Even if a person speaks many eloquent words,
if they do not act accordingly, being heedless;
Like a cowherd counting others' cows,
they do not partake in the true ascetic life.
-- DhammaPada Verse 19
Even if a person speaks few eloquent words,
If they act according to the Dhamma,
Abandoning passion, aversion, and delusion,
Clearly comprehending with a well-liberated mind,
Not clinging here or hereafter,
They partake in the true ascetic life.
-- DhammaPada Verse 20
Passion here refers to the strong longing and yearning in the mind to pull towards the objects of its affection.
Aversion similarly refers to the pushing away of the objects that the mind has a dislike for, that which it deems unworthy/repulsive.
Both conditions refer to the mind that is operating with craving/sensual desire/attachment/holding on, and are rooted in the lack of close examination of how things have come to me (the marker of delusion).
Picture Credit: The Human Condition, René Magritte, 1935
Related Teachings:
The Spiritual Life (AN 4.25) - The spiritual life is not led to deceive people, not for gaining their applause, not for acquiring gains and honors, not for winning an argument, nor out of a desire for people to know 'thus about me'.
Cultivating faith to awaken to the truth (SN 55.55) ↗️ - The Buddha shares stream entry as a simile to awakening to the truth of his teachings. He highlights the factors that leads one to awaken to the truth of enlightenment when followed.
Why does the Buddha teach the removal of desire and lust (SN 22.2) - The Buddha teaches for the removal of desire for the five aggregates.
