Chapter 3

Just as an arrow-maker straightens his arrow, a wise person straightens his trembling, unsteady mind, which is so hard to guard and so hard to restrain.

Like a fish pulled from the water and thrown on dry land, our thought thrashes about, trying to escape the grip of Mara, the tempter.

It is good to tame the mind, which is hard to control and flighty, darting wherever it pleases; a tamed mind brings happiness.

Let the wise person guard his thoughts, for they are hard to detect, very subtle, and they rush wherever they please: thoughts well guarded bring happiness.

Those who rein in their mind—which roams far, moves about alone, has no body, and hides in the chamber of the heart—will be freed from the bonds of Mara, the tempter.

If a person’s thoughts are unsteady, if he does not know the true law, if his peace of mind is disturbed, his understanding will never be complete.

If a person’s thoughts are not scattered, if his mind is not confused, if he has stopped thinking in terms of good or evil, then, while he stays watchful, he has nothing to fear.

Recognizing that this body is fragile as a clay jar, and making one’s thought firm as a fortress, one should attack Mara with the weapon of wisdom, keep watch over him once conquered, and never rest.

Before long, sadly, this body will lie on the ground, discarded and senseless, like a useless log.

Whatever harm one hater may do to another, or one enemy to another, a wrongly directed mind will do us greater harm.

Not a mother, not a father, nor any other relative can do as much for us as a well-directed mind.