..續本文上一頁 that teacher also. He listened to his teachers and did his best to follow their teachings. He continually surveyed the results of his practice, he didn”t simply do things and then discard them for something else.

　　Even when it came to ascetic practices, after he had tried them he realized that starving until one is almost skeleton is simply a matter for the body. The body doesn”t know anything. practicing in that way was like executing an innocent person while ignoring the real thief.

　　When the Buddha really looked into the matter he saw that practice is not a concern of the body, it is a concern of the mind. Attakilamathanuyogo (self-mortification) -- the Buddha had tried it and found that it was limited to the body. In fact, all Buddhas are enlightened in mind.

　　Whether in regard to the body or to the mind, just throw them all together as Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless -- aniccam, dukkham and anatta. They are simply conditions of Nature. They arise depending on supporting factors, exist for a while and then cease. When there are appropriate conditions they arise again; having arisen they exist for a while, then cease once more. These things are not a "self," a "being," an "us" or a "them." There”s nobody there, simply feelings. Happiness has no intrinsic self, suffering has no intrinsic self. No self can be found, there are simply elements of Nature which arise, exist and cease. They go through this constant cycle of change.

　　All beings, including humans, tend to see the arising as themselves, the existence as themselves, and the cessation as themselves. Thus they cling to everything. They don”t want things to be the way they are, they don”t want them to be otherwise. For instance, having arisen they don”t want things to cease; having experienced happiness, they don”t want suffering. If suffering does arise they want it to go away as quickly as possible, but even better if it doesn”t arise at all. This is because they see this body and mind as themselves, or belonging to themselves, and so they demand those things to follow their wishes.

　　This sort of thinking is like building a dam or a dike without making an outlet to let the water through. The result is that the dam bursts. And so it is with this kind of thinking. The Buddha saw that thinking in this way is the cause of suffering. Seeing this cause, the Buddha gave it up.

　　This is the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering. The Truths of Suffering, its Cause, its Cessation and the Way leading to that Cessation...people are stuck right here. If people are to overcome their doubts it”s right at this point. Seeing that these things are simply rupa and nama, or corporeality and mentality, it becomes obvious that they are not a being, a person, an "us," or a "them." They simply follow the laws of Nature.

　　Our practice is to know things in this way. We don”t have the power to really control these things, we aren”t really their owners. Trying to control them causes suffering, because they aren”t really ours to control. Neither body nor mind are self or others. If we know this as it really is then we see clearly. We see the truth, we are at one with it. It”s like seeing a lump of red hot iron which has been heated in a furnace. It”s hot all over. Whether we touch it on top, the bottom or the sides it”s hot. No matter where we touch it, it”s hot. This is how you should see things.

　　Mostly when we start to practice we want to attain, to achieve, to know and to see, but we don”t yet know what it is we”re going to achieve or know. There was once a disciple of mine whose practice was plagued with confusion and doubts. But he kept practicing, and I kept instructing him, till he began to find some peace. But when he eventually became a bit calm he got caught up in his doubts aga…

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