..續本文上一頁t really looked into them and seen the truth. We are stuck deep in this ignorance. We ask, when will we get the chance to see the Dhamma; but it is right here to be seen in the present..

　　This is the Dhamma we should learn about and see. This is what the Buddha taught about. He did not teach about gods and demons and nagas, protective deities, jealous demigods, nature spirits and the like. He taught the things that one should know and see. These are truths that we really should be able to realize. External phenomena are like this, exhibiting the three characteristics. Internal phenomena, i.e., this body, are like this, too. The truth can be seen in the hair, nails, skin and teeth. Previously they flourished. Now they are diminished. The hair thins and becomes gray. It is like this. Do you see

　　 Or will you say it is something you can”t see

　　 You certainly should be able to see with a little investigation.

　　If we really take an interest in all of this and contemplate seriously, we can gain genuine knowledge. If this were something that could not be done, the Buddha would not have bothered to talk about it. How many tens and hundreds of thousands of his followers have come to realization

　　 If one is really keen on looking at things, one can come to know. The Dhamma is like that.

　　We are living in this world. The Buddha wanted us to know the world. Living in the world, we gain our knowledge from the world. The Buddha is said to be Lokavidu, one who knows the world clearly. It means living in the world but not being stuck in the ways of the world; living among attraction and aversion, but not stuck in attraction and aversion. This can be spoken about and explained in ordinary language. This is how the Buddha taught.

　　Normally we speak in terms of atta, self, talking about me and mine, you and yours, but the mind can remain uninterruptedly in the realization of anatta, selflessness. Think about it. When we talk to children, we speak in one way; when dealing with adults, we speak in another way. If we use words appropriate to children to speak with adults, or use adults” words to speak with children, it won”t work out. In the proper use of conventions, we have to know when we are talking to children. It can be appropriate to talk about me and mine, you and yours, and so forth, but inwardly the mind is Dhamma, dwelling in realization of anatta. You should have this kind of foundation.

　　So the Buddha said that you should take the Dhamma as your foundation, your basis. Living and practicing in the world, will you take yourself, your ideas, desires and opinions, as a basis

　　 That is not right. The Dhamma should be your standard. If you take yourself as the standard, you become self-absorbed. If you take someone else as your standard, you are merely infatuated with that person. Being enthralled with ourselves or with another person is not the way of Dhamma. The Dhamma does not incline to any person or follow personalities. It follows the truth. It does not simply accord with the likes and dislikes of people; such habitual reactions have nothing to do with the truth of things.

　　If we really consider all of this and investigate thoroughly to know the truth, then we will enter the correct path. Our way of living will become correct. Thinking will be correct. Our actions and speech will be correct. So we really should look into all of this. Why is it that we have suffering

　　 Because of lack of knowledge, not knowing where things begin and end, not understanding the causes; this is ignorance. When there is this ignorance, then various desires arise, and, driven by them, we create the causes of suffering. Then the result must be suffering. When you gather firewood and light a match to it, and then you expect not to have any heat, what are your chanc…

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