Approach to the Best

Xue Feng

Stay in the company of the righteous and you shall become righteous, but keep in the company of wolves and you will learn to howl. Hang out in an orchid and yours will be the aroma of flowers, but stay in a store of abalone and you will exude a putrid odor. With saints, you will get a clear and bright mind, but with thieves, you will become one. It is hard to avoid getting your shoes wet when you walk along a river bank and it is easy to get stabbed when you wander through thorn bushes. Consume flower nectar and distribute delicate fragrances, but dine on onions and garlic, and you will stink. Therefore, approach excellence and you will approach perfection for a while, but be with degradation and you will degrade.

Neighbors need to be chosen when you move and friends should be selected from society. On the mountain you will learn the twitter of birds and from bodies of water you will understand the freely swimming fish. Pray to the Buddha and you will gain the Buddha’s nature, pursue the Celestial being and your dream may be realized. Enjoy delight with an optimist or suffer pain with a pessimist. Associate with composers and you will understand melody or be with poets and learn to chant. The bel-esprits often reside on green mountains with sparkling water while rogues live on barren hills with muddy sludge. Minds remain clear and at peace with the words of saints and sages, but become unsettled and uneasy with a gangster’s words. To enjoy a grander sight by climbing to a greater height. To reach the fairyland by approaching the best.

You have to be cautious in the mortal world because even slight laziness may lead you to fall. Objects must remain segregated or the bad ones will mix together with the good ones. Of restaurants with the same type of food and within the same price range, always choose the one with more customers.

Associate with people who are successful, optimistic, open-minded, and of good character, drink with soul mates but chant with close friends, and do business with knowledgeable specialists but make love with an amorous lover. Life will have no regrets if you always choose wisely. The Greatest Creator is always the best.

Therefore, approach the Greatest Creator to the end of life.