..續本文上一頁w. Going this way there is only difficulty and distress. Indulgence in Pleasure — if you”ve escaped from this, it means you”ve escaped from happiness. These ways, both happiness and unhappiness, are not peaceful states. The Buddha taught to let go of both of them. This is right practice. This is the Middle Way.

　　These words, "the Middle Way," do not refer to our body and speech, they refer to the mind. When a mental impression which we don”t like arises, it affects the mind and there is confusion. When the mind is confused, when it”s "shaken up," this is not the right way. When a mental impression arises which we like, the mind goes to indulgence in pleasure — that”s not the way either.

　　We people don”t want suffering, we want happiness. But in fact happiness is just a refined form of suffering. Suffering itself is the coarse form. You can compare them to a snake. The head of the snake is unhappiness, the tail of the snake is happiness. The head of the snake is really dangerous, it has the poisonous fangs. If you touch it, the snake will bite straight away. But never mind the head, even if you go and hold onto the tail, it will turn around and bite you just the same, because both the head and the tail belong to the one snake.

　　In the same way, both happiness and unhappiness, or pleasure and sadness, arise from the same parent — wanting. So when you”re happy the mind isn”t peaceful. It really isn”t! For instance, when we get the things we like, such as wealth, prestige, praise or happiness, we become pleased as a result. But the mind still harbors some uneasiness because we”re afraid of losing it. That very fear isn”t a peaceful state. Later on we may actually lose that thing and then we really suffer. Thus, if you aren”t aware, even if you”re happy, suffering is imminent. It”s just the same as grabbing the snake”s tail — if you don”t let go it will bite. So whether it”s the snake”s tail or its head, that is, wholesome or unwholesome conditions, they”re all just characteristics of the Wheel of Existence, of endless change.

　　The Buddha established morality, concentration and wisdom as the path to peace, the way to enlightenment. But in truth these things are not the essence of Buddhism. They are merely the path. The Buddha called them "Magga," which means "path." The essence of Buddhism is peace, and that peace arises from truly knowing the nature of all things. If we investigate closely, we can see that peace is neither happiness nor unhappiness. Neither of these is the truth.

　　The human mind, the mind which the Buddha exhorted us to know and investigate, is something we can only know by its activity. The true "original mind" has nothing to measure it by, there”s nothing you can know it by. In its natural state it is unshaken, unmoving. When happiness arises all that happens is that this mind is getting lost in a mental impression, there is movement. When the mind moves like this, clinging and attachment to those things come into being.

　　The Buddha has already laid down the path of practice fully, but we have not yet practiced, or if we have, we”ve practiced only in speech. Our minds and our speech are not yet in harmony, we just indulge in empty talk. But the basis of Buddhism is not something that can be talked about or guessed at. The real basis of Buddhism is full knowledge of the truth of reality. If one knows this truth then no teaching is necessary. If one doesn”t know, even if he listens to the teaching, he doesn”t really hear. This is why the Buddha said, "The Enlightened One only points the way." He can”t do the practice for you, because the truth is something you cannot put into words or give away.

　　All the teachings are merely similes and comparisons, means to help the mind see the truth. If we haven”t seen the truth we…

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