Just as sharp-bladed grass,
if wrongly held,
wounds the very hand that holds it--
the contemplative life, if wrongly grasped,
drags you down to hell.
-Dhammapada, 22, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
This is from Verse 311 of the Dhammapada, to which I add Verses 312-314:
Any slack act,
or defiled observance,
or fraudulent life of chastity
bears no great fruit.
If something's to be done,
then work at it firmly,
for a slack going-forth
kicks up all the more dust.
It's better to leave a misdeed
undone.
A misdeed burns you afterward.
Better that a good deed be done
that, after you've done it,
won't make you burn.
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