good teacher, listening day in and day out to his uplifting instruc-
tions. Their enthusiasm gains momentum as his teaching gradu-
ally permeates deep into the fabric of their being, and his virtuous
qualities eventually infuse their characters. Although they cannot
hope to match him in every respect, at least they exemplify their
teacher’s virtues. The opposite also holds true: the more we asso-
ciate with fools, the worse off we are. These two teachings of the
Buddha are equally valid: we can become good through associa-
tion with good people, or we can suffer harm through association
with bad people. If we observe someone who has spent a long time
training under a good teacher, it is evident that he has gained
some steadfast principles from that relationship. Conversely, it’s
obvious that those who get mixed up with fools will eventually
display the same foolish characteristics – or perhaps worse ones.
Here I am referring to the external fools we meet in soci-
ety. But you should understand that there are still other, inter-
nal fools buried deep within the personalities of each and every
one of us – even well-mannered people like monks and nuns
who wear the sacred Buddhist robes, openly proclaiming them-
selves to be disciples of the Lord Buddha. By inner fool, I mean
the craven stupidity and timidness that makes us shrink from
facing up to the mind’s baser instincts, which are just waiting to
express themselves in ignoble, degrading ways. Many people are
unaware of the repugnant forces buried within their minds. But
even people who are aware of them tend to believe that as long as
those things remain hidden inside and do not express themselves
in speech or actions, then their repugnance is not really an issue.
In truth, all bad things, regardless of where they exist, are intrin-
sically repugnant by nature. It’s not necessary for bad instincts to
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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