..續本文上一頁and think about traveling. They must actually undertake the process of traveling step by step, and in the right direction as well, in order to finally reach home. If they take the wrong path, they may eventually run into difficulties, such as swamps or other obstacles, which are hard to get around. Or they may run into dangerous situations and thereby possibly never reach home. Those who reach home can relax and sleep comfortably. Home is a place of comfort. But if the traveler only passed by the front of his home or only walked around it, he would not receive any benefit from having traveled all the way home. In the same way, walking the path to reach the Buddha-Dhamma is something each one of us must do inpidually ourselves, for no one can do it for us. And we must travel along the proper path of morality, concentration and wisdom until we find the blessings of purity, radiance and peacefulness of mind that are the fruits of traveling the path. However if one only has knowledge of books, sermons, and sutras, that is, only knowledge of the map or plans for the journey, even in hundreds of lifetimes one will never know purity, radiance and peacefulness of mind. Instead one will just waste time and never get to the real benefits of practice. Teachers are those who point out the direction of the Path. After listening to the teachers, whether or not we walk the Path by practicing ourselves, and thereby reap the fruits of practice, is strictly up to each one of us.
Trees
We can learn Dhamma from trees. A tree is born due to a cause and it, grows following the course of nature until it buds, flowers and bears fruit. Right here the tree is discoursing Dhamma to us, but we don”t understand this. We”re unable to bring it within and contemplate, so we don”t know that the tree is teaching us without investigating: sweet, sour or bitter, it”s the nature of the fruit. And this is Dhamma, the teaching of the fruit. Then the leaves grow old. They wither, die and fall from the tree. All we see is that the leaves have fallen down. We don”t know that nature is teaching us. Later on, the new leaves sprout, and we merely see that, without taking it further. This is not the truth that is known through internal reflection.
If we can bring all this inward and investigate it, we will see that the birth of a tree and our own birth are no different. This body of ours is born and exists, dependent on conditions, on the elements of earth, water, wind and fire. Every part of the body changes according to its nature. It”s no different from the tree. Hair, nails, teeth and skin, all change. If we know the things of nature, then we will know ourselves.
Turtle
Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache. You won”t be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, it will come and look for you.
Twigs and Root
As soon as we”re born we”re dead. Our birth and our death are just on thing. It like a tree. When there are twigs, there must be a root. When there”s a root, there must be twigs. You can”t have one without the other. It”s a little funny to see how at a death people are so grief-stricken, and at a birth so delighted. I think if you really want to cry, then it would be better to do so when someone”s born, for actually firth is death, death is birth; the root is the twig, the twig is the root. If you”ve got to cry, cry at the root, cry at the birth. Look closely and see that if there were no birth, there would be no death.
Unthreshed Rice
People who study the Dhamma without penetrating to its true meaning are just like a dog sleeping on a pile of unthreshed rice. When it”s hungry, it bounds off the pile of rice grain and runs off looking for scraps of food. Even though it”s sleeping right on top of a pile of food, it doesn”t…
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