..續本文上一頁ouch it with our hand, we”ll immediately feel the heat. In the same way, when the mind leaves the body it reappears in other places just like the fire that diffuses into its property.
To hold onto the body is to hold onto old kamma. To let go of the body is to let go of old kamma. And when we can let go in this way, there will be no more kamma in the body. It”s the same as with a piece of property. If we take possession of it, with a deed and the boundaries staked out, there tend to be problems with trespassing, swindling, boundary disputes, and cases in court. But if we don”t take possession of it and simply let it be public property, there will be no troubles or quarrels. This way the heart can be at its ease.
The body is like a boat; the river is our skillful intentions. Mindfulness is the wind that moves us along. The defilements are like sand bars. If you develop mindfulness at all times you”ll be able to take your "body-boat" to the other shore without running aground on the sand.
Defilements are like sand bars or stumps in a river that will keep our boat from getting to shore. In other words, passion is something that snags us, anger is something that bumps into us, and delusion is something that makes us spin around and sink. There”s a story they tell of two men who were hired to row a boat along the rivers and canals to sell plowshares, shovels, and hoes. If they sold all the wares in the boat, their employer would give them their full wages of one kahapana, which was equal to about four dollars, a day. The first day their employer went out with them, and they sold all their wares. After that, he didn”t go with them, so the two of them went out to sell their wares on their own. One day, as they were out rowing along, calling out, "Plowshares, shovels, and hoes!" their minds wandered and they started getting drowsy. All of a sudden they crashed smack into a stump and ran aground on a sandbar. Even after they got free they were so shaken up that instead of calling out, "Plowshares, shovels, and hoes!" they started calling out, "Sandbars and stumps! Sandbars and stumps!" all along the river, but nobody wanted to buy.
When evening came, they rowed back to their employer”s house, their boat still full of plowshares, shovels, and hoes. They hadn”t been able to sell a thing. So the employer gave them each only a dollar for their day”s wages. One of the men took the money back to his wife, who was surprised to see that she was getting only one dollar, instead of the usual four. "Maybe he”s given the rest of the money to another woman," she thought, so she gave him a piece of her mind. No matter how much he tried to explain things, she wouldn”t listen. So he told her to go ask the employer. If what he said wasn”t true, he”d be willing to let her hit him once on the head. The wife, impatient because she was so angry, said, "No, let me hit you first, and then I”ll go ask." As she said this, she reached for a shovel handle, but all she could grab was the stick they used to drive the dog out of the house, so she used that to bash her husband three times on the head. Later, of course, she found out the truth, but by that time it was too late, for the husband had already gotten three free hits on the head.
This story shows the harm that can come from not being mindful. If you let your mind wander away from what you”re doing, you can end up getting yourself into trouble.
If we were to make a comparison, the man at the prow of the boat stands for the monks. The man at the tail of the boat stands for the lay people. The stumps are passion, aversion, and delusion; while the sandbar is the Hindrances. If we”re not careful to be mindful, if we let our minds get entangled in defilements and covered with the five Hindrances, our Dha…
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