..續本文上一頁escape from the dangers at sea. This is why he teaches us to develop generosity, virtue, and meditation, which are things that are going to pull us safely to solid ground.

　　When we develop the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha within ourselves, we won”t have to suffer. We make the mind into Dhamma, and the various defilements that spoil it will disappear. This is how we can escape from the sea.

　　Once we get on land we can have lots of fun, because there are a lot of things we never saw at sea. It”s like when we come into the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, where there are marsh trees and fresh green plants. We become enchanted and keep walking further inland to Sukhumvit Road. There we see bicycles and trucks and jeeps and pretty automobiles of different colors. This gets us even more excited, and some of us get smitten with what we see on land. In other words, we fall for the visions and signs that come in meditation. For instance, we may begin to remember previous lifetimes. If we remember bad things, we become sad. If we remember good things, we get happy. This turns into craving, the desire to be this or that, and some people get really deluded, thinking that they actually are the things they see.

　　If our discernment isn”t strong enough, then whatever we see will turn into the corruptions of insight (vipassanupakkilesa) — like people who get all excited the first time they see a car. They go running to the car, wanting to ride in it, wanting to drive it, but without looking right or left or stopping to take note of anything. They run right out into the middle of the road, get run over, and either die or break an arm or a leg. After all the trouble they went to in order to get out of the sea, they get deluded and put themselves in danger all over again.

　　But if our discernment is strong enough, whatever we see will turn into noble treasures (ariya-dhana). If we see a forest of marsh tress, we can put them to use. We can cut them into firewood to use ourselves or sell in the market. If the land is a tangle of weeds, we can clear it and turn it into fields. If we don”t let it lie fallow, it”s sure to yield crops.

　　Falling for visions is also called "skewed perception." The right way to act when you see a vision is to remember to evaluate it and then let it go in line with its true nature. Don”t latch onto what you see, because all things are inconstant. If you”re born poor, you suffer from your desire to be rich. If you”re born rich, you suffer in looking after your possessions, afraid that they”ll wear out, afraid that you”ll get cheated out of them, afraid that thieves will break in and steal them. There”s nothing certain or dependable at all. The same holds true with visions. So whatever you see, you have to let it go in line with its nature. Leave the trees in the forest, the grass in the meadows, and the rice in the fields. If you can do this, you can be at your ease, because you know what it”s like on land, what it”s like in the water, when to get in and when to get out. Once you”re skilled, you can travel on water or land, at your ease in every way. You can go forward or back without any obstacles. This is called lokavidu, knowing the world. You can stay with what you know, but you”re not stuck on it. You can live in the ocean without drowning. You can live in the world without getting sunk in the world — like a lotus leaf in the water: the water doesn”t seep into the leaf at all.

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　　When you”re true in what you do, your work will succeed in every way. For instance, if you”re true in observing the precepts, your precepts will get results. If you”re true in practicing concentration, your concentration will get results. If you”re true in developing discernment, your discernment will get results. The reason we don…

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