..續本文上一頁l aptitude and the merit we”ve accumulated. We keep doing our part. Don”t worry that it might take a long time. Even if it takes a hundred or a thousand lifetimes to get Enlightened, so what
However many lifetimes it takes we just keep practicing with a heart at ease, comfortable with our pace. Once our mind has entered the stream, there”s nothing to fear. It will have gone beyond even the smallest evil action. The Buddha said that the mind of a Sotapanna, someone who has attained the first stage of Enlightenment, has entered the stream of Dhamma that flows to Enlightenment. These people will never again have to experience the grim lower realms of existence, never again fall into hell. How could they possibly fall into hell when their minds have abandoned evil
They”ve seen the danger in making bad kamma. Even if you tried to force them to do or say something evil, they would be incapable of it, so there”s no chance of ever again descending into hell or the lower realms of existence. Their minds are flowing with the current of Dhamma.
Once you”re in the stream, you know what your responsibilities are. You comprehend the work ahead. You understand how to practice Dhamma. You know when to strive hard and when to relax. You comprehend your body and mind, this physical and mental process, and you renounce the things that should be renounced, continually abandoning without a shred of doubt.
CHANGING OUR VISION
In my life of practicing Dhamma, I didn”t attempt to master a wide range of subjects. Just one. I refined this heart. Say we look at a body. If we find that we”re attracted to a body then analyze it. Have a good look: head hair, body hair, nails, teeth and skin.[5] The Buddha taught us to thoroughly and repeatedly contemplate these parts of the body. Visualize them separately, pull them apart, peel off the skin and bum them up. This is how to do it. Stick with this meditation until it”s firmly established and unwavering. See everyone the same. For example, when the monks and novices go into the village on alms round in the morning, whoever they see - whether it”s another monk or a villager - they imagine him or her as a dead body, a walking corpse staggering along on the road ahead of them. Remain focused on this perception. This is how to put forth effort. It leads to maturity and development. When you see a young woman whom you find attractive, imagine her as a walking corpse, her body putrid and reeking from decomposition. See everyone like that. And don”t let them get too close! Don”t allow the infatuation to persist in your heart. If you perceive others as putrid and reeking, I can assure you the infatuation won”t persist. Contemplate until you”re sure about what you”re seeing, until it”s definite, until you”re proficient. Whatever path you then wander down you won”t go astray. Put your whole heart into it. Whenever you see someone it”s no different than looking at a corpse. Whether male or female, look at that person as a dead body. And don”t forget to see yourself as a dead body. Eventually this is all that”s left. Try to develop this way of seeing as thoroughly as you can. Train with it until it increasingly becomes part and parcel of your mind. I promise it”s great fun - if you actually do it. But if you are preoccupied with reading about it in books, you”ll have a difficult time of it. You”ve got to do it. And do it with utmost sincerity. Do it until this meditation becomes a part of you. Make realization of Truth your aim. If you”re motivated by the desire to transcend suffering, then you”ll be on the right path.
These days there are many people teaching vipassana and a wide range of meditation techniques. I”ll say this: doing vipassana is not easy. We can”t just jump straight into it. It won”t work if it”s not pr…
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