..續本文上一頁ate dosa, and I generate moha - is there any Buddha above the clouds who will come and save me

　　 I will have to suffer; calling myself a Buddhist won”t help. If I really want to come out of suffering I must come out of lobha, I must come out of dosa, I must come out of moha.

　　The beauty of Buddha”s teaching is that he discovered this law in depth, made use of it for his own enlightenment and then distributed it to others. "Look; I got enlightenment by this, I got liberated by this. You can also get liberated, everyone of you. You just try - you just work with the practice.

　　And it is the beauty of Buddha”s teaching that he says, "I am not teaching to have you as my pupils." In the Udumbara Sutta he says, "I am not interested to make you my pupil, I am not interested in breaking you from your old teacher - I am not interested. I am not interested even to change your goal, because everyone wants to come out of suffering. Just give me seven days of your life." Buddha says, "Just give me seven days of your life and try it. Try something that I have discovered and then judge for yourselves whether it is good or not good for you. If it is good for you, then accept it. Otherwise, don”t accept it." This is Buddha”s way of teaching. He is not interested in snaring pupils. Nor is he interested in establishing a sect, a particular sect. How will the world benefit if everyone in the world calls himself or herself a Buddhist but no one practises Dhamma

　　 Rather these people will be helped and the world will be helped when people practise sila, samadhi, and panna. This starts to benefit oneself and others. The whole atmosphere becomes purified.

　　It becomes charged with Dhamma - with the vibration of purity with the vibration of metta, because one starts practising. The Buddha wants us to practise, not to play intellectual games. These games will not help; they are a big delusion.

　　Take as an example the taste of a piece of cake. The cake is very sweet. You accept that it is sweet because the Buddha said so. And you have great devotion in Buddha, so you accept it. This is mere acceptance. "Kim mannasi - what do you believe

　　 I believe Buddha”s teaching is wonderful." This is merely your belief. Or suppose you take one step further and you try to intellectualize: "Oh, Buddha says this is so. Others say something different. Buddha”s words are so rational, so scientific - ah, wonderful! Buddha”s teaching is so wonderful. "Again, what do you gain

　　 The cake is very sweet because it contains sugar. So naturally it is sweet. It must be sweet. But is the cake really sweet or not

　　 Only when you put it on your own tongue and you taste it can you say, "Yes, it is sweet." It is sweet on your tongue . If you do not practise Buddha”s teaching - you just keep admiring his teaching - then you are a wonderful admirer of Buddha. You are also a wonderful devotee of Buddha but you are not a follower of Buddha. And one does not get anything unless one follows what Buddha taught.

　　Devotion is wonderful. Saddha- (devotion) is the first step on the path of Dhamma. I say saddha is like preparing a field for cultivation. You plough the field, you remove all the pebbles and stones, you cultivate it well-and then you sit near this field and keep praying. "Now I have prepared the field. Oh field, give me a wonderful crop; please give me a fruitful crop." Similarly, "Oh Buddha, please do something to give me a wonderful crop." But nothing comes up. You have to plant the seeds in the field; you have to irrigate it; you have to fertilize properly. Only then will you find that healthy crops have grown. Devotion is like preparing the ground but don”t stop there. It is a very important step, no doubt. But then, you have to take the next steps and those you have to take yourself, no…

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