized from the midst of the herd. Just as in a field, that is plowed every year, the seeds of the bushes, grasses and creepers that did not burn are preserved and sprout again together with the plants sown, as it happens in any other garden, so too in the field of action of one's family life, the karmic [fruitive] activities do not disappear. For that reason this world is called the storehouse of desires. Being lost in that life, on this material path of existence sometimes wandering in the spheres of wealth - his life-breath so to say, he [the follower of falsehood] is disturbed by low-class characters, who are like gadflies and mosquitos, as also by thieves [who are like] rats, locusts and birds of prey. Ignorant in his fruitive motives because of a lusty mind, he looks with a wrong vision at this human world where one never reaches one's goal: he sees castles in the air. He who sometimes is engaged in chasing a fata morgana in his eagerness to drink, eat and have sex and such, is there [in that human world] consequently a reprobate, someone who is a slave of his senses. Sometimes looking for gold, he, being obsessed by that particular type of yellowish rubbish, which is also an unlimited source of wickedness, is just like someone who [in the dark] aching for fire chases a fathom light. A person thus, in this material forest, at times is fully engaged in running hither and thither for the sake of the various items of a dwelling place, water and wealth, deemed necessary for one’s subsistence. Sometimes, in the dark of night driven by a momentary whirlwind of passion, he copulates like mad, in a total neglect of the rules. Blinded by the strength of that passion he, notwithstanding the divinities [of the sun and the moon, of regularity and order], then loses all notion being overcome by a mind full of lust. Occasionally, he for a moment awakens to the meaninglessness of the bodily concept of his self that destroys his remembrance and because of which he runs after matters like after the water of a mirage. Exactly like it is with the typical penetrating, repeated sounds of owls and crickets, there is sometimes the agitation caused, directly or indirectly, by enemies and state officials, who by their punitive actions trouble his ear and heart. When the conditioned soul has exhausted [the merit of] his good deeds in his previous life and at that time [in need of financial support] approaches the rich with their dead souls, he himself is then just as dead within, because they are like the kâraskara, kâkatunda and more of such [fruitless] trees. They are just like fouled wells never capable of making one happy. Occasionally associating with insincere people of a limited understanding, it is as if he's diving in a shallow river [so that he breaks his neck]; seeking the company of atheists will make him very unhappy in both respects [spiritual and physical]. When he fails in [acquiring] the wealth of others, he next gives trouble to his father and son, even about the most insignificant that his father or son possesses. Burned by the flames of grief he, getting most disappointed, sometimes experiences his life at home as a forest fire that brings no good but only more and more sadness. Sometimes, the wealth he holds dear is plundered by a carnivorous government that grew corrupt over time, so that he, bereft of all his good life, remains like a corpse with the life air expired. Then again thinking that his father, grandfather and others, who deceased a long time ago, are there again for real [as an incarnation], he experiences the type of happiness one feels in dreams. (18) At other times he, as a householder with a mind in hot pursuit of material matters, wants to climb the mountain of precepts for [religious sacrifices for the sake of] fruitive activities and next he then [being frustrated about all the demands] laments like having entered a field full of thorns and sharp stones. Occasionally [fasting religiously but] unable to bear the fire of hunger and thirst, he runs out of patience and gets angry with his family members. Repeatedly being devoured by the python of sleep he, in the grip of ignorance finding himself in deep darkness, is like a corpse that, left behind in the forest, just lies there not knowing a thing any more. So now and then with his teeth of honor broken by [the envy of] his serpent-like enemies, he suffers insomnia and then falls into the blind well of illusion with a consciousness gradually deteriorating because of a [by debilitating rumination] disturbed heart. And then it happens that, searching for the sweet [honey] drops of desire of another man's woman or riches, he appropriates them so that he is severely chastised by the government or the relatives involved and thus ends up in an incomparably hellish life. This now is the reason why the Vedic authority states that the fruitful activity [the karma] of a living entity constitutes the cause of both this life and a next one in the ocean of matter. If he manages to stay away from the chastising, a trader such ['Devadatta'] takes his money away and another friend of Vishnu so ['Vishnumitra'] in his turn takes it from him again, and so the riches [as a part of the Lord's opulence] then move from one hand to the other. It also happens that one, because of natural causes like heat and cold, other living beings and the operation of one's own body and mind, is unable to counter the conditions of life, so that one remains being troubled by severe anxieties and depressions. Sometimes, trading with one another, about whatever little bit of money or farthing that was appropriated with cheating, however insignificant, there rises enmity because of the dishonesty."
 
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From the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 6:

Regard as true Renouncer him that makes
Worship by work, for who renounceth not
Works not as Yogin. So is that well said:
"By works the votary doth rise to faith,
And saintship is the ceasing from all works;
Because the perfect Yogin acts- but acts
Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds,
Setting result aside.
Let each man raise
The Self by Soul, not trample down his Self,
Since Soul that is Self's friend may grow Self's foe.
Soul is Self's friend when Self doth rule o'er Self,
But Self turns enemy if Soul's own self
Hates Self as not itself.
The sovereign soul
Of him who lives self-governed and at peace
Is centred in itself, taking alike
Pleasure and pain; heat, cold; glory and shame.
He is the Yogi, he is Yukta, glad
With joy of light and truth; dwelling apart
Upon a peak, with senses subjugate
Whereto the clod, the rock, the glistering gold
Show all as one. By this sign is he known
Being of equal grace to comrades, friends,
Chance-comers, strangers, lovers, enemies,
Aliens and kinsmen; loving all alike,

Evil or good.
 
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From the Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 7, chapter 13:

"Someone capable [of what I described before], should wander around from place to place without any form of material attachment and, ultimately with nothing but his body, not stay in any village longer than a single night. If the renunciate [sannyâsî] wears clothing at all, it should be nothing but some covering for his private parts. Except for in case of distress, he should not take to matters he has given up; he normally is characterized by nothing but the marks of renunciation: his rod [danda] and such. With Nârâyana as his refuge he, living on alms only, satisfied within, all alone and not depending on anyone or anything, moves around in perfect peace as a well-wisher to all living beings. He should see this universe of cause and effect as existing within the everlasting Self in the beyond and see the Supreme Absolute itself as pervading the world of cause and effect everywhere. The soul moves from waking to sleeping to the dreaming in between. Because of that someone of self-awareness considers the states of being bound - of being conditioned - and being liberated as in fact being nothing but an illusion. He should not rejoice in the certainty of the death of the body, nor in the uncertainty of its life, he instead should observe the supreme [command] of Time that rules the manifestation and disappearance of all living beings. He [the renunciate] should not be fixed on time bound literatures, nor depend on a career. Accusations and pedantry he should give up and he should not side with group bound conjecture, opinion and speculation [politics]. He should not seek followers, nor should he engage in diverse literary exercises or read such writings. He should not subsist on lecturing nor set up an enterprise [for building temples e.g.]. A peaceful and equal minded renunciate does not necessarily have to adopt the symbols of his spiritual position, he as a great soul may just as well abandon them. Even though he externally may not directly be recognized as a renunciate, he is clear in his purpose. Such a saintly person may feel the need to present himself in society like a restless youth, or, having been a scholar, present himself as a less intelligent man."
 
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From the Ushtavaiti Gatha (Yasna 43):

Happiness be the lot of him who works for the
happiness of others.
May the Lord grant him health and endurance.
For the effort to uphold Truth,
I beseech these very gifts from Thee!
Mayest Thou, through Armaity,
the Spirit of Rightmindedness,
Bless me with the perfection of a life guided by the Good Mind!

And may we have the Best the Lord bestows;
As we strive for enlightened purpose,
may we attain it!
Through Thy Most Holy Spirit, O Mazda,
Inspire us with Truth, revealed through the Good Mind,
And bless us with things good, for all the days of a long life!

He who teaches others the righteous path of truth and happiness,
Both in the material world and also the spiritual,
The path leading to Thy abode, O Ahura;
He attains an end better than good.
A generous and enlightened helper,
a faithful worthy of Thee, is he, O Mazda
Verily I regard Thee as the Holy and Powerful Benefactor, O Mazda.
For Thou bestoweth upon the righteous as well as the wicked their recompense,
From the flaming splendour of Thy Fire,
mighty through Asha (Truth), The power of the Good Mind comes to me, O Mazda.

Verily I believed Thee, O Mazda Ahura,
to be the Supreme Benevolent Providence.
For I beheld Thee as the primeval source of creation.
For by Thy perfect wisdom Thou shalt render just recompense for all actions,
Good to the good, evil to the evil, At the last turning of creation.
Then at the last, shalt Thou come,
with Thy Bountiful Spirit, O Mazda!
With Thy Sovereign Power, and with Thy Good Mind,
The Good Mind which brings prosperity to the world.
Right dedication shall teach the Eternal Laws of Thy Wisdom,

The Wisdom which none can deceive.
 
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