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which arose whenever you saw or heard something 
that was 'pleasing'. 
Each group disagreed with the others because it was obvious 
that an image pleasant to one person may not be pleasant to 
another. A sound pleasant to one person might not be pleasant 
to another. Something that creates a pleasant mood today 
might cause an unpleasant mood tomorrow. Thus there is 
nothing to make anything discussed a 'blessing' without 
doubt. The debate went on and on without any sign of coming 
to an end. It is just like people in the present day can still not 
agree as to what is truly a 'lucky charm'. 
Eventually the problem was only resolved by taking 
audience with the Buddha. A representative asked the 
Buddha the nature of blessings and his reply is what is 
now know as the Mangala Sutta 
— thirty-eight blessings divided into ten groupings. 
R2 Definitions: The Word `Blessings' 
Some may still wonder about the meaning of the word 
'blessing' [ma]gala]. Some people think a blessing must 
be an object or an action — but by ow technical 
understanding of the word, we translate it as 'a cause of 
prosperity, progress and happiness'. If you want to 
know the definition, you could say that the progress 
towards happiness that a `maigala' will bring is 
four-fold: 
B.3 Principles of Ethical Learning 
A working computer has two important parts: hardware 
and software. The hardware of the computer is the 
wiring and the circuitry. The software is the 
programming that we install on the computer. The 
hardware of a computer is neutral, but what makes the 
difference between a beneficial and a degrading 
computer is the type of software installed. If you install 
working programs, the computer can be useful. 
However if you install violent games, viruses or 
pornography then the computer becomes a source of 
degradation. The worth of the computer thus depends 
on the software. 
A drinking glass is also neutral. What makes the 
difference between a beneficial and a degrading glass is 
the sort of drink you put in it. If you put a nourishing 
drink in the glass such as milk then the glass will be an 
uplifting one welcomed by every 
I. 
progress through acquired wealth (worldly treasure, 
heavenly treasure and the treasure of Nirvana). 
2. 
progress through wisdom, which is the means by which 
obstacles in life and evil are abated. 
3. 
progress through virtue through the channels of body, 
speech and mind, at the basic, intermediate and advanced 
levels 
4. 
progress through the three benefits: benefit in this 
lifetime, the next lifetime and in the hereafter. 
A blessing is a sign that positive development is about 
to take place (to a person, society or the world). Unlike 
such principles as that of deserved fate, the logic of 
blessings is fonvard looking, signifying that something 
good is about to happen. 
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the blood, bones, muscles and organs accnriated with 
the physical body — even the brain, which is a physical 
organ. By mind, we mean the knowledge and attitudes 
that constitute ow consciousness. The mind is like "the 
ghost in the machine". The physical components of the 
human being are also neutral. The difference between a 
human who is uplifting and one who is degrading 
depends not on the body, but on the mental component. 
Unfortunately, the software of the human mind is not 
pre-installed from the factory! When we are born we 
are born along with an ignorance about all aspects of 
life. From the time we are children, we spend ow life 
learning in order to fill the gap in our knowledge — to 
provide ourselves with the knowledge we need for life. 
The path of our subsequent destiny depends on the sort 
of knowledge we fill ourselves with. We can fill 
ourselves with either: 
one. However, if you put alcohol or poison in the glass, 
then the glass is immediately eyed with sus-picion. The 
worth of a drinking glass thus depends on its content. 
In the same way, a human being has two impor-tant 
parts: body and mind. By body we mean all 
EFTA00286497

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even of following thefts/ blessing — what more will 
be the benefit of practising all of the blessings in their 
entirety. The benefits will be not only to ourself, but to 
society and to the world as well. 
The second group (see p.65) concerns consolidating upon 
the goodness of the discretion you already have through 
the environment which we inhabit, from the habits we 
have built up for ourselves in the past and by setting a 
proper aim in life. This style of teaching is characteristic 
of the Buddha who taught virtue in a way that becomes 
successively more complex. 
The third group (p.139) concerns how we can make a 
contribution to society by our skilfulness, so that we 
ourself do not become a burden on society and can at the 
same time be a refuge to ourself in terms of earning our 
living. 
The fourth group (p.139) progresses from being able to 
help ourselves to being able to help other people as well. 
accurate knowledge: positive knowledge which is The first people who we must help are those to whom we 
creative and uplifting for ourselves and others, or; 
are indebted: our parents. If we have new people to whom 
• 
inaccurate knowledge: negative knowledge (comWe owe our efforts towards virtue, such as our children 
parable to lies to the soul) which is harmful to ourselves ared our spouse. Furthermore, we have to be able to divide 
others. 
our time so that neither our responsibilities in the work 
and in the home are neglected. 
Our knowledge increases as a result of influences in ow 
surroundings. The first and most fundamental influence 
on our learning is the sort of people that make up ow 
environment. The second most important influence is 
the environment in general. Together, these two 
influences have the potential to instil us with Right 
View about the world (effectively our core values and 
assumptions about the world and our attitude to it). 
The first group (see p.25) which concerns the acqui-
sition of discretion concerns our understanding of what 
is wrong and what is right. Even if someone is 
knowledgable,if their discretion is faulty, their future is 
unlikely to be bright. On the contrary those with good 
discretion but who lack education, at least they will not 
become a burden on society. It is the basis of Right 
View [sammA diEEhi]. Simply avoiding associating 
with fools will bring us wealth, because we have no 
risk of spoiling our reputation, our wisdom is also not 
at risk and may be improved — virtue of all sorts will 
start to flow in ow direction. This is the result 
The fifth group (p.183) builds on the strength of virtue we 
have built up for ourselves in the home, expanding the scope 
of our virtue wider into societywith generosity, public works. 
If you have already got your life under control, you will be 
able to do something for the benefit of society with some sort 
of efficiency. Those who try to help social works when they 
have not yet got their own personal affairs under control, may 
create disasters rather than helping others. Those who want to 
give advice to others but who are unable to speak politely, 
may make enemies instead of improving the quality of 
society. 
Higher groups of blessings deal with the more subtle 
aspects of training the qualities of the mind in purity. 
B.4 38 Blessings as an ethical system 
We find that the Manual of Peace lives up to the de-
mands of an ethical system as follows: 1Progressive 
Sequential: The thirty-eight bless 
ings are arranged according to the degree of dif 
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ficulty in practice: the easier ones come before the 
harder ones. The sequence of blessings begins with 
external practices, i.e., dealing with gross social 
behaviours but gradually leading up to the more 
internal and subtle ones. Following these sets of 
virtues gives one an impression of climbing up a 
flight of stairs leading to salvation. If you don't 
associate with the society of the fools, then you 
enhance the process of associating with the wise. 
When you are dealing with the first Blessing, you are 
creating conditions to fulfill the second one. One can 
say that at the same time you respect those who are 
worthy of respect. It starts with number one. While 
you are working to develop number one, it is already 
doing the groundwork for number two and number 
three — it's progressive. One blessing conditions the 
next progressively. By doing the first Blessing, you 
are committing yourself to many subsequent 
Blessings thereby. By associating with the wise, it is 
opening you up to many good things; you learn from 
the wise, you progress — all good things come from 
associating with other people. So, by practicing one 
Blessing, it will eventually lead to practicing all of 
the Blessings. And by doing one, you prepare for the 
other; they are inter-related. This logic is very 
beautiful, it leads you ownwards step-bystep. It 
allows you to improve, socially and spiritually, hand 
in hand with each other. It is like a self-catalysing 
process in chemistry or a positive feedback process 
in physics. This makes salvation via the thirty-eight 
blessings a kind of upward spiral, where you move 
upwards to Nirvana, the highest goal in Buddhist 
spiritual cultivation, starting from the simplest 
blessings, and gradually perfecting yourself. 
2 
Self-Catalysing: When one kind of living bless-
ing comes into existence or is practiced, it will support 
other kinds of virtues to manifest themselves, and the 
manifestation of any one blessing will lead to development 
of the next higher blessing in the sequence. 
3 
Erhaustive: Other mechanisms of spiritual 
values can easily be accommodated within it. 
4 
Holistic: Blessings assume the presence of a 
deeper unseen network of causes and effects which 
interact together in cycles of positive feedback for 
the ethical development of society. Blessings can be 
used as a non-subjective socio-ethical checklist, that 
cuts through self-centred ness that might otherwise 
lead to superficial social changes (an individual's 
prosperity, for example, being misunderstood as a 
sign of social development) because social 
development that is unethical is by this philosophy, a 
contradiction in terms. It also provides a holistic 
mirror to view one's own personality and 
development. 
5 
Multi-level: It covers the full spectrum of human 
relations from the interpersonal, through the familial, 
occupational and communal levels to the social. It offers a 
holistic perspective of a world governed by interrelating 
conditions. 
6 
Non-discriminatory: This philosophy makes 
no distinction between men and women, lay practice 
and monastic practice. The set of virtues is not 
restricted to a particular sort of person or society, but it 
can be treated as the common good that is shared in a 
particular community or even by the whole of mankind. 
7 
Multi-Factorial: The Thirty-Eight blessings 
are a means-ends model of ethics. The ethics of the 
Blessings escapes the rigid linear dimension of 'means' 
and 'cnds' in favour of a multi-factorial causality 
model. The weakness of consideration in terms of 
'means' and ends' is seen when trying to establish 
definitions in a complex multifactorial situation. With 
the lighting of a match, for example, can we say that the 
match is the means to the production of fire? Are not 
oxygen, friction and a striking surface also means to the 
production of fire? If the friction is not sufficient to 
cause ignition, can it still be considered a means? Is a 
match struck in a vacuum still a means? Is not Oxygen 
also an end for the process of photosynthesis too? ... 
but simultaneously the means for ignition? How would 
linear ethics tackle the problem of 'auto-catalytic' 
phenomena (better known as vicious circles). If defini-
tions of means and end are so difficult to pin-down in 
such a simple scientific situation, it is hardly surprising 
that ethics based on 'means' 
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and 'ends' are virtually impossible to apply in 
multi-factorial social scenarios. Unfortunately, the 
problems found in society are almost always the 
vicious circles that make application of ethics so 
difficult. To the question of whether blessings are 
'means' or 'ends', it must be answered that they are 
both. Putting any one of the thirty-eight blessings 
into action will contribute towards social 
development At the same time, the existence (or 
coming into existence) of any of the thirty-eight 
blessings is itself an indicator of social progress. 
Blessings also help to avoid the dilemma of 
justifying unwholesome means by wholesome ends. 
8 
Facilitating Practical Outlook: The practice 
of blessings are effective through reversal of positive 
feedback loops of decay through the setting in motion 
of positive feedback loops of development: firstly, to 
check the downward spiral and, secondly, to turn the 
spiral upwards. Action for social problem solving can 
start by the effort to replace any one of the thirty-eight 
counterparts of the blessings by a blessing. Problem 
solving can start with the local application of any bless-
ing. The blessings encourage personal commitment 
instead of passing the buck. Once the first blessing 
comes into being, then it will cause an upturn in 
society, which will ease the accumulation of the next 
blessing in the sequence. The end-point, said to be the 
biggest blessing of them all, is to bring all thirty-eight 
blessings into being in society. 
9Transeending Values: The Manual of Peace does not focus 
merely on the values of action based on moral principles or 
intention for the actions, but rather on the modes of our 
relationships in society, environment, family relations, 
education, communication and spirituality. Yet, the scope of 
application of blessings can even expand to cover the whole 
of the human race, with all lives sharing their pan in the 
single commonwealth of morality—the Global Community. 
10 Highlighting Opposites: Blessings also reveal the 
flipside of blessings — the 'Bad Omen' or 'social 
curse', which are the sign that something bad is about 
to happen (omens of forthcoming decay). Where there 
is no development, there must be decay, and to this end 
the opposites of the thirty-eight blessings are 
representedby a set of thirty-eight identifiers, like 
tips-of-the-iceberg, which signal thepresence of a nest 
of much deeper-rooted but invisible social problems. 
The nature of such problems is, again, that of negative 
feedback loops or 'vicious cycles' which lead toward 
decay. Unsolved, such curse will spread, into ever 
broadening circles of repercussions with their own 
vicious cycles. A comparable example in science might 
be the thermodynamic model of loss of entropy through 
the dissipation of heat. 
These are characteristics of the Manual of Peace. In the 
chapters that follow, each of the thirty-eight Blessings 
of Life will be explained in turn. 
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The First 
Group of Blessings 
"Turning your back on unwholesomeness" 
Goodness doesn't come unpackaged. It comes as part and parcel of 
the person who does good deeds and and who exemplifies those 
good deeds. Goodness is transmitted between people by the exam-
ple a good person sets for others and by a good person's teaching 
and criticism of the behaviour of a person whose level of goodness 
is lesser. Goodness is like the food which we eat. It strongly influ-
ences of our view and understanding of life and the world.To begin 
with we have no idea what goodness is. Some people tell us that 
such and such a thing is good. Others tell us that something com-
pletely different is good. Who should we believe? And when we 
ask them why they consider such and such a thing to be good, no-
one seems to know the answer. Thus if we want to learn how to do 
good deeds, we have to start making decisions about our lives even 
from the time we are still unable to tell the difference between good 
and evil. Although we cannot tell the difference between good and 
evil, there are certain indicators that allow us to tell the difference 
between people who habitually do good and people who habitu-
ally do evil. The first step on this path is the identification of the 
people who habitually do evil and we make our first step towards 
goodness by avoiding such people. Our next step towards good-
ness is to associate with people who are habitually good. The third 
step is to honour those who are habitually good so that we can start 
to observe the faults in ourselves, by comparison with the higher 
virtue of those who are worthy of respect. Thus, the first group of 
blessings is thus almost entirely concerned with being selective 
about our friends. 
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Blessing One: Not Associating 
with Fools 
A. INTRODUCTION 
A.1 First Step on Journey the Most Important 
For the Manual of Peace, although all of the blessings 
are important, all of the latter thirty-seven hinge on the 
first. Thus you could say that of all the blessings the 
first is the most important. It is like the first tread of the 
steps leading into a house. If you cannot climb this first 
step, you will spend the rest of your life at the foot of 
the staircase with no way of getting into the house. You 
can also think of this blessing "Not Associating with 
Fools" as being like the first step on a long journey, 
without which the voyage can never begin. 
criminal doesn't particularly want to live his life 
dishonestly, but he thinks that being a criminal is good 
enough. Although everyone seeks success (in their 
various ways), in the long run they may be left with 
regrets in their mind. If you ask why a difference of 
definition of success in life can make such a difference 
to one's destiny, it is because this "common sense" 
about the world dictates the decisions we make about 
the world — and these decisions drive all that we say 
and do. In the Manual of Peace we call such common 
sense "discretion" — it is the basic understanding by 
which we judge each experience and situation in the 
world to know whether it is likely to be beneficial for 
us or harmful. 
B. DISCRETION: THE IMPORTANCE & FORMATION 
B.1 The importance of calibrating discretion 
No-one wants to make a mess of their lives. Everyone 
wants to feel that they are profiting from the years that 
pass them by — to give them a sense of success and 
achievement in their lives. However, the way each 
person defines "success", "profit" or achievement in 
their life will dictate what they channel their efforts 
into. A businessman defines profit in life in monetary 
terms so he devotes his time and effort into earning as 
much as he can. A criminal might define achievement 
in life by "cracking the most impenetrable safe in the 
world" or "cutting the most corners possible" to 
maximise the amount of stolen goods he can a mass —
so he spends all his waking hours planning his next 
robbery. A 
B.2 Discretion doesn't come unpackaged 
Discretion is a personal quality we acquire, test and 
calibrate as a result of the experiences we meet in life. 
It is not a quality we can get by reading about it, buying 
it, downloading it or memorizing it. It can only come as 
the result of ow transactions with real people. It is a 
quality often unspoken, but easily learned by example. 
Thus discretion doesn't come loose, but is part and 
parcel of the exemplary people who possess it. 
B.3 Two Formative Influences on our discretion 
There are two major influences on the formation of 
discretion in a person. The first major influence is 
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the example of those people we are closest to, such as 
our family and friends. The second major influence on 
our formation of discretion is ourselves. Sometimes we 
call it the ability to be a good teacher to ourselves 
[yonisomanasikAra]. Even if you have been listening to 
advice for good or bad friends, you always have to 
consider advice and justify it to yourself before getting 
down to following the advice. If you have accurate 
discretion when you consider things, even given faulty 
data, you will have the common sense to see through 
the discrepancies and come out with the right decision 
required by the situation — unlike the man with 
unreliable discretion, who even when given reliable 
data, will come to the wrong conclusion. 
Usually we have to learn discretion from the example 
of other people by transactions with them first, before 
we can calibrate our "auto-didactic" discretion and 
come to accurate conclusions independently — because 
in the beginning we have no idea what constitutes a 
sensible decision and what constitutes neglect. Thus 
when we are learning discretion, at first we are very 
vulnerable to the example set by others. The example 
they set us may calibrate the way we think for the rest 
of our life. Thus a correct example has the power to 
correctly calibrate our thinking for the rest of ow lives 
— but conversely, a faulty example may damage the 
way we think for the rest of our life. 
C. PROCESS OF ACQUIRING DISCRETION 
C/ Benefiting from others without catching their bad 
habits 
Every time we have a transaction with a person it is like 
a negotiation or tug-of-war between us to see whose 
discretion will brush off who. In a situation where 
people are unable to recognize good or bad examples of 
discretion, then the exchange of "discretion" will be 
like osmosis — flowing from a point of high 
concentration to a point of low concentration. If Person 
A has a lot of good discretion and Person B less, then 
Person A's good discretion will tend to brush off on 
Person B. If Person C has a lot of bad discretion and 
Person D less, then Person C's bad discretion will 
tend to brush off on Person D. In practice though, as 
adults with a degree of life experience, we don't 
passively let others' habits brush off on us. If we are 
able to recognize good habits and good discretion then 
we will open ourselves up especially to absorb them. 
However, if we recognize bad habits and bad discretion, 
then we will try to protect ourselves from picking those 
habits up. Thus, normally we are selective— and try (to 
the best of our ability and discretion) to pick up good 
habits while avoiding the bad ones. In this way, we can 
have transactions with others without losing our own 
virtues under their influence. You can compare it to 
visiting someone in hospital who has a fever. You can 
visit them, talk to them and console them — you can do 
all these things without catching their fever, but you 
would try to avoid having them sneeze over you. 
There are some sorts of patients and some sorts of 
illness, however, that are so dangerous that we cannot 
afford to have any transaction with that person. Such 
diseases like the plague are so contagious, that it is not 
safe for healthy people to transact (specifically come 
into physical contact) with them. Such patients, by the 
nature of their diwnw need to be nursed in an isolation 
ward with no visitors. If they were animals, they would 
be put in quarantine. When considering the transmission 
of discretion, there are some cases of those so 
contagiously infected with faulty discretion that despite 
our immunity or our efforts to be selective, we will 
nonetheless be infected by their faulty discretion. Even 
if we started with healthy discretion, it would be un-
dermined by the strength of negative discretion of those 
people — what more the danger if we are still 
inexperienced and impressionable (perhaps still children 
or lacking world experience) and don't even know what 
it means to be selective? These quarantine victims of 
faulty discretion, whether intentionally so or not, are the 
first and most fundemental obstacle we will meet as we 
try to acquire blessings — in the Manual of Peace we 
call such people by the technical name of "fools". 
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D. 
FOOLS: 
BEARERS 
ISIVIMPtEff BASKIN 
A fool is someone wicked, or weak, or feeble. They are made 
feeble by the fact they habitually think, say and do things that 
are unwholesome. The root of the lack in common sense by 
which they can justify such unwholesome behaviour is the 
fact that they don't have their mind centred or under their 
control. To call such a dangerous person a "fool" might seem 
like an understatement — because some fools might look like 
a proverbial giant punching sandbags, a frightening prospect 
for a rhinocerii, let alone a fragile human being. Thus, how 
come we use the term "feeble" for a fool? A fool is made 
weak like a person made weak by a serious disease 
— we do not fear him on the basis of his strength or 
knowledge or ability to think — but because his disease 
is dangerous. 
D.2 Four Human Strengths 
Human beings have four different sources of power. 
I. Physical Strength: different people are endowed 
with different degrees of physical strength. Anyone 
with plenty of muscles and no disabilities is endowed 
with the first storehouse of power. 
2. Strength of Knowledge: derived from one's back-
ground of education and the experience of passing 
years. Having the ability to apply educated reasoning in 
useful subjects is the second storehouse of power. 
3. Strength of Thought: Some people go through the 
same number of classes together. They have an equal 
amount of knowledge, but their ability to think through 
things using their knowledge may not be equal. Some 
people know so much, but it is of no use to them when 
they come to think things through. Someone may know 
how to mend an engine but sits idle all day long. Why 
don't they offer their services as a mechanic? Or earn 
their living in the engine business? Sitting around all 
day long, waiting for someone to come along and find 
work for them...? We can blame this on their having 
knowledge but not using the knowledge as part of their 
thinking. Thus, if anyone uses both their strength of 
knowledge and 
OF 
CONTAGIOliar strength of thought, they are at great advantage 
because they are endowed with the third storehouse 
of power. 
4 Strength of virtue: 
strength of thought and 
doing, when one is using one's knowledge and thought 
to perform good service to oneself and others, one is 
endowed with the fourth storehouse of power: strength 
of virtue. 
When one has both the 
mindfulness of what one is 
The human being has the potential to be endowed with 
all four storehouses of power: physical strength, 
strength of knowledge, strength of thought and strength 
of virtue. 
Even if someone is endowed with (some of) these storehouses of 
power, if their judgment is faulty, they will not be able to put 
their power to full use. If, for example, a foolish guy is physically 
strong, and may be qualified as a professor with a Ph.D., with 
plenty of knowledge, but without the ability to think properly, he 
will be want to apply his mastery of chemistry for dishonest 
purposes (e.g. distilling heroine). Thus even if you arc endowed 
with only. ome of the four powers, you can still be classified with 
the fools — and those powers arc not used to their full potential. 
At the most a fool can use only three of the storehouses of power. 
They can use only three of the four. Like a four-cylinder car in 
which only three of the spark plugs fire — it is of no use to 
anybody. If you have a four-cylinder car, all four need to work in 
order to gel benefit from any one of the four. Thus, if you know 
your 'cylinders' am damaged, you don't need to wait until none 
of them are left firing before you go for mending! 
In conclusion, when we define the meaning of a fool as 
someone weak or feeble, we can see more clearly now 
that it means that they are weak or feeble in doing good 
deeds. Now that we know about the risk they present to 
our discretion and know a little about the reason for a 
fool's weakness, the next challenge that faces us is how 
to protect ourselves from them. As we shall see, we 
first need to be able to recognize fools — if we can rec-
ognize them, we can more easily protect ourselves from 
their influence. 
EFTA00286505

E. RECOGNIZING FOOLS 
El You cannot tell a fool by external appearances 
When identifying whether someone is a fool or not, we 
cannot base our judgement on external appearances —
we must base our judgement on internal features. The 
things we should avoid basing our judgement on 
include gender, age, lineage, nationality, connections, 
knowledge, job or wealth. Although fools are 
characterized by their habitually evil actions of their 
body, speech and mind, because all of these three come 
from within they might not be obvious to us, especially 
if we are still at a stage in our spiritual maturation when 
our discretion is still inaccurate. Appearances, gender, 
age, lineage, nationality, connections, knowledge, job 
and wealth are only indirectly connected with the 
quality of the mind. When we want to identify a fool, 
we need to look for behaviours that betray their 
underlying quality of mind. The sort of behaviours that 
are most clearly identifiable are those that come out in 
the context of our interaction and friendship with them. 
E.2 How to Tell a Fool 
We are not mind readers who can observe how others 
think. All we can observe are the things which others 
express openly — that is others' words and actions. 
Even fools have chinks in their armour which will be 
revealed as we interact with them — in fact there are 
five in all: 
L They like to persuade others to do evil things: 
Not only does a fool persuade others to do evil. He 
will also exemplify those evil deeds for others to 
follow. He might skip work on the slightest trivial 
pretext and persuade his colleagues to do the same. 
2. They like to interfere with things that are none of 
their business: A cleaner has the duty simply to keep 
the office clean, but if instead of doing her duty, she 
leaves her work undone and spends her time 
rummaging in the wastepaper baskets for trade secrets, 
already you should be suspicious that she is a fool. A 
student has the duty to study, but if instead of studying 
their subject they waste their time on protests against 
the government — then again they might be a fool mas-
querading as intelligentia. 
3. They like anything that is improper: Fools have a dislike 
for anything that is right and proper. They like playing with 
fire. They like taking drugs. They like gambling. They like 
fighting fish. They like the opportunity to put a spanner in the 
works. You can be sure that anything they like has someone 
on the receiving end of their suffering. Even if they take the 
chance to ordain as a monk, they will end up being the one to 
cause a schism in the order. Their predicament is the same as 
the one illustrated in the ancient tale of the angel and the 
worm. (See 5G.1 below) 
4 They get angry even when spoken to decently: 
Suppose a mother warns her daughter to dress modestly 
before leaving the house in case the neighbours gossip. 
The daughter might reply angrily that this is how 
modern people dress. Her mother gave her a perfectly 
reasonable piece of advice but her own daughter 
answers back with the verbal equivalent of a slap in the 
face. Suppose a father advises his son that he should be 
revising instead of going on outings so close to his 
examinations. "How can you say that?" might shouts 
the boy. "Didn't you go for outings when you were 
younger?" Often the other person knows that they are in 
the wrong, but when they are found out and their fault 
is discovered, they lose their temper — the mark of a 
fool. A fool is like a person covered in open wounds. If 
he bumps into something even only lightly, it hurts. For 
a fool, his mind is covered in wounds, and when 
confronted with the truth, it hurts. Sometimes even just 
a glance is enough to provoke him to aggression. 
5. They refuse to comply with rules and regulations: 
Fools heeds neither the laws of the country nor the local 
customs. If you meet someone who refuses to comply 
with the regulations, you can be 99% sure that you are 
dealing with a fool. If it wasn't for the law, there would 
be a lot more opportunity for fools to express 
themselves through the performing of evil deeds. The 
law forces fools to have to express themselves less 
freely or in secret. The law will thus obscure from the 
public eye the real nature of a fool's mind. It is for this 
reason that we have to notice the marks 
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of a fool from the first four sorts of behaviour 
mentioned above. 
If you come across any of these five features, then it 
should already be ringing warning bells in your head. 
E.3 The sixteen ways a fool might treat you 
Some people who may appear on the surface to be 
friendly, might be fools masqueradingas friends. The 
Lord Buddha called such people false friends 
[mittapaEirEpalca] and categorized them into four types 
each with four characteristics — giving a total of 
sixteen forms of behavioural characteristics to look for. 
With friends like these, who needs enemies? 
I. The Mercenary [afthadatthuhara] 
2. The Man of Empty Promises [vacEparama] 
3. The Flatterer [anuppiyabhAAE] 
4. The One who Leads you down the Road to Ruin 
[apAyasahAya] 
I. a mercenary is one who: 
I. tries to appropriate your possessions; 
2. sacrifices little in the hope of gaining much; 
3. helps others only when threatened by the same 
danger; 
4. only makes friends to serve his own interest; 
2. a man of empty promises who: 
I. tells you how sad he is not to have been able to 
share with you something that has already run out; 
2. promises to share with you things they don't yet 
have; 
3. tries to win your favour with empty promises; 
4. has excuses every time called upon to help; 
3. a flatterer who: 
I. toadies to your evil-doing, 
2. toadies to your doing of good; 
3. sings praises to your face; 
4. gossips about you behind your back. 
4. leads you down the road to ruin by: 
I. being your loyal drinking companion; 
2. being at your side when you roam the streets 
at unseemly hours; 
3. frequenting games and shows with you; 
4. joining you at the gambling table. 
Such behaviours illustrate sixteen ways in which a fool 
will unwittingly reveal his lack of responsibility. 
Besides leading us to ruin, such people lead society 
unfalteringly in the direction of deterioration in a way 
which is hard to remedy. If you come across any of 
these sixteen features, then it should already be ringing 
warning bells in your head. 
F. AVOIDING THE INFLUENCE OF FOOLS 
F. I Putting fools in quarantine 
In the words of the old Thai proverb: 
"Always keep a safe distance — give a hound 
an armslength, give a monkey six feet but for a 
fool a hundred thousand miles may not be 
enough." Just as mentioned earlier, when a person has 
such a dangerously contagious disease as faulty discre-
tion, we have no alternative but to isolate them. 
However, as we shall see it is not physical distance 
which we use to isolate a fool — it is more on the level 
of interaction. We have to be careful getting to familiar 
with them — that is effectively how we keep 
"psychological distance". 
F.2 Association Defined 
When we talk of associating with others, what are the 
limits of our definition? In fact there are seven different 
ways in which it is possible to associate with others: 
1. Meeting up with fools. This can be called associating 
with fools but it is only association in its most 
rudimentary form. Of course such association might not 
lead to anything. After all it is just our visiting them 
and their visiting us. We may not even particularly 
enjoy each others company. 
Z Getting closer. This is once you start getting more 
familiar with the fools you meet up with, start lending 
things to one another, talking on subjects of common 
interest, and following common pastimes. 
3. Feeling a liking for one another. This is once you 
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start to get more familiar, you start to believe that 
you have common tastes. You start to believe that 
you yourself like anything that they like. 
4. Respecting them. After a while, you start to find that 
you respect that fool for his particular skills: 
(e.g. his skill in gambling) and you start to think 
what good luck it is to have this fool as your ac-
quaintance and an example to follow. 
5. Moral Support. After having admired the fool for a 
long time from a distance, you start to believe anything 
they think. 
6. Joining in. After sharing the same opinions for a 
long time, you start to join in with their activities and 
follow the same way of life. 
7. Influencing and instilling behaviour to one an-
other. In the final stages of association, it is impossible 
to tell the difference between the fool and his 
associates. It has also come to the stage when it is 
impossible to reverse the effects of the fool on his 
associate. 
Thus for any reader who realizes that they are under the 
influence of a fool they should realize too the danger of 
even casual contact with the personality of someone 
who is a fool. There will be an unavoidable escalation 
of intimacy even without realizing it. 
F.3 Practising non-association in everyday life 
If you want to avoid associating with fools in your 
everyday life, apart from avoiding social contact with 
fools as already mentioned, it will be necessary to give 
special attention to the following issues: 
I. Prohibit yourself from every sort of evil and from 
all of the roads to ruin: Don't go thinking that the odd 
game of poker amongst close friends, or just to keep 
your hand in, can surely be of no harm to anybody. 
Prohibit yourself right from the start. This way you will 
save yourself from tears in the long run. Even if you are 
someone with weak tendencies in the direction of being 
a fool, such as liking to get up late and ignoring the 
alarm clock you have set for yourself, you should get 
tough with yourself right from the 
start. Prohibit yourself from doing even the most 
minor unwholesome deeds. 
2. Make the break from any evils you may have 
committed in the past: It doesn't matter what sort of 
bad habits you might have had in the past 
— don't give yourself even the smallest chance to 
relapse. Don't even speak of those things any more. 
3. Make Your performance of good deeds continuous 
There is no need to think over your past failures or 
entangle ourselves in the guilt of your past bad deeds. 
Starting from today, you must practise generosity, keep 
the Precepts, meditate and do the daily chanting —
continuously. In this way the scars left by ow old way 
of life will gradually heal leaving only good behavior in 
its place. 
4 In the case you have to associate with a fool be 
especially carefuL Sometimes we are put in the 
situation where we have to associate with fools, even 
though we don't want to. Sometimes, for example, we 
find out that even our own boss is involved in 
corruption. If we refuse to have any part in his dealings, 
we might get sacked. What should we do in such a 
situation? If we do everything he orders, in the end we 
will pick up his bad habits. Our ancestors had a simile 
for warning us in such a situation. They said you should 
be as careful `as if you were warming yourself before 
the fire. If you stay too close to the fire for too long, 
you will get burned. If you keep too much distance, 
then you will be left shivering in the cold'. Thus, just as 
with the fire, you need to keep the appropriate distance 
from the fool — not too near and not too far. 
5. You can associate with a fool only in the case that 
you are sure you have the capability and steadfastness 
to help them. Jumping into the water to save a 
drowning person is only sensible if you are able to 
swim — otherwise you get two drowning people! 
Whether you can really help a fool or not depends 
whether your own virtue is sufficiently steadfast to 
allow you to help them unscathed. If you are not yet 
sufficiently steadfast then keep your distance — even 
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if they are your own relatives! If you come across a 
friend who takes no heed of your warnings, however 
many times you might tell him, you have to resign 
yourself to helping him out instead when the 
suffering from their own mistakes starts to sink in —
when the circumstances make him a little more 
ready to listen. However, if he is not such a bad guy, 
and you are able to make some impression on him, 
then try to help him — try to keep him from going 
under. It's not that you should be hard hearted, but 
you have to know our own limits and if helping a 
fool is beyond your capability, you have to withdraw 
our help and keep our distance in order to survive. 
F.4 Interaction without Transaction 
Some texts summarize the functions of association as 
two fold. Others summarize association as a pathway 
as follows: joining, receiving, and giving. 
Joining means eating, sleeping and investing to- G.ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES 
gethen 
• 
Receiving means taking someone on as one's spoiriti, The Angel and the Worm (traditional) 
one's child, one's employee or as one's extended family. -Mice upon a time there were two young men who were 
point where we start to associate with them is the point whiff ends. How they came to be friends no-one knew, 
we take them on. 
because one was found of doing meritorious deeds, while 
• 
Giving means that after joining them and taking the other did only evil deeds all his life — like 
them on, we give something to them. Such giving includescockfighting, fish fighting, taking drugs and alcohol. 
giving them consideration, praise, encouragement, lodging, 
food or payment. All of these are included in the definitionWhen he was working as a merchant, he would sell 
association. 
only fake goods and stolen goods.When he was a 
teacher, he wouldn't teach normal subjects to his pupils 
— he would teach all the shortcuts and loopholes in the 
law. 
If you are associating with fools on any of these three Even with such different tastes, the two friends 
levels you should be warned to withdraw yourself managed to maintain both their identity and their 
before sustaining any further damage. 
friendship until they both passed away. When the good 
guy died, he was reborn as an angel in heaven. The bad 
guy was reborn as a worm in a lavatory. One day the 
angel was wondering what had become of his friend. 
The angel checked every level of heaven but could not 
find his friend. He checked the human realm, but again 
his friend was no where to be found.The angel made a 
further check and was surprised to see that his friend 
had been born as a worm in a lavatory. The angel 
wondered what 
the world — the fool in the outside world and the inner 
fool. The inner fool is the little"devil" that seems all too 
ready to justify your doing the things for which you 
should know better. They are the erroneous discretion 
that creep into our heads, and it is our task to put an end 
to the arising of such fools in the mind. 
ES The Varieties of Fools 
Some people think that they already have enough 
discretion to choose their friends and thus overlook the 
importance ofthe first blessing. In fact, even though we 
may be experienced and adult there is a fool with whom 
we have to associate cautiously throughout ow life —
that is our "inner fool". In conclusion, there are two 
different types of fool in 
Further to the temptation to be complacent about our 
ability to recognize fools, it should be added that parents 
have a special responsibility to their exemplar-sensitive 
children to be cautious about the sort of friends they 
associate with — and even to choose a school and teacher 
for their children to help them to avoid associating with 
fools. This subject is dealt with in more detail in Blessing 
Thirteen 
— nevertheless a little extra attention on this front right 
from the beginning of our study of the blessings can 
help to ensure a bright future for them — preventing 
tears when it's too late to reverse the problems (like 
drug-addiction). 
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he could do to help his friend, and tolerated the 
revolting smell of the lavatory out of compassion in 
order to stand at the edge of the toilet bowl and make 
himself known to his friend. Standing at the rim of the 
toilet bowl, he changed himself into his old human 
form. 
"Old friend do you remember me?"asked the angel. 
"Of course," said the worm."We used to be friends a 
long time ago." 
"O! Worm! Now I am an angel. Today I have come to do 
you the biggest favour of your life. I have come to invite 
you to join the heavenly host. However, there is one 
condition. If you want to be an angel you have to keep all 
the precepts without breaking any of them from this day 
onwards. You must think only meritorious thoughts and do 
meritorious deeds and before long we'll be able to abide in 
the same heavenly host." 
"What's so great about being an angel?' asked the 
worm. 
"You can get whatever you wish instantly simply by 
thinking of it. As soon as you think of angelic sustenance, 
ambrosia manifests itself. If you think of clothing then 
instantly you are clothed in angelic apparel. If you think of 
a heavenly mansion, then a heavenly mansion arises 
instantaneously. All you have to do is have the intention 
and hundreds of good things will come your way. 
"In that case I don't want to be an angel. I'm better off 
as a worm thank you." 
"What do you mean?" asked the angel. 
"If you are an angel you have to make the wish before 
you get what you want. As a worm I don't even have to 
make the effort to think. Excrement in the toilet just 
keeps on flowing into my mouth. Just leave me alone 
because I'm better off as a worm." In such a case it is 
obvious that he is so used to his foolish ways that in the 
end he is beyond help. 
G.2 Metaphor: Leaves wrapping a stinking fish 
Another parable used by the Lord Buddha is that of the 
leaves wrapping a putrid fish taking on the same 
putrescant smell of the fish itself. 
6.3 Metaphor: Burning hovel next to a palace 
Our ancestors had a parable. They said that to associate 
with a fool, no matter how good we might originally 
be, is like building a palace next door to a hovel. 
Whenever the hovel catches fire, no matter how safe 
the palace is from fire, as soon as the hovel goes up in 
flames the palace bums down as well, just like the 
virtuous person destroyed by association with fools. 
G.4 MahAkassapa's Kuti Burned Down by Foolish 
Student (KuEidEssaka JAtaka J.iii.71) 
In the time of the Lord Buddha, there was an elder monk 
of unblemished virtue named Kassapa. He was respected 
by all of the enlightened monks and other members of the 
monastic community. Even the Lord Buddha's closest 
discipleinanda, had great respect for Ven. Kassapa. 
It was the norm for the elder monks of the community to 
accept newly-ordained monks as their disciples, in order that 
those new monks could receive training. Some of the elders 
accepted more than others in keeping with their ability as 
teachers. Ven. Kassapa accepted three or four disciples but it 
turned out that among their number was a stubborn monk, 
Ululkasaddaka who would listen tono-one's advice. On 
winter evenings it was the duty of the disciples to boil water 
for the elder monks for them to take a bath in comfort. The 
stubborn disciple would never boil water for Ven. Kassapa in 
accordance with his duty. lie would always leave the chore of 
boiling the water to his fellows while going himself to invite 
Ven. Kassapa to wash as if he had boiled the water himself. 
Everything else the stubborn disciple did was in the 
same vain. Instead of going on alms round, if he fancied 
something special to eat the stubborn monk would 
claim to temple supporters that Yen. Kassapa wanted 
such•and-such to eat and when they brought 
such•and-such a food to offer, he would eat it himself. 
Ven. Kassapa knew what was going on and warned the 
stubborn monk; to be so lacking in respect is not in 
keeping with having ordained as a monk. You must 
train yourself better than this in 
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future."Kassapa warned the stubborn monk con-
tinuously, but the only effect of the criticism was to 
make him feel as if his master was singling him out 
unfairly for criticism.The more advice he received from 
his master, the more victimized he felt. Instead of 
feeling grateful for all the special attention his master 
had given him, he planned on getting his revenge. He 
planned the following day instead of going out on 
almsround with the rest of the disciples for the master's 
breakfast, he'd stay behind, let the master go for 
almsround himself and burn down the master's kuti 
while he was gone. In this case it is clear to see the 
behaviour of a fool who repays a master's advice given 
with the best of intentions, by burning down his 
master's house. Ven. Kassapa came back from his 
almsround to find only ashes where his kuti had stood. 
The disciple had run away. 
The Lord Buddha heard the story and disclosed to Ven. 
Kassapa that the stubborn disciple had been a fool 
causing damage not only in this lifetime, but in 
previous lifetimes as well: 
In that previous lifetime, Kassapa had been born as an 
oriole while the stubborn monk had been born as a 
monkey. The two inhabited the same tree. The oriole 
wanted to waste no time in building a nest to protect 
itself from sun, rain and dust — but at the same time 
the oriole warned the monkey, he ought to build himself 
a nest against wind and rain, sun and dust, because he 
had perfect gripping hands like a man, and could build 
a nest even more easily than the bird with her beak. The 
oriole told the monkey to build its own nest again and 
again. but the monkey never took any notice. When it 
came to the monsoon, the oriole ducked into the shelter 
of its nest whenever it rained, while the monkey sat out 
in the rain sobbing. The oriole felt sorry for the monkey 
and thought the time had come to tell the monkey to 
build a nest. Perhaps now that he'd had a good soaking 
he'd see the value of the advice. Thus the oriole poked 
its head out of its nest and told the monkey ,"you ought 
to build yourself a nest against wind and rain, sun and 
dust, because you have perfect gripping hands like a 
man, you can build a nest even more easily than I can 
with my beak. As soon as the rain stops build yourself a 
nest !" 
The monkey replied,"If I wanted to build a nest I could 
build one easily — but even though my body is like 
that of a man, my intelligence is the lesser." 
"You're a strange case," said the oriole. "Some days you 
go around destroying the nests of others but when it comes 
to the monsoon, you're the only one without a roof over 
your head. This is the destiny of one ungrateful for the 
generosity of others. You had better stars improving your-
self?" 
The monkey was stirred to anger by the criticism. Soaked 
to the skin by rain and only insulted further by a bird from 
inside the comfort of a dry nest, the monkey climbed up 
the tree to the oriole's nest and pulled the nest to pieces. 
As a monkey he had pulled the oriole's nest to pieces. 
As a human, he put his own master's kwi to the flame, 
even though his master had spoken only kind 
words.These are the identifying features of a fool and 
are the reason why we have to beware of this type of 
person. 
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Blessing Two: Associating 
with the Wise 
A. INTRODUCTION 
The second Blessing of the Thirty-Eight, concerns how 
in our self-cultivation we can successfully close the 
door on unwholesomeness in our lives, to prevent 
ourselves from slipping any further back on the slippery 
slope of spiritual entropy. At this point, when our 
discretion and sense of conscience is still not very 
accurate, we are not yet sufficiently versed in spiritual 
ways to become a Wise One ourselves. However, what 
we can start by doing is to learn how to recognize 
others who are, and to associate with them so that some 
of their discretion may brush off on us. 
A. I Difference between knowledge and wisdom 
A wise one is distinguished by his or her wisdom. 
Before starting this blessing it is important to define this 
wisdom clearly because being 'wise' is not the same as 
being 'educated'. 'Wisdom' as intended in this blessing 
is the discretion as to what is real 'profit' in our lives as 
outlined by omission in our description of fools in 
Blessing One. In fact, being educated is also a blessing, 
but its details can be found in Blessing Seven. The 
word "wise one" of this Blessing comes from the Pali 
word "paMita" better known in our language as 
"pundit". Some people believe that you can become a 
"pundit" simply by getting yourself a graduation 
certificate from a reputable university. In fact if you get 
yourself a good degree and set yourself up in business 
and 
make a success of it, you will earn praise and respect 
from many other people. However, there are no small 
number of the more unscrupulous amongst these who 
find themselves behind prison bars inspite of all their 
academic knowledge. Thus in spite of all their good 
intentions it is reasonable to assume that such graduates 
are not truly wise but are only wise in the ways of the 
world. The sort of wisdom we are interested in, in this 
section, is the sort of wisdom that will, at the very least, 
keep you out of jail and ensure wholesome profit for the 
owner both this lifetime and in the here after. This sort 
of wisdom is called spiritual wisdom. The best example 
of the wise man in the present day must have both 
wisdom of the ways of the world and spiritual wisdom 
to a true example of a wise man. 
B. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FOOL & A 
WISE ONE 
We are all people alike, equipped with a body and a 
mind, so what can be blamed for the different amounts 
of success people meet with as they go through their 
lives? Why is it advantageous to associate with one sort 
of person and not another? If you look at people just on 
the surface, the reason is not obvious. You have to look 
deeper. 
B.1 People distinguished by quality of mind 
In these days of human rights, we do all we can to make 
people equal, but it is not always so easy. 
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When it comes to differences of wealth or access to 
education, it makes sense to give people the maximum 
of opportunities to help themselves. But where the 
system of rights breaks down is when people no longer 
want to help themselves any more — or when people 
don't even want to live their lives by the rules of 
decency that bind society together. Of course there are 
some people who claim that even criminals should be 
given full human rights and who spend their time 
feeling sorry for sentenced murderers. However, for the 
most part we accept that when a person's behaviour 
deviates into violence or vengefulness or cruelty so far 
as that of a wrong-doer, no matter whether the police 
catch him or not, that they are no longer dealing with a 
person like you or me any more. There is a "screw 
loose" somewhere in the thinking of such people. Even 
though they might have two arms, two legs and a head 
just like you or me, but there is a difference of mind so 
great that it makes that person dangerous. Whets more 
the deviation of thinking of such people is (as discussed 
in Blessing One) so contagious that it brushes off on the 
people who associate with them. 
B.2 Effect of differences in the quality of mind 
It is differences of mind' that distinguish such people 
from the rest of the world whose lives are governed by 
discretion.To pinpoint why a fool suffers from faulty 
discretion, is hard to explain to a person who has never 
tried meditation. The difference between the mind of a 
fool and the mind of a wise one is a difference of 
quality. The mind of a fool is one where the thoughts 
are confined — a mind which is unyielding and blind. 
Such a mind is dull and cannot think constructively 
about any subject. Such a mind is blind to reality. If 
you were to compare such a mind to glass, you could 
compare it to opaque or frosted glass.Whatever you 
look at through glass of this type will appear distorted, 
dark and formless. By contrast, the mind of a wise man 
is like crystal clear glass. Everything viewed through 
the glass is crystal clear. Like a clear mirror, you can 
even see yourself as you really are. 
I. The terms 'mind' or 'mental' are used in the Asian sense meaning 
the abstract phenomena of 'spirit' or 'awareness' rather than the 
western concept of 'brain' or 'nervous system'. 
You might doubt that the mind, as an abstract phenomenon, could 
have such a powerful influence on our destiny — but the mind is 
in fact of utmost importance because every dealing we have with 
the world must pass through the channel of our mind. Consider 
looking al the world in the minor. What ever is situated in front 
of the minor will show its reflection instantly. Furthermore, a 
minor only the size of the palm of your hand is large enough to 
show the reflection of an entire mountain! All it needs is for the 
minor to be really clear, that's all, in order to be able to show 
instantly the reflection of any object, indiscriminable from the 
real object itself. In the same way, all it takes is for the mind to be 
really clear and it too can instantly hold, examine and understand 
anything and everything as it really is. All of this is by contrast 
with the man who has a clouded mind (who we have compared to 
a dull or frosted minor) which can do nothing to facilitate clear 
understanding, who cannot comprehend clearly because his own 
mind is clouded. Because the mind of a fool is distorted, he sees 
the world in a distorted way. When everything he sees is 
distorted, how does he interact with the world? The answer to this 
question is, —in the way he thinks is appropriate" — namely, 
according to thought, speech and action which arc distorted from 
the norm. On the contrary, because a wise man has a mind that is 
crystal clear like a diamond he secs the world clearly — as it 
really is. Thus, he can deal with the world in a way that is 
appropriate on a more cosmic level than the fool who is locked 
up in his own selfish view of the world. 
Meditation is the main means by which we can upgrade 
the quality of our mind. Once we realize the peril of 
having a mind which is dull, clouded and of generally 
low quality, we can start to appreciate why meditation 
is so important in the prevention and cure of problems 
in our lives. 
B.3 The Ups and Downs of the Mind from Day-to-Day 
Very few people are out and out murderers and 
plunderers. At the same time very few people are 
completely pure in mind. The ones who are already 
"arahants" have no need to waste time reading a book 
like this. 
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An example of ups and downs in the quality of mind of 
someone like you or me, who lies between the 
extremes, is the man who gets up in the morning with 
the best of intentions and enthusiastically prepares 
almsfood to offer to the monks. At the time he is 
preparing the food his mind is as clear as that of a wise 
man. However, even before the monks have arrived on 
almsround, he has lost his temper, shouting at his 
children and his state of mind has been reduced to that 
of a fool. When the monks arrive, his mind is back to a 
state of clarity as he gives the alms and pours water 
from the vessel to transfer the merit — he has recovered 
for himself the clear mind of a wise man. But as he is 
leaving for work he spoils his state of mind again, 
shouting at his kids for being late for school. As soon as 
he leaves the house, he gets his temper back. In the best 
of moods he makes the intention to do the very best he 
can at work that day — to make every penny of the 
wage he receives from his employer worthwhile. The 
black clouds in his mind go over the horizon and he's 
back in the frame of mind fitting for a wise man. But 
alas, another car cuts in in front of him, someone 
overtakes him on the inside and thoughts of revenge stir 
up a storm of road rage in his mind spoiling his quality 
of his mind and the rest of his day. Don't worry this 
man is not something special. When talking about such 
imperfection of mind it is not the same as mental illness 
— merely inefficiency in our quality of mind. Most of 
us have the same ups and downs in the course of 
making our way through life in the real world. 
R4 Varieties of people 
If we were to divide people according to the quality of 
their minds, being very simplistic we can divide people 
into a minimum of three different types: 
I. Those whose mind is usually clouded — the 
fools; 
2. Those whose mind is usually clear — the wise; 
3. Those half way in between whose mind is not 
entirely clear, but at the same time their mind is not 
completely obscured by clouds. 
This third category represents the majority of good 
intentioned people in the world. We're not yet free of 
mental defilements and for this reason we earn the 
special name of kalyAAabAla. "KalyAAa" means 
beautiful or good. "BAla" means the fool. Together the 
two words mean the good-intentioned fool. Sometimes 
a fool, sometimes a wise man — but not a 100% 
accomplished example of either of the two. Another 
term often used in Buddhism for this sort of person is 
tputhujana'. The root meaning of "puthu" is Thick'. 
The root of 'liana" 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 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 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: 
Cl Defined in terms of discretion 
A Wise One is one who has the discretion to dis-
criminate what behaviour is wholesome and what 
behaviour is unwholesome, specifically: 
• 
knowing what constitutes good and what con-
stitutes evil; 
• 
knowing what constitutes right and what con-
stitutes wrong; 
• 
knowing what constitutes merit [putitia] 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 
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a wise man discussed so far have all been his external 
characteristics — but on closer inspection it turns out 
that the wise man has several spiritual features that 
distinguish him from the ordinary fool: 
I. 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 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: 
I. He avoids telling lies. The wise one will always 
speak the truth. He is always a man 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. 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 [mettAlkarunA], 
getting down to earning an 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: 
I. 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 
4. Endearing [salgaha]: 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 dis-
cretion 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 (A.iv.281) 
The Lord Buddha taught four ways in which the wise 
one accrues benefits in the present lifetime (in Pali the 
diEEhadhammikatthapayojana). 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 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 ac-
cruing benefit in the present life. These are: 
I. Diligent Acquisition [uEEAnasampadA] i.e. not 
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 [ArakIchasampadA] means both saving 
and protecting what you have earned 
3. Associating with Good Friends [kalyAAamittatAJ 
means the same as associating with the wise — that is 
the title of this Blessing — and to 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. 
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