..續本文上一頁ary to that of worldly beings. The world calls the body beautiful, he says it”s not beautiful. They say the body belongs to us, he says not so. They say it”s substantial, he says it”s not. Right view is above the world. Worldly beings merely follow the flow of the stream.

　　Continuing on, when the Buddha got up from there, he received eight handfuls of grass from a brahman. The real meaning of this is that the eight handfuls of grass were the right worldly dhammas — gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness. The Buddha, having received this grass, determined to sit on it and enter samadhi. The action of sitting on the grass was itself samadhi, that is, his mind was above the worldly dhammas, subduing the world until it realized the transcendent. The worldly dhammas became like refuse for him, they lost all meaning. He sat over them but they didn”t obstruct his mind in any way. The various maras came to try to overcome him, but he just sat there in samadhi, subduing the world, until finally he became enlightened to the Dhamma and completely defeated Mara. 16 That is, he defeated the world. So the practice of developing the path is that which kills defilements.

　　People these days have little faith. Having practiced a year or two they want to get there, and they want to go fast. They don”t consider that the Buddha, our Teacher, had left home a full six years before he became enlightened. This is why we have "freedom from dependence." 17 According to the scriptures, a monk must have at least five rains 18 before he is considered able to live on his own. By this time he has studied and practiced sufficiently, he has adequate knowledge, he has faith, his conduct is good. Someone who practices for five years, I say he”s competent. But he must really practice, not just "hang out" in the robes for five years. He must really look after the practice, really do it!

　　Until you reach five rains you may wonder, "What is this ”freedom from dependence” that the Buddha talked about

　　" You must really try to practice for five years and then you”ll know for yourself the qualities he was referring to. After that time you should be competent, competent in mind, one who is certain. At the very least, after five rains, one should be at the first stage of enlightenment. This is not just five rains in body but five rains in mind as well. That monk has fear of blame, a sense of shame and modesty. He doesn”t dare to do wrong either in front of people or behind their backs, in the light or in the dark. Why not

　　 Because he has reached the Buddha, ”The One who knows”. He takes refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.

　　To depend truly on the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha we must see the Buddha. What use would it be to take refuge without knowing the Buddha

　　 If we don”t yet know the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, our taking refuge in them is just an act of body and speech, the mind still hasn”t reached them. Once the mind reaches them we know what the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha are like. Then we can really take refuge in them, because these things arise in our minds. Wherever we are we will have the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha with us.

　　One who is like this doesn”t dare to commit evil acts. This is why we say that one who has reached the first stage of enlightenment will no longer be born in the woeful states. His mind is certain, he has entered the Stream, there is no doubt for him. If he doesn”t reach full enlightenment today it will certainly be some time in the future. He may do wrong but not enough to send him to Hell, that is, he doesn”t regress to evil bodily and verbal actions, he is incapable of it. So we say that person has entered the Noble Birth. He cannot return. This is something y…

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