..續本文上一頁st listens and then contemplates, giving rise to the right results accordingly.

　　A wise man should contemplate and see the cause and effect for himself before he believes what he hears. Even if the teacher speaks the truth, don”t just believe it, because you don”t yet know the truth of it for yourself.

　　It”s the same for all of us, including myself. I”ve practiced before you, I”ve seen many lies before. For instance, "This practice is really difficult, really hard." Why is the practice difficult

　　 It”s just because we think wrongly, we have wrong view.

　　Previously I lived together with other monks, but I didn”t feel right. I ran away to the forests and mountains, fleeing the crowd, the monks and novices. I thought that they weren”t like me, they didn”t practice as hard as I did. They were sloppy. That person was like this, this person was like that. This was something that really put me in turmoil, it was the cause for my continually running away. But whether I lived alone or with others I still had no peace. On my own I wasn”t content, in a large group I wasn”t content. I thought this discontent was due to my companions, due to my moods, due to my living place, the food, the weather, due to this and that. I was constantly searching for something to suit my mind.

　　As a dhutanga 25 monk, I went traveling, but things still weren”t right. So I contemplated, "What can I do to make things right

　　 What can I do

　　" Living with a lot of people I was dissatisfied, with few people I was dissatisfied. For what reason

　　 I just couldn”t see it. Why was I dissatisfied

　　 Because I had wrong view, just that; because I still clung to the wrong Dhamma. Wherever I went I was discontent, thinking, "Here is no good, there is no good..." on and on like that. I blamed others. I blamed the weather, heat and cold, I blamed everything! Just like a mad dog. It bites whatever it meets, because it”s mad. When the mind is like this our practice is never settled. Today we feel good, tomorrow no good. It”s like that all the time. We don”t attain contentment or peace.

　　The Buddha once saw a jackal, a wild dog, run out of the forest where he was staying. It stood still for a while, then it ran into the underbrush, and them out again. Then it ran into a tree hollow, then out again. Then it went into a cave, only to run out again. One minute it stood, the next it ran, then it lay down, then it jumped up... That jackal had mange. When it stood the mange would eat into its skin, so it would run. Running it was still uncomfortable, so it would lie down. Then it would jump up again, running into the underbrush, the tree hollow, never staying still.

　　The Buddha said, "Monks, did you see that jackal this afternoon

　　 Standing it suffered, running it suffered, sitting it suffered, lying down it suffered. In the underbrush, a tree hollow or a cave, it suffered. It blamed standing for its discomfort, it blamed sitting, it blamed running and lying down; it blamed the tree, the underbrush and the cave. In fact the problem was with none of those things. That jackal had mange. The problem was with the mange."

　　We monks are just the same as that jackal. Our discontent is due to wrong view. Because we don”t exercise sense restraint we blame our suffering on externals. Whether we live at Wat Pah Pong, in America or in London we aren”t satisfied. Going to live at Bung Wai or any of the other branch monasteries we”re still not satisfied. Why not

　　 Because we still have wrong view within us, just that! Wherever we go we aren”t content.

　　But just as that dog, if the mange is cured, is content wherever it goes, so it is for us. I reflect on this often, and I teach you this often, because it”s very important. If we know the truth of our various moods we arrive at contentment. Whether it”s hot or…

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