Four types of good friends

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One day as Lord Buddha was on his way to ask for alms, he found a young boy Sigala offering prostrations to the six directions.  Seeing him Buddha asked the young Boy what he is doing the boy replied his father had instructed him to prostrate thus so as to increase prosperity and wealth

Buddha said this is not the right way to prostrate. The curious Sigala then requested the enlightened one to shed light on the right way to prostrate, for increasing prosperity and wealth.

Buddha also told him about how to identify good friends and foes disguised as friends. We will talk about foes disguised as friends in another post. Today we talk about four types of good friends as told by Tathagat to the young Sigala:

• Helper Friend: Helper friend protects you when you are vulnerable. He guides you, counsels you against wasting your wealth. He helps you in protecting your wealth. When you are afraid, he gives refuge, he gives you strength. And when you are in need he provides you with more than you asked.
• Durable Friend: A durable friend shares his secrets with you. He protects your secrets. When the misfortune strikes he does not abandon you, instead stays with you. He can even sacrifice his life for you.
• Mentor Friend: A mentor friend stops you from doing evil. He encourages you to do good karma. He tells you what even you do not know about yourself. He guides you in the path that will lead you to liberation from the miseries.
•  Compassionate Friend: A compassionate friend will never rejoice at your misfortune. He will be filled with joy on hearing about your prosperity. He will stop others from speaking ill about you. He will praise those who speak good about you.