iti.78 Itivuttaka

Converging Elements

This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
“Mendicants, sentient beings come together and converge because of an element:
Those who have bad convictions come together and converge with those who have bad convictions.
Those who have good convictions come together and converge with those who have good convictions.
In the past …
In the future …
At present, too, sentient beings come together and converge because of an element.
Those who have bad convictions come together and converge with those who have bad convictions.
Those who have good convictions come together and converge with those who have good convictions.”
The Buddha spoke this matter.
On this it is said:
“Socializing promotes entanglements;
they’re cut off by being aloof.
If you’re lost in the middle of a great sea,
and you clamber up on a little log, you’ll sink.
So too, a person who lives well
sinks by relying on a lazy person.
Hence you should avoid such
a lazy person who lacks energy.
Dwell with the noble ones
who are secluded and determined
constantly energetic,
the astute who practice absorption.”
This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.