Finding Your Wise Guides — The Dhammapada

Who you follow changes who you become. Buddha says to follow the smart person who shows you what really matters, warns you about danger, and tells you hard truths when you need it. Good people will love that teacher. Bad people will hate him. Do not make friends with people who do wrong or drag you down. Make friends with good people and the best people you can find. Someone who drinks in the teaching lives with a calm mind.

Wise people work on themselves the way craftsmen shape water, arrows, and wood. They stand firm like a rock in the wind. Praise and blame do not knock them over. After they hear the teaching, they become calm like a deep still lake. Good people keep walking through hard days and good days. They do not chase every pleasure or fall apart when life hurts. Truly good people do not cheat to get a son, money, or power.

Most people never reach the other shore. They just run up and down the bank. But people who follow the teaching can cross past death's power. The wise leave the dark life for the bright one. They let go of clinging, drop old pleasures, and clean out troubled thoughts. When the mind is grounded and full of light, a person can be free even while still alive in this world.