The Highest Life

Any physical action, spoken word, or thought
ought to be done with a crystal clear mind 
that doesn't regard anything as "this" or "that" 
no longer made nasty and dangerous by clinging. 

Whichever "Me" or "Mine" arises, can't you see
they're just the concoctions of sankhara? 
Claiming things to be "Self" is criminal, in other words, 
a clever, shameless, con-job to defraud Nature. 

Whoever stubbornly insists on such a life
falls into a daylong hell of thick, foul smoke, 
with putrid fumes even more extreme at night, 
till cremation ends him having never known any coolness. 

Think - speak - act with a clarified heart
Made bright, pure, calm, and smart through discovering 
that anything can be conquered through Dhamma.
Oh, human friends, this sort of life is the highest.