With Rāhula

“Does familiarity breed contempt,

even for the man of wisdom?

Do you honor he who holds aloft

the torch for all humanity?”

“Familiarity breeds no contempt

for the man of wisdom.

I always honor he who holds aloft

the torch for all humanity.”

“One who’s given up the five sensual stimulations,

so pleasing and delightful,

and who’s left the home life out of faith—

let them make an end to suffering!

Mix with spiritual friends,

stay in remote lodgings,

secluded and quiet,

and eat in moderation.

Robes, almsfood,

requisites and lodgings:

don’t crave such things;

don’t come back to this world again.

Be restrained in the monastic code

and the five sense faculties.

With mindfulness immersed in the body,

be full of disillusionment.

Turn away from the sign

that’s attractive, provoking lust.

With mind unified and serene,

meditate on the ugly aspects of the body.

Meditate on the signless,

give up the tendency to conceit;

and when you comprehend conceit,

you will live at peace.”

That is how the Buddha regularly advised Venerable Rāhula with these verses.