Buddhist Thought of the Day

Neither nakedness nor matted hair
nor mud nor the refusal of food
nor sleeping on the bare ground
nor dust & dirt nor squatting austerities
cleanses the mortal
who's not gone beyond doubt.

If, though adorned, one lives in tune
with the chaste life
--calmed, tamed & assured--
having put down the rod toward all beings,
he's a contemplative
a brahmin
a monk.

Dhammapada, 10, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.