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The Buddha strongly advocated that we surround ourselves with a few spiritual, like-minded friends and distance ourselves from those who would weaken our resolve to evolve. This is called right association.   Judaism traditionally offers a similar teaching. Here are three examples:

1. "Keep far away from an evil neighbor and do not associate with the wicked." - The Ethics of The Fathers (1:7)


2. "If we associate with bad people, we are likely to be influenced by them." - Rabbi Joseph Telushkin


3. " The nature of man is to be pulled by his temperaments and actions after his friends, and to accustom himself to the customs of the people of his country. Therefore, one has to associate with righteous people and to sit always amongst learned people, so that one will learn from their actions. One should distance oneself from wicked people, who go in darkness, so that one will not learn from their actions." - Maimonides, Laws Of Character Development (6 :1)


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Victor M. Parachin ... 

a Vedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Sadly, Victor passed away in August 2025, but his blog continues. Janet Parachin, his partner of 45 years, shares quotes from his books and articles each week. 

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