..續本文上一頁 teaching them every day. When they open their eyes, their sight is fuzzy. In the morning their backs ache. In the evening, their legs hurt. That”s it! This is really an excellent subject to study. Some of you older people will say you can”t meditate. What do you want to meditate on

　　 Who will you learn meditation from

　　This is seeing the body in the body and sensation in sensation. Are you seeing them or are you running away from them

　　 Saying you can”t practice because you”re too old is only wrong understanding. The question is, are things clear to you

　　 Elderly persons have a lot of thinking, a lot of sensation, a lot of discomfort and pain. Everything appears! If they meditate, they can really testify to it. So I say that meditation is easy for old folks. They can do it best. It”s like the way everyone says, “When I”m old, I”ll go to the monastery.” If you understand this, it”s true alright. You have to see it within yourself. When you sit, it”s true; when you stand up, it”s true; when you walk, it”s true. Everything is a hassle, everything is presenting obstacles—and everything is teaching you. Isn”t that so

　　 Can you just get up and walk away so easily now

　　 When you stand up, it”s “Oy!” Or haven”t you noticed

　　 And it”s “Oy!” when you walk. It”s prodding you.

　　When you”re young, you can just stand up and walk, going on your way. But you don”t really know anything. When you”re old, every time you stand up, it”s “Oy!” Isn”t that what you say

　　 “Oy! Oy!” Every time you move, you learn something. So how can you say it”s difficult to meditate

　　 Where else is there to look

　　 It”s all correct. The devadhuta are telling you something. It”s most clear: sankhara are telling you they are not stable or permanent, not you or yours. They are telling you this every moment.

　　But we are thinking differently. We don”t think that this is right. We entertain wrong view, and our ideas are far from the truth. But actually, old persons can see impermanence, suffering, and lack of self and give rise to dispassion and disenchantment, because the evidence is right there within them all the time. I think that”s good.

　　Having the sensitivity within yourself that is always aware of right and wrong is called Buddho. It”s not necessary to be continually repeating “Buddho.” You”ve counted the fruit in your basket. Every time you sit down, you don”t have to go to the trouble of spilling out the fruit and counting it again. You can leave it in the basket. But someone with mistaken attachment will keep counting. He”ll stop under a tree, spill it out and count, and put it back in the basket. Then he”ll walk on to the next stopping place and do it again. But he”s just counting the same fruit. This is craving itself. He”s afraid that if he doesn”t count, there will be some mistake. We are afraid that if we don”t keep saying “Buddho,” we”ll be mistaken. What is mistaken

　　 It”s only the person who doesn”t know how much fruit there is who needs to count. Once you know, you can take it easy and just leave it in the basket. When you”re sitting, you just sit. When you”re lying down, you just lie down, because your fruit is all there with you.

　　Practicing virtue, creating merit, we say, “Nibbana paccayo hotu”—may it be a condition for realizing Nibbana. To create conditions for realizing Nibbana, making offerings is good. Keeping precepts is good. Practicing meditation is good. Listening to Dhamma teachings is good. May they become conditions for realizing Nibbana.

　　But what is Nibbana all about anyway

　　 Nibbana is not grasping. Nibbana is not giving meaning to things. Nibbana is letting go. Making offerings and doing meritorious deeds, observing moral precepts, meditating on lovingkindness, all these are for getting rid of defilements and craving and making the mind empty—…

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