Waken yourself, Watch yourself
Beautiful poetry from the Dhammapada.
Master your senses,
What you taste and smell,
What you see, what you hear.
In all things be a master
Of what you do and say and think.
Be free.
Are you quiet?
Quieten your body.
Quieten your mind.
By your own efforts
Waken yourself, watch yourself,
And live joyfully.
Follow the truth of the way.
Reflect upon it.
Make it your own.
Live it.
It will always sustain you.
I like the paradoxical image of the mastered person – controlled, reserved, quiet – being the free, joyful person. This could easily be from the Christian canon of scripture. Can anyone deny that that there is one source, one common watertable, from which all the world’s wells of true faith draw?