Didache - Part II

The second example of the two paths is from the Katha Upanisad.  Yama (the king of death) is teaching a young man named Naciketas:

I. Yama said: The good is one thing and the pleasant another. These two, having different ends, bind a man. It is well with him who chooses the good. He who chooses the pleasant misses the true end.
II. The good and the pleasant approach man; the wise examines both and discriminates between them; the wise prefers the good to the pleasant, but the foolish man chooses the pleasant through love of bodily pleasure.
III. O Nachiketas after wise reflection thou hast renounced the pleasant and all pleasing forms. Thou hast not accepted this garland of great value for which many mortals perish.
IV. Wide apart are these two,--ignorance and what is known as wisdom, leading in opposite directions. I believe Nachiketas to be one who longs for wisdom, since many tempting objects have not turned thee aside.

It is interesting that Yama says in the first verse that both paths bind a man.  This idea of being bound is closely tied to the idea of us maintaining an identity separate from the Divine.  As long as we have the sense of agency as opposed to the experience of God moving through our being...the state of complete surrender, we maintain a sense of responsibility in our mind.  This sense of exercising a will apart from God's is the ignorance referred to in the rest of the passage.  One must understand that this state of surrender is the highest ideal and can almost not be conceived of in our normal state.  Thus, we travel one of two paths on the way to this understanding.

Following the pleasant, meaning that which feels good in the moment, leads one deeper into the idea of being a body/mind that is somehow separate from the Divine.  To serve the good is to see the long term effect of your action.  For example, drinking yourself under the table on Friday night might seem pleasant on Friday night.  On Saturday morning, however, you will agree that it would have been good to not do it.  Thinking about things this way is a form of discrimination that is mentioned in the verses from the Katha Upanisad.  Following the path of things that are good is the better path and will lead to wisdom.  Wisdom lies in knowing the nature of your relationship with the Divine.