..續本文上一頁re and aversion in my mind, but it”s hard to observe delusion." "You”re riding on a horse and asking where the horse is

　　" was Ajahn Chah”s reply.

　　175

　　Some people become monks out of faith but then trample on the teachings of the Buddha. They don”t know themselves better. Those who really practice are few these days for there are too many obstacles to overcome. But if it isn”t good, let it die; if it doesn”t die, then make it good.

　　176

　　You say you love your girlfriend one hundred percent. Well, turn her inside out and see how many percent of her you still love. Or if you miss your lover so much when she”s not with you, then why not ask her to send you a vial of her feces in it. In that way, whenever you think of her with longing, you can open the vial and smell it. Disgusting

　　 What is it, then, that you love

　　 What is it that makes your heart pound like a rice pounder every time a girl with a really attractive figure comes walking along or you smell her perfume in the air

　　 What is it

　　 What are these forces

　　 They pull and suck you in, but you don”t put up a real fight, do you

　　 There”s a price to pay for it in the end, you know!

　　177

　　One day Ajahn Chah came upon a large, heavy branch that was lying in his path and which he wanted to move out of the way. He motioned to a disciple to get hold of one end while he lifted the other. Then when they held it ready to throw, he looked up and asked, "Is it heavy

　　" And after they had flung it into the forest, he asked again, "Now, is it heavy

　　" It was like this that Ajahn Chah taught his disciples to see Dhamma in everything they said or did. In this case, he demonstrated the benefit of "letting go".

　　178

　　One of Ajahn Chah”s disciples was unplugging a tape recorder when he accidentally touched the metal prongs of the plug while it was still connected. He got a shock and dropped it immediately. Ajahn Chah noticed and said, "Oh! How come you could let go of that so easily

　　 Who told you to

　　"

　　179

　　It was Christmas and the foreign monks had decided to celebrate it. They invited some laypeople as well as Ajahn Chah to join them. The laypeople were generally upset and skeptical. Why, they asked, were Buddhists celebrating Christmas

　　 Ajahn Chah then gave a talk on religion in which he said, "As far as I understand, Christianity teaches people to do good and avoid evil, just as Buddhism does, so what is the problem

　　 However, if people are upset by the idea of celebrating Christmas, that can be easily remedied. We won”t call it Christmas. Let”s call it “Christ-Buddhamas”. Anything that inspires us to see what is true and do what is good is proper practice. You may call it any name you like."

　　180

　　During the time refugees were pouring into Thailand from Laos and Cambodia, the charitable organizations that came out to help were many. This made some ordained Westerners think it was not right that Buddhist monks and nuns should just sit in the forest while other religious organizations were so actively participating in alleviating the plight of the refugees. So they approached Ajahn Chah to express their concern, and this is what he said, "Helping in refugee camps is good. It is indeed our natural human duty to each other. But going through our own madness so that we can lead others through, that”s the only cure. Anyone can go out and distribute clothes and pitch tents, but how many can come into the forest and sit to know their minds

　　 As long as we don”t know how to “clothe” and “feed” people”s minds, there will always be a refugee problem somewhere in the world."

　　181

　　Ajahn Chah listened to one of his disciples recite the Heart Sutra. When he had finished, Ajahn Chah said, "No emptiness either… no bodhisatta." He then asked, "Where did the sutra come from

　　" "It”s reputed to have been …

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