How joyful to look upon the Awakened
and to keep company with the wise.
Follow, then, the shining ones,
the wise, the awakened, the loving,
for they know how to work and forbear.
But if you cannot find
friend or master to go with you,
travel on alone--
like a king who has given away his kingdom,
like an elephant in the forest.
--From the Dhammspada, cited in Surya Das,
Awakening the Buddha Within, 1997.
