La Femme Nirodha aka The Alieness

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.

I can think of so many implications derived from this statement...