..續本文上一頁ar for some reason there has been no outbreak of any epidemic." Hearing this, I was stunned and thought, "He is a doctor who is supposed to see that more and more people are healthy and yet he wishes that more and more people should fall sick. What sort of a doctor is he

　　" I felt very bad.

　　With the passage of time, I obtained this wonderful technique of Vipassana, the pure quintessence of Dhamma. Earlier I had just read some books in the name of Dhamma. Walking on the path of Dhamma was far away. I did not know what pure Dhamma meant, I had not understood Dhamma. When I actually found pure Dhamma and started looking within myself, the truth started manifesting itself.

　　I was a businessman, born in the family of a businessman, and working as a businessman. Therefore, I can understand the mind of a businessman very well even today. If some world-war takes place, or there is a famine somewhere, and the supply of consumer items falls short resulting in their prices going up, and soaring high, the businessmen, in their business language, say, "The market is improving". For them, the market is improving. The people are facing difficulty, they are not concerned about it. They think, "I am earning a lot of money. Therefore the market is improving." When the war is over, there is no famine, there is a good harvest; everything is available in plenty, and the prices of consumer goods go down, the businessman in a very sorrowful voice says, "The market has gone down." This is the mentality of some businessmen. It is not wrong to do business. Every consumer cannot go to buy his requirements from the producer. To deliver the goods from the producer to the consumer is the job of the businessman. For this effort he takes his due share of profit. This is also not wrong. But the mentality, the volition of mind is most important. This is the yardstick by which it is measured whether one is practising sīla while earning one”s livelihood or not. At the surface level, one”s livelihood, one”s profession is proper, but one is not making the right use of it. One is doing it in the wrong manner, so it becomes impure. Instead of becoming moral, one becomes immoral. In this way, one must keep examining oneself, at every step, one must keep analysing oneself.

　　Since 1969, this technique of Vipassana meditation that was lost from India for the past 2500 years came back to India. Courses started being held all over India. The Ganges of the Dhamma once again began flowing in the country of its origin. People from all ranks, from all professions, from all communities, from all sects come to take Vipassana courses. They should certainly come. It is, after all, the Ganges of Dhamma. Whosoever comes, his thirst is quenched. The Ganges of Dhamma does not see whether the person who is drinking her water calls himself by this name or that name; belongs to this sect or that sect. Whosoever drinks it, his thirst is quenched. So people come. People from the business class also come and tell their problems to me. "What can we do, this is the situation faced by the entire country, this is the state of the government regulations. You say that we must carry on business honestly. but what can we do

　　 Everywhere there is corruption; how can we be honest

　　"

　　I also see that the country is facing a very bad situation. The business class is corrupt. The officials governing the country are corrupt. The leaders of the nation are also corrupt. Not all, but most of them are corrupt, so what can be done

　　 I explain to these business people, "You can at least do this much, in spite of so much corruption, just understand that your income comes from the pocket of your consumers. Therefore your consumer is your Lord who gives you your bread and butter. Therefore, even by mistake, do not cheat your Lord. Whatever product you give him, do not cheat him in its quality, quantity, measurement or weight. Do not give any adulterated product to anyone. This much you can do, can”t you

　　"

　　At least practise Dhamma to this extent. At least walk one step on the path of Dhamma. And then, you may earn wealth. Earning wealth is not bad. A householder should not beg money from others. Just as it is wrong for a recluse to accumulate money, it is wrong for a householder to become a pauper. By his effort, he should earn wealth honestly. But when wealth comes, ego naturally develops. "Look, I have earned this wealth, I am so capable! " Thus ego develops and one goes far away from liberation. To get rid of this ego, one should part with a portion of one”s excess wealth. If one is earning more, one should return a larger amount to society; if one is earning less one should return a smaller amount to society. In the ancient language, it was known as the duty of sharing a portion of one”s earnings with others.

　　So if a householder learns these two things, he has started practising sammā-ājīvo. He will keep progressing. If all these three: sammā-vācā, sammā-kammanto, and sammā-ājīvo are present, one understands that the first pision of the Noble Eightfold Path, the pision of sīla, is becoming stronger and stronger. As one proceeds further, one also strengthens the other two pisions of the Noble Eightfold Path and obtains its benefits, ample benefits. One who walks on the path of pure Dhamma, will certainly live a life full of happiness, full of peace, full of liberation.

　　May all beings be happy!

《The Universal Path of Dhamma》全文閱讀結束。