..續本文上一頁f; no one else can do it.

　　One often suffers from the delusion, "I am so helpless, I am so weak, how can I become liberated

　　 Someone will have mercy on me. Someone will liberate me out of compassion." Such a deluded person should understand, "Why should the saviour liberate me alone

　　 Am I someone special

　　 Just because I have become an expert at false praise, will the Almighty liberate me

　　" Why should the saviour liberate you alone

　　 The entire world is so miserable, and yet, he does not liberate anyone. It is clear that each person has to liberate oneself by removing one”s own defilements. Each person has tied knots within, and these knots have to be untied by one”s own efforts.

　　Someone full of compassion might show us the way. One who has reached the stage of liberation by walking on the path, a Buddha, will show the way. But one has to actually walk on this path oneself. One has to cover the entire path by walking step by step. At the start, someone might compassionately say, "Hold my hand and walk." Someone may walk alongside for a while but still one has to walk the path oneself. The sooner a person gets rid of the delusion that someone else will carry him or her on the shoulders to the final goal, the more beneficial it is for such a person.

　　Why would any unseen force generate defilements in the minds of all living beings and make them miserable

　　 One has accumulated defilements oneself; one will have to remove the defilements oneself. Someone might lovingly show us the path.

　　As the Buddha says:

　　"Tumhe hi kiccaṃ ātappam, akkhātaro tathāgatā."

　　You have to do your own work; Enlightened Ones only show the path.

　　The Buddha could show the path because he himself had walked the entire path and had reached the final goal. That is why he had become a tathāgata (an enlightened person). Out of compassion for all suffering beings, he lovingly explained to people that it is their responsibility to walk on the path to liberation. The sooner a person understands that one has to walk on the path oneself, the more fortunate that person is. One who hopes that someone else will liberate him because he is so helpless will never walk on the path. One will have to make the effort oneself. There will be many difficulties and obstacles on the path. One may stumble and fall but one should get up and start walking again until one reaches the stage of liberation.

　　An incident:

　　The Buddha was dwelling at Sāvatthi, the capital of Kosala, the most densely populated city in the India of those days. Several monks and nuns as well as male and female lay people would come to his meditation centre to listen to his discourses and to learn meditation. Some people came only to listen to the discourses but never put any of his teaching into practice. One such person arrived early one day and found the Buddha alone. He approached him and said, "Sir, I have a question that arises repeatedly in my mind. I am hesitant to ask when others are present. I am glad that you are alone today. With your permission, I will ask my question".

　　The Buddha replied, "There should not be any doubts on the path of Dhamma; have them clarified. What is your question

　　"

　　"Sir, I have been coming to your meditation centre for many years and I have noticed that many people come to you. Some of them, I can see, have certainly reached the final stage and have become fully liberated. I can see that others have experienced a great change in their lives though they are not yet fully liberated. But sir, there are some people, including myself, have not changed at all. They are just as they were earlier.

　　Why should this be, sir

　　 People come to you, a great person, so powerful and compassionate. They take refuge in you and yet there is no change in them. Why don”t you use all your power …

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