大徳に親近するもう一つの意義
An additional meaning of drawing near to the great virtuous ones
2025-11-18
Good people draw good people to them.
This is indeed true.
And among them, those who come close to the great ones—such as the Buddha or the Arahants—accumulate the merit befitting a person rich in virtue, and thereby advance directly toward the deathless Nirvāṇa.
In such cases, a person who draws near to the great ones gradually grows distant from those who do not, and at the same time develops the courage to choose and refine the spheres in which they act. As a result, they create still more opportunities to draw close to the great ones.
There, even greater merit is accumulated, and eventually the decisive conditions for awakening arise, leading to awakening (= liberation).
In this way, approaching the great ones not only increases the conditions for a practitioner’s merit but also helps them depart from matters that would diminish their merit. It becomes a crucial impetus that strengthens their walk on the one true path.
On the other hand, when a practitioner lacks proper mental readiness, wicked people draw near, and the two sides become accustomed to behavior that strays from the path. As a result, their connection with the great ones may be lost.
In this way, each person ends up moving toward a completely opposite state.
Of course, this does not mean that one should become attached to someone they simply favor and then shut themselves away in a narrow world.
At the foundation of one who grows close to the great ones and increases their own merit lies merit previously accumulated. Such a person takes in what is necessary at the right time and thereby strengthens their walk on the path. This is why such individuals are called “well-bred people.”
Concerning this, the early scriptures of Shakyamuni Buddha record the following principle:
532 One who cuts off all the fetters that are the roots of attachment—both inward and outward—and who has escaped from the bond that is the root of all clinging: such a person, precisely for this reason, is called a ‘well-bred person.’ (Words of the Buddha – Sutta-nipāta, Chapter 3: The Great Chapter, 6: Sabiya, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
Here, there are people who, through a chance encounter with a great sage, begin to walk this unsurpassed path.
Even before undertaking any practice, such a person can be described as someone who wishes for the happiness of both self and others, and as someone who possesses the heart to cultivate themselves.
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