..續本文上一頁ngs actually lead to Nibbana. If at the end of the day you look back and you know that you tried your best, then you are accumulating spiritual qualities, you are getting inwardly filled with these precious drops of water, and drawing closer to the goal. By continuing in this way, it will and must happen that Enlightenment will come to you as well. This reflection is a means of developing faith in the Buddha”s teachings.

　　The Buddha not only encouraged faith using the metaphoric "carrot" -- the encouragement, incitement, and reassurance that this is a path which produces fruit; he also used "the stick.". The stick is just reflecting and wisely seeing the consequences of going the wrong way -- into the realm of craving and desire, of disappointment and frustration; into the realm of suffering; into realm of more births - - and uncertain births at that . Uncertain births produce uncertain results, sometimes with great suffering and great torment.

　　That is enough of a stick because it gives a sense of wholesome fear (Ottappa), the fear of the consequences of not continuing to make an effort, not continuing to walk this path, and not continuing to progress as far as your ability allows. It doesn”t matter where you are on the path as long as you are stepping forward, as long as every day another drop falls, filling up that great jar inside yourself. If you are doing that, in the sense that you are walking the path that leads to Nibbana.

　　Virtue

　　The Buddha and the Noble Ones always say that that path is the Noble Eightfold path -- the path of virtue (Sila), concentration (Samadhi), and wisdom (Panna). To walk the path of virtue means that you will not harm any living being. One dwells with a mind concerned with the happiness of all beings -- that softness of mind concerned with the welfare of all beings wherever they may be, including oneself. That virtue has to be perfected. It”s not enough to have 90% virtue, 95% virtue, or even 99% virtue -- it must be fully purified; purified, first of all, by faith.

　　The Buddha said that virtue is the foundation of the path. Virtue is the ground on which rest the higher aspects and factors of the Eightfold path. If this part of the path is weak, if one takes liberties with one”s virtue and one bends the rules, it”s going to weaken concentration and create impediments to the arising of wisdom. Thus out of faith and trust in the Buddha”s teachings, and in the teachings of all the great monks and nuns, one resolves in a place which is deeper than the defilements, "I shall uphold these precepts as if they were a golden casket full of jewels; I shall hold them up to my head; I shall value them and protect them. They are of the Buddha."

　　One famous meditation teacher used to make sure that the monks would look after their alms bowls by telling them to regard their bowls as the Buddha”s head. One should regard virtue as what”s on top of the Buddha”s head, or even higher. One should hold it in such reverence and value it so much that one would not dare to deliberately go against any advice or pronouncement of the Lord Buddha. Eventually, as one develops greater concentration and wisdom, one”s faith in the Buddha”s teaching grows to the extent that you would not transgress these precepts even for the sake of life. It becomes almost impossible to do so. The mind values them so highly because they came from the Tathagata, because they lead to Nibbana and because, by empowering the mind to achieve concentration, they open up the door for wisdom to enter.

　　At first one just has ordinary confidence and faith. But with each realisation and with each deep insight, one”s confidence and faith are transformed -- not into love or worship, but into something higher and deeper than that. They are transformed into an eno…

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