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Chapter Twelve -- The Self
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If one holds oneself dear, one should
diligently watch oneself. Let the wise person keep
vigil during any of the three watches of the night.
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One should first establish oneself in what
is proper; then only should one instruct others.
Thus the wise person will not be reproached.
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One should do what one teaches others
to do; if one would train others, one should be
well-controlled oneself. Difficult, indeed is
self-control.
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One truly is the protector of oneself,
who else could the protector be? With oneself
fully controlled one gains a mastery
which is hard to gain.
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The evil a witless person does by oneself,
born of oneself and produced by oneself, grinds
one as a diamond grinds a hard gem.
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Just as a jungle creeper strangles the tree
on which it grows, even so a person who is exceedingly
depraved harms oneself as an enemy might wish.
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Easy to do are things that are bad and
harmful to oneself, but exceedingly difficult to
do are things that are good and beneficial.
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Whoever, on account of perverted views,
reviles the Teaching of the Arahats, the Noble
Ones of righteous life--that fool, like the bamboo,
produces fruits only for self-destruction.
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By oneself is evil done, by oneself is
one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone, by
oneself is one purified. Purity and impurity depend
on oneself--no one can purify another.
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Let one not neglect one's own welfare for
the sake of another, however great. Clearly understanding
one's own welfare, let one be intent upon the good. | 
