In plain words
While melting gold, a certain goldsmith was musing in many ways: ‘Gold, the worth that you have, no one else has. Even so, now you have fallen into my hands; putting you in the fire, I am burning and melting you. I am beating you with a hammer.’ As he talked with the gold in this way, the gold said, ‘O goldsmith! Though you torment me in many ways, though you burn me, though you melt me, the impurity in me goes and I am becoming a beautiful ornament; but the smoke that comes from burning me hurts your own eyes. Beating me with the hammer makes your hand ache. But no danger of any kind comes to me, and no harm of any kind to my honour,’ and with that it laughed and fell silent, they say. So, though the good, sacred beings, noble great souls, are reviled in many ways and tormented in many ways, those torments have no hold on them at all. They stand in a place beyond that abuse, praise and contempt. Whoever abused, whoever scorned, whoever caused pain, those pains are theirs alone and do not touch these at all. So, joining elders of such noble citta and setting about making your life sacred: since this is a fine age for it, I hope that you will join this gathering, take the things these elders have taught as your path, put them to use in your daily life and find your fulfilment. Taking these four into us, Satya, sacrifice, Prema and forbearance, we must shape ourselves into lives of good character. This is the early-morning hour of the children's life. When, in the early-morning hour, we turn our face towards the Paramātma, towards whatever is good, and begin our life, there is no chance at all for anything called bad, called Māyā, called ego, or for bad qualities to pursue us. Here is a small example of this. At daybreak the sun rises. At that time, if we turn our gaze towards the sun and look, our shadow lies long behind us. But if we do not turn our gaze back towards the sun and turn our gaze towards our shadow, our shadow appears larger than we are, going on ahead of us as if showing us the way.