..續本文上一頁ng effort into the training, following the monastic guidelines and helping each other with any useful advice you can offer. Anyone who isn”t happy training here is free to go elsewhere. If you want to stay then go ahead and get on with the practice.
It has an extremely beneficial effect on the community if there is one of the group who is self-contained and solidly training himself. The other monks around will start to notice and take example from the good aspects of that monk”s behaviour. They will observe him and ask themselves how it is he manages to maintain a sense of ease and calm while training himself in mindfulness. The good example provided by that monk is one of the most beneficial things he can do for his fellow beings. If you are a junior member of a monastic community, training with a daily routine and keeping to rules about the way things are done, you have to follow the lead of the senior monks and keep putting effort into the routine. Whatever the activity is you do it, and when it”s time to finish you stop. You say those things that are appropriate and useful, and train yourself to refrain from speech that is inappropriate and harmful. Don”t allow that kind of speech to slip out. There”s no need to take lots of food at the mealtime - just take a few things and leave the rest. When you see that there”s a lot of food, the tendency is to indulge and start picking a little of this and trying a little of that and that way you end up eating everything that”s been offered. When you hear the invitation, " Please take some of this, Ajahn", "Please take some of that, Venerable", if you”re not careful it will just stir up the mind. The thing to do is let go. Why get involved with it
You think that it”s the food stirring you up, but the real root of the problem is that you let the mind go out and meddle with the food. If you can reflect and see this, it should make life a lot easier. The problem is you don”t have enough wisdom. You don”t have enough insight to see how the process of cause and effect works.
Actually, while on the road in the past, when it has been necessary I”ve even been prepared to stay in one of the village or city monasteries._ In the course of your travels when you are alone and have to pass through different monastic communities that have varying standards of training and discipline, recite the verse to yourself: "suddhi asuddhi paccattam" (the purity or impurity of one”s virtue is something one knows for oneself), both as a protection and as a guideline for reflection. You might end up having to rely on your own integrity in this way.
When you are moving through an area you haven”t been to before you might have to make a choice over the place you are going to stay for the night. The Buddha taught that monks and nuns should live in peaceful places. So, depending on what”s available, you should try and find a place to stay and meditate that is peaceful. If you can”t find a really quiet place, you can as second best, at least find a place where you are able to be at peace internally. So, if for some reason it”s necessary to stay in a certain place, you must learn how to live there peacefully - without letting craving (tanha) overcome the mind. If you then decide to leave that monastery or forest, don”t leave because of craving. Similarly, if you are staying somewhere, don”t stay there because of craving. Understand what is motivating your thinking and actions. It”s true that the Buddha advised monastics to lead a lifestyle and find living conditions that are conducive to peace and suitable for meditation. How will you cope on those occasions when you can”t find a peaceful place
In the end the whole thing could just drive you crazy. Where will you go next
Stay right where you are; stay put and lear…
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