“Faith binds the provisions for a journey. Majesty is the vault of wealth. Desire drags a person around. Desire in the world is hard to give up. Ordinary beings are bound by desire, like birds in a snare.”

Linked Discourses 1.80 8. Slain Lamp

“What’s the lamp for the world? What in the world is wakeful? Who are one’s work colleagues? What is one’s walk of life?

What nurtures the idle and the tireless, like a mother her child? By what do the creatures who live off the earth sustain their life?”

“Wisdom is the lamp for the world. Mindfulness in the world is wakeful. Cattle are one’s work colleagues, and the furrow is one’s walk of life.

Rain nurtures the idle and the tireless, like a mother her child. The creatures who live off the earth sustain their life by rain.”

Linked Discourses 1.81 8. Slain Free of Strife

“Who in the world is free of strife? Whose life is not wasted? Who here completely understands desire? Who always lives as their own master?

To whom do mother, father, and brothers bow when they’re established? Who here, though low born, is bowed to even by aristocrats?”

“Ascetics are free of strife in the world. The life of ascetics is not wasted. Ascetics completely understand desire. Ascetics always live as their own master.