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The 3 Principles

By Shakyamuni Buddha

"These are the three governing principles."

There is

in the cosmos

no secret place

for one

who has done

an evil deed.

Your own self knows, my good man,

whether you are true

or false.

You underestimate the fine witness

that is yourself,

you with evil

in yourself

that then you hide.

The devas & Tathagatas see the fool

who goes about

out of pitch in the cosmos.

Thus you should go about

self-governed,

mindful;

governed by the cosmos,

masterful,

absorbed in jhana;

governed by the Dhamma,

acting in line

with the Dhamma.

The sage who makes an effort

in truth

doesn't fall back.

Whoever through striving

-- overpowering Mara,

conquering the Ender --

touches the stopping of birth,

is Such,

a knower of the cosmos,

wise,

a sage

unfashioned

by anything at all.