The Company of Saints

The mind is our chief enemy. It has the might of an elephant and few have courage enough to face it. But he who cultivates the company of a saint – whom Paltu compares to a lion – has nothing to fear.

The elephant will die without being killed
if you cultivate the company of a lion.
Cultivate the company of a lion and become like him.…
So has a saint conquered all appetites and desires.
He looks upon miraculous powers
and the treasures of paradise as garbage.
Friend and foe are alike to him;
alike to him are heat and cold.
He cares not for praise or blame
and carves out his own path.
The false cannot stand before him, O Paltu,
until they have been dyed in the colour divine.
The elephant will die without being killed
if you cultivate the company of a lion.
_{Sant Paltu, His Life and Teachings}