..續本文上一頁o them equally. When there is unhappiness, we feel bothered, and we want it to go away quickly, so we feel it”s hard to get rid of. Happiness doesn”t usually bother us, so we are friends with it and we feel we can let go of it easily. It”s not like that; it”s not oppressing and squeezing our hearts, that”s all. Unhappiness oppresses us. We think one has more value or weight than the other, but in truth they are equal. It”s like heat and cold. We can be burned to death by fire. We can also be frozen stiff by cold, and we die just the same. Neither is greater than the other. Happiness and suffering are like this, but in our thinking we give them different value.

　　Or take praise and criticism. Do you feel that praise is easy to let go of, and criticism is hard to let go of

　　 They really are equal. But when we are praised, we don”t feel disturbed; we are pleased, but it”s not a sharp feeling. Criticism is painful, so we feel it”s hard to let go of. Being pleased is also hard to let go of, but we are partial to it so we don”t have the same desire to get rid of it quickly. The delight we take in being praised and the sting we feel when criticized are equal. They are the same. But when our minds meet these things, we have unequal reactions to them. We don”t mind being close to some of them.

　　Please understand this. In our meditation we will meet with the arising of all sorts of mental afflictions. The correct outlook is to be ready to let go of all of it, whether pleasant or painful. Even though happiness is something we desire and suffering is something we don”t desire, we recognize they are of equal value. These are things that we will experience.

　　Happiness is wished for by people in the world. Suffering is not wished for. Nirvana is something beyond wishing or not wishing. Do you understand

　　 There is no wishing involved in Nirvana. Wanting to get happiness, wanting to be free of suffering, wanting to transcend happiness and suffering—there are none of these things. It is peace.

　　As I see it, realizing the truth doesn”t happen by relying on others. You should understand that all doubts will be resolved by our own efforts, by continuous, energetic practice. We won”t get free of doubt by asking others. We will end doubt through our own unrelenting efforts.

　　Remember this! It”s an important principle in practice. The actual doing is what will instruct you. You will come to know all right and wrong. “The Brahmin shall reach the exhaustion of doubt through unceasing practice.” Wherever we go, it doesn”t matter--everything can still be resolved through our own ceaseless efforts. But we can”t stick with it. We can”t bear the difficulties we meet, and we find it hard to face up to our suffering and not try to run away from it. If we do face it and bear with it, then we gain knowledge, and the practice starts instructing us automatically, teaching us about right and wrong and the way things really are. If our thinking is wrong, our practice will show us the fault and ill result of that of itself. It really happens like this. But it”s hard to find people who can see it through. Everyone wants instant awakening. Rushing here and there following your impulses, you only end up worse off for it. Be careful about this.

　　I”ve often taught that tranquility is stillness; flowing is wisdom. It means that we practice meditation to calm the mind and make it still; then it can flow.

　　In the beginning, we learn what still water is like and what flowing water is like. After practicing for a while we will see how these two support each other. We have to make the mind calm, like still water. Then it flows. Both being still and flowing: this is something not easy to contemplate.

　　We can understand that still water doesn”t flow. We can understand that flowing wa…

《Monastery of Confusion by Ajahn Chah》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…