You don’t become just 
by passing hasty judgment. 
An astute person evaluates both 
what is pertinent and what is irrelevant. 
 

A wise one judges others without haste, 
justly and impartially; 
that guardian of the law 
is said to be just. 
 

You’re not an astute scholar 
just because you speak a lot. 
One who is secure, free of enmity and fear, 
is said to be astute. 
 

You’re not one who has memorized the teaching 
just because you recite a lot. 
Someone who directly sees the teaching 
after hearing only a little 
is truly one who has memorized the teaching, 
for they can never forget it. 
 

You don’t become a senior 
by getting some grey hairs; 
for one ripe only in age, 
is said to have aged in vain. 
 

One who is truthful and principled, 
harmless, restrained, and self-controlled, 
attentive, purged of stains, 
is said to be a senior. 
 

Not by mere enunciation, 
or a beautiful complexion 
does a person become holy, 
if they’re jealous, stingy, and devious. 
 

But if they’ve cut that out, 
dug it up at the root, eradicated it, 
that wise one, purged of vice, 
is said to be holy. 
 

A liar and breaker of vows is no ascetic 
just because they shave their head. 
How on earth can one be an ascetic 
who’s full of desire and greed? 
 

One who stops all wicked deeds, 
great and small, 
because of stopping wicked deeds 
is said to be an ascetic. 
 

You don’t become a mendicant 
just by begging from others. 
One who has undertaken domestic duties 
has not yet become a mendicant. 
 

But one living a spiritual life, 
who has banished both merit and evil, 
who wanders having appraised the world, 
is said to be a mendicant. 
 

You don’t become a sage by silence, 
while still confused and ignorant. 
The astute one holds up the scales, 
taking only the best, 
 

and rejecting the bad; 
a sage becomes a sage by measuring. 
One who measures good and bad in the world, 
is thereby said to be a sage. 
 

You don’t become a noble one 
by harming living beings. 
One harmless towards all living beings 
is said to be a noble one. 
 

Not by precepts and observances, 
nor by much learning, 
nor by meditative immersion, 
nor by living in seclusion, 
 

do I experience the bliss of renunciation 
not frequented by ordinary people. 
A mendicant cannot rest confident 
without attaining the end of defilements.