Life is easy for the shameless.

With all the rude courage of a crow,

they live pushy,

rude, and corrupt.

Life is hard for the conscientious,

always seeking purity,

neither clinging nor rude,

pure of livelihood and discerning.

Take anyone in this world

who kills living creatures,

speaks falsely, steals,

commits adultery,

and indulges in drinking

beer and wine.

Right here they dig up

the root of their own self.

Know this, my man:

they are unrestrained and wicked.

Don’t let that greed and unrighteousness

inflict pain on you for long.

The people give according to their faith,

according to their confidence.

If you get upset over that,

over others’ food and drink,

you’ll not, by day or by night,

become immersed in samādhi.

Those who have cut that out,

dug it up at the root, eradicated it,

they will, by day or by night,

become immersed in samādhi.

There is no fire like greed,

no crime like hate,

no net like delusion,

no river like craving.

It’s easy to see the faults of others,

hard to see one’s own.

For the faults of others

are tossed high like hay,

while one’s own are hidden,

as a cheat hides a bad hand.