..續本文上一頁st in externals.

　　One who has zeal never misses walking and sitting meditation, never lets up in the maintenance of restraint and composure. Just observe the monks here. Whoever, having finished the meal and any business there may be, having hung out his robes, walks meditation -- and when we walk past his kuti [24] we see the walking path a well-worn trail, and we see it often -- this monk is not bored with the practice. This is one who has effort, who has zeal.

　　If all of you devote yourselves like this to the practice, then not many problems will arise. If you don”t abide with the practice, the walking and sitting meditation, there”s nothing more than just traveling around. Not liking it here you go traveling over there; not liking it there you come touring back here. That”s all there is to it, following your noses everywhere. These people don”t persevere, it”s good enough. You don”t have to do a lot of traveling around, just stay here and develop the practice, learn it in detail. Traveling round can wait till later, it”s not difficult. Make an effort, all of you.

　　Prosperity and decline hinge on this. If you really want to do things properly, then study and practice in proportion; use both of them together. It”s like the body and the mind. If the mind is at ease and the body free of disease and healthy, then the mind becomes composed. If the mind is confused, even if the body is strong there will be difficulty, let alone when the body experiences discomfort.

　　The study of meditation is the study of cultivation and relinquishment. What I mean by study here is: whenever the mind experiences a sensation, do we still cling to it

　　 Do we still create problems around it

　　 Do we still experience enjoyment or aversion over it

　　 To put it simply: Do we still get lost in our thoughts

　　 Yes, we do. If we don”t like something we react with aversion; if we do like it we react with pleasure, the mind becomes defiled and stained. If this is the case then we must see that we still have faults, we are still imperfect, we still have work to do. There must be more relinquishing and more persistent cultivation. This is what I mean by studying. If we get stuck on anything, we recognize that we are stuck. We know what state we”re in, and we work to correct ourselves.

　　Living with the teacher or apart from the teacher should be the same. Some people are afraid. They”re afraid that if they don”t walk meditation the teacher will upbraid or scold them. This is good in a way, but in the true practice you don”t need to be afraid of others, just be wary of faults arising within your own actions, speech or thoughts. When you see faults in your actions, speech or thoughts you must guard yourselves. Attano jodayattanam -- "you must exhort yourself," don”t leave it to others to do. We must quickly improve ourselves, know ourselves. This is called "studying," cultivating and relinquishing. Look into this till you see it clearly.

　　Living in this way we rely on endurance, persevering in face of all defilements. Although this is good, it is still on the level of "practicing the Dhamma without having, seen it." If we have practiced the Dhamma and seen it, then whatever is wrong we will have already given up, whatever is useful we will have cultivated. Seeing this within ourselves, we experience a sense of well-being. No matter what others say, we know our own mind, we are not moved. We can be at peace anywhere.

　　Now the younger monks and novices who have just begun to practice may think that the senior Ajahn doesn”t seem to do much walking or sitting meditation. Don”t imitate him in this. You should emulate, but not imitate. To emulate is one thing, to imitate another. The fact is that the senior Ajahn dwells within his own particular contented abiding. Even t…

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