The Spiritual Life.

“Bhikkhus, this spiritual life is not lived for the sake of deceiving people and cajoling them; nor for the benefit of gain, honor, and praise; nor for the benefit of winning in debates; nor with the thought: ‘Let the people know me thus.’ But rather, this spiritual life is lived for the sake of restraint, abandoning, dispassion, and cessation.”

The Blessed One taught the spiritual life,

not based on tradition, culminating in nibbāna,

lived for the sake of

restraint and abandoning.

This is the path of the great beings,

the path followed by the great seers.

Those who practice it

as taught by the Buddha,

acting upon the Teacher’s guidance,

will make an end of suffering.

The Buddha's words/Brahmacariyasutta AN 4.25. Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi