..續本文上一頁ew low spots, its usefulness wasted. So, too, the mind that is dammed and controlled, trained constantly, will be of immeasurable benefit. The Buddha himself taught, "The mind that has been controlled brings true happiness, so train your minds well for the highest benefits." Similarly, the animals we see around us - elephants, horses, buffalos, and so on - must be trained before they can be useful for work. Only after they have been trained is their strength of benefit to us.

　　In the same way, the mind that has been trained will bring many more blessings than an untrained mind. The Buddha and His Noble Disciples all started out in the same way as us - with untrained minds. But, afterwards, look how they became the subjects of reverence for us all. And see how much benefit we can gain from their teachings. Indeed see what benefits have come to the entire world from these men who had gone through the training of the mind to reach the freedom beyond. The mind controlled and trained is better equipped to help us in all professions, in all situations. The disciplined mind will keep our lives balanced, make work easier, and develop and nurture reason to govern our actions. In the end, our happiness will increase accordingly as we follow the proper mind training.

　　Deep Hole

　　Most people just want to perform good deeds to make merit, but they don”t want to give up wrongdoing. It”s just that "the hole is too deep." Suppose there was a hole and there was something at the bottom of it. Now anyone who put his hand into the hole and didn”t reach the bottom would say the hole was too deep. If a hundred or a thousand people put their hands down the hole, they”d all say, "The hole is too deep!" No one would say that his arm was too short. We have to come back to ourselves. We have to take a step back and look at ourselves. Don”t blame the hole for being too deep. Turn around and look at your own arm. If you can see this, then you will make progress on the spiritual path and will find happiness.

　　Dirty Clothes

　　It is only natural that when our body is dirty and we put on dirty clothes that our mind will not be light and cheerful but will feel uncomfortable and depressed. So, too, when morality is not practiced, our bodily actions and speech are dirty. This causes the mind to be unhappy, uncomfortable, and distressed. We become separated from right practice and this prevents us from penetrating into the essence of the Dhamma in our mind. Wholesome bodily actions and speech themselves depend on the mind properly trained, since mind orders body and speech. Therefore, we must continue to practice by training our minds.

　　Drinking Glass

　　How can you find right understanding

　　 I can answer you simply by using this glass of water I am holding. It appears to us as clean and useful, something to drink from and keep for a long time. Right understanding is to see this as broken glass, as if it has already been shattered. Sooner or later, it will be shattered. If you keep this understanding while you are using it - that all it is is a combination of elements which come together in this form and then break apart - then no matter what happens to the glass, you will have no problem. The body is like the glass. It is also going to break apart and die. You have to understand that. Yet when you do, it doesn”t mean you should go and kill yourself, just as you shouldn”t take the glass and break it or throw it away. The glass is something to use until it falls apart in its own natural way. In the same way, the body is a vehicle to use until goes its own way. Your task is to see what the natural way of things is. This understanding can make you free in all the changing circumstances of the entire world.

　　Drunk

　　Anyone attached to the senses is like a drunkard who…

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