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　　Cooking

　　At first, we train the body and speech to be free of unwholesomeness. This is virtue. Some people think that to have virtue you must memorize Pali phrases and chant all day and night, but really all you have to do is make your body and speech blameless, and that”s virtue. It”s not so difficult to understand. It”s just like cooking food - put in a little bit of this and a little bit of that until it”s just right and it”s delicious. And once it”s delicious, you don”t have to put anything else into it. The right ingredients have already been added. In the same way, taking care that our actions and speech are proper will give us delicious virtue, virtue that is just right.

　　Crazy Man

　　Suppose one morning, you”re walking to work and a man starts yelling insults at you. As soon as you hear his insults, your mind gets agitated. You don”t feel so good, you feel angry and hurt, and you want to get even! A few days later, another man comes to your house and tells you, "Hey, that man who abused you the other day, he”s crazy! Has been for years! He abuses everybody like that. Nobody takes notice of anything that he says." As soon as you hear this, you are suddenly relieved. That anger and hurt that you”ve pent up within you all these days melt away completely. Why

　　 Because now you know the truth. Before, you didn”t. You thought that man was normal, so you were angry at him and that caused you to suffer. As soon as you found out the truth, however, everything changed: "Oh, he”s mad! That explains everything!"

　　When you understand the truth, you feel fine because you know for yourself. Understanding, you can then let go. If you don”t know the truth, you cling right there. When you thought that the man who abused you was normal, for example, you could have killed him. But when you found out the truth, that he was mad, you felt much better. This is knowledge of the truth. Someone who sees the Dhamma has a similar experience. When attachment, aversion and delusion disappear, they disappear in the same way. As long as we don”t know these things, we think, "What can I do

　　 I have so much greed and aversion." This is not clear knowledge. It”s just the same as when we thought the madman was sane. Until we learned that he was really otherwise, we weren”t able to let go of our hurt and anger. Only when the mind sees for itself, can it uproot and relinquish attachment.

　　Cup of Water

　　Many of those who came to see me have a high standing in the community. Among them are merchants, college graduates, teachers, and government officials. Their minds are filled with opinions about things. They are too clever to listen to others. It is like a cup of water. If a cup is filled with stale, dirty water, it is useless. Only after the old water has been thrown out can the cup become useful again. You must empty your minds of opinions, then you will see. Our practice goes beyond cleverness and stupidity. If you think that you are clever, wealthy, important, or an expert in Buddhism, you cover up the truth of non-self - I and mine. But Buddhism is letting go of self. Those who are too clever will never learn. They must first get rid of their cleverness, first empty their "cup".

　　Dam

　　The training in concentration is the practice to make the mind firm and steady. This brings about peacefulness of mind. Usually our minds are moving and restless, hard to control. The mind follows sense distractions wildly, just like water flowing this way and that. Men, though, know how to control water so that it is of greater use to mankind. Men are clever. They know how to dam water, make large reservoirs and canals - all of this merely to channel water and make it more usable, so that it doesn”t run wild and eventually settle down into a f…

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