..續本文上一頁 ask me whether a person who”s come to realize impermanence, suffering, and non-self would want to give up doing things altogether and become lazy. I tell them that”s not so. On the contrary, one becomes more diligent, but does things without attachment, performing only actions that are beneficial." And then they say, "If everyone practiced the Dhamma, nothing could be done in the world, and there”d be no progress. If everyone became enlightened, nobody would have children and humanity would become extinct." But this is like an earthworm worrying that it would run out of dirt, isn”t it
Excrement Odor
No matter where you go in the world there is suffering. There is no escape from it as long as your mind is in the world. It would be like trying to escape the odor of a big pile of excrement by moving over to a smaller one. In big piles or little ones, the odor of excrement is exactly the same wherever you go.
Expensive Object
Suppose we come to possess a very expensive object. The minute it comes into our possession our mind changes: "Now where can I keep it
If I leave it here somebody might steal it." We worry ourselves into a state, trying to find a place to keep it. This is suffering. And when did it arise
It arose as soon as we understood that we had obtained something. That”s where the suffering lies. Before we had obtained that object there was no suffering. It hadn”t yet arisen because there was no object yet for the mind to cling to. The self is the same. If we think in terms of my self then everything around us becomes mine. And confusion follows. If there is no I and my then there is no confusion.
External Sore
People wonder why they have so many problems when they start cutting down on their desires. They can”t figure out why they have to suffer so much. It was easier before, when they satisfied their desires, because then they were at peace with them. But that”s just like a man who has an infection inside his body but only treats the sore outside on his skin.
Falling from a Tree
If we pide up the Paticcasamuppada as it is in the scriptures, we say Ignorance gives rise to Volitional Activities, Volitional Activities give rise to Consciousness, Consciousness gives rise to Mind and Matter, Mind and Matter give rise to the six Sense Bases, the Sense Bases give rise to Sense Contact, Sense Contact gives rise to Feeling, Feeling gives rise to Wanting, Wanting gives rise to Clinging, Cling gives rise to Becoming, Becoming gives rise to Birth, Birth gives rise to Old Age, Sickness, Death and all forms of sorrow. But in truth, when we come into contact with something we don”t like, there is immediate suffering. The mind passes through the chain of the Paticcasamuppada so rapidly that we can”t keep up.
It”s like falling from a tree. Before we can realize what”s happening - thud! - we”ve already hit the ground. Actually we pass by many twigs and branches on the way down, but it all happens so fast that we aren”t able to count them nor remember them as we fall. It”s the same with the Paticcasamuppada. The immediate suffering that we experience is the result of going through the whole chain of the Paticcasamuppada. This is why the Buddha exhorted his disciples to investigate and know fully their own mind, so that they could catch themselves before they hit the ground.
Falling Leaves
Our lives are like the breath, like the leaves that grow and fall. When we really understand about growing and falling leaves, we can then sweep the paths every day and have great happiness in our lives on this ever-changing earth.
Farmer and Mother
Wherever you are still lacking in your practice that”s where you apply yourself. Place all your attention on that point. While sitting, lying down or walking, watch right there. It”…
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