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a 100% accomplished example of 
either of the two. 
Another term often used in 
Buddhism for this sort 
of person is puthujana'. The root 
meaning of 
"puthu " is `thick'. The root of 
"jana" means person. 
Such a thick person doesn't mean 
that he lacks 
intelligence, but conveys instead 
that he has a thick 
rind or peel — and the thing that 
makes it thick is 
the defilements in the mind. In the 
case of those 
whose layer of defilements is not 
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so thick that they 
can still listen to reason, they can 
be referred to as 
kalyAAaputhujana, because they 
still have some 
hope of scrubbing through those 
defilements to 
reach the innate wisdom that lies 
within. The first
step for a kalyAAaputhujana in 
working his way 
towards his own inner wisdom is 
to be able to recognize 
the wise men amongst his 
acquaintances so 
that he can pick up on the good 
character possessed 
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by a wise man as his standard in 
elevating the quality 
of his own mind. 
C. DEFINING THE WISE ONE 
We can define the Wise One in 
any one of four ways. 
In effect, the definitions overlap 
they differ only 
in emphasis: 
C.1 Defined in terms of discretion 
A Wise One is one who has the 
discretion to discriminate 
what behaviour is wholesome and 
what 
behaviour is unwholesome, 
specifically: 
• knowing what constitutes good 
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and what constitutes 
evil; 
• knowing what constitutes right 
and what constitutes 
wrong; 
• knowing what constitutes merit 
[puilfia] and 
what constitutes demerit [pApa] 
C.2 Defined in terms of behaviour 
A Wise One is someone who 
habitually thinks, 
speaks and acts in a good way. All 
of the features of 
40 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
a wise man discussed so far have 
all been his external 
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characteristics 
but on closer 
inspection it 
turns out that the wise man has 
several spiritual 
features that distinguish him from 
the ordinary fool: 
1. The wise one is wont to think 
habitually in a good 
way: His habitual way of thinking 
comprises at 
minimum: non-greed, non-hatred 
and right view. 
Going beyond this, his thoughts 
are downright 
wholesome and include loving 
kindness (in place 
of non-hatred), generosity (in place 
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of non-greed) 
and right view (in place of wrong 
view). 
2. The wise one is wont to speak 
habitually in a 
good way: The wise man is apt to 
be well spoken 
in diametric opposition to the fool 
who has 
only a babble of insults to decorate 
his intelligence. 
There are four ways in which the 
wise 
speak good words: 
1. He avoids telling lies. The wise 
one will always 
speak the truth. He is always a man 
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of 
his word. 
2. He avoids divisive speech. The 
wise man by 
contrast will always be the one to 
mend the 
differences between others by his 
words. He 
will be the one to forge harmony 
within a 
group. 
3. He avoids the use of swear 
words and harsh 
words. No matter how angry the 
wise man 
is, he will not even consider 
insulting others. 
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The wise man gives careful 
thought to the 
every word that escape his lips. 
4. He avoids idle chatter. If the 
wise man knows 
what he has to say is without use, 
he will keep 
it to himself— he will maintain 
`noble silence'. 
3. The Wise One is wont to do 
only good deeds: 
The wise one likes to perform 
physical good 
deeds with an emphasis on being 
compassionate 
[mettA/karunA], getting down to 
earning an 
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honest living [sammA AjEva] and 
marital fidelity. 
The fool by contrast is continually 
killing, 
stealing and committing adultery. 
C.3 Defined in terms of virtues 
A Wise One is wont to 
demonstrate the following 
four virtues: 
1. Gratitude [katalifiE]: He 
recognizes the debt of 
gratitude he may have to others 
2. Self-Purifying [attasuddhi]: He 
purifies himself 
of all evil 
3. Purity [parisuddhi]: He purifies 
others of all evil 
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4. Endearing [saigaha]: makes 
himself useful to 
society 
C.4 Defined in terms of the profit 
sought from 
life 
In Blessing One we have already 
seen that the discretion 
concerning the nature of profit in 
life for a 
fool is different from that of a 
Wise One. In Buddhism 
we have two definitions of profit in 
life: profit 
in the short-term and profit in the 
hereafter. 
C.4.1 Material profit defined 
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(A.iv.281) 
The Lord Buddha taught four ways 
in which the 
wise one accrues benefits in the 
present lifetime (in 
Pali the 
ditthadhammikatthapayojana). In 
Thai 
culture they are colloquially 
referred to as the `four 
chambers of the millionaire's 
heart' or more simply, 
the way to set yourself up in life. 
As we have 
said, sitting idle will do nothing to 
ensure your comfort 
in life. Comfort doesn't come 
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unearned.Thus 
comfort in one's old age must 
come from hard work 
in one's youth, when one is still 
physically strong 
enough to be productive in one's 
work. The wise 
will, while they are young, store up 
the means to 
live comfortably in their old age 
when they are no 
longer able to earn. There are four 
virtues for accruing 
benefit in the present life. These 
are: 
1. Diligent Acquisition 
[uEEAnasampadA] i.e. not 
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being too lazy to go out and earn a 
living. Wise 
is the man who applies himself to 
the task in 
hand (not sitting around all day 
and waiting for 
money to appear magically) 
2. Stewardship 
[ArakkhasampadA] means both 
saving and protecting what you 
have earned 
3. Associating with Good Friends 
[kalyAAamittatA] 
means the same as associating with 
the 
wise — that is the title of this 
Blessing 
and to 
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avoid associating with the evil 
especially the 
sort that are always trying to 
persuade you to 
go and gamble or go down to the 
pub. 
Blessing Two: Associating with the 
Wise 41 
4. Appropriate Spending: 
[samajEvittA]. This means 
being thrifty in spending your 
earnings. Anyone 
who has already expended so 
much effort in 
earning a day's wage should get 
full benefit from 
their own earnings without being 
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extravagant 
and also without being so stingy 
they don't allow 
themselves to use their money for 
any material 
comfort. 
C.4.2 Spiritual profit defined 
(A.iv.284) 
The wise man recognizes that he 
cannot live by bread 
alone and that for all the material 
wealth he might 
earn, it cannot buy him spiritual 
fulfilment. Thus a 
second important form of profit in 
life is spiritual 
profit 
better known as profit in 
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life for the hereafter. 
This again consists of four virtues 
to be cultivated 
during one's lifetime 
[sampAyikattha-payojana]. 
I. Faith or Confidence means 
faith that doing good 
deeds will lead to good outcomes 
(for the doer) 
and that doing evil will lead to bad 
retribution 
and giving rise to the commitment 
to perform 
the maximum of good deeds 
throughout one's 
life. Faith is the first step upon the 
road to striving 
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to do so many good deeds. 
Sometimes the 
clarity of peoples' minds is 
insufficient for their 
mind to be faithful continuously. 
They may be 
faithful when they wake up but 
later on in the 
morning the inspiration fades 
away. The Lord 
Buddha referred to such faith as 
`turtle-head 
faith' because sometimes the faith 
shows itself 
like the head of a turtle, but just as 
often it will 
disappear out of sight inside its 
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shell! This is not 
the nature of the faith of a wise 
man whose faith 
is steadfast and commitment 
continuous. 'Turtle-
head faith' is not so hard to find 
like the 
man who takes the Precept in the 
morning not 
to kill any living being but as soon 
as the tiniest 
of mosquitos tries to bite him he is 
slapping it as 
if his good intentions are all 
forgotten — but the 
mosquito disposed of he thinks, 
"Oh! I'm taking 
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the Precepts today, all you 
mosquitos had better 
get out of my way before I change 
my mind!" 
Such `turtle-head faith' is no use to 
a wise man. 
With a mind that is crystal clear, a 
promise even 
to oneself, is a promise to be kept. 
2. The Precepts. You must keep 
the minimum of 
Five Precepts as the baseline of 
one's virtue because 
the Precepts measure the degree to 
which 
you are a person as opposed to 
being a savage. 
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Any time you want to find out to 
what extent 
you are human, you can use the 
Five Precepts as 
your benchmark. If all five of the 
Precepts have 
been perfectly kept, you can 
conclude that you 
are 100% human that day. If only 
four of your 
Precepts remain intact, you can 
conclude that 
you are only 80% human. If only 
three remain 
you are only 60% human, your 
fangs are beginning 
to show. If only two remain you 
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