..續本文上一頁as when we come up the stairs to the meditation hall we escape the cats and dogs that would otherwise bother us. Here, they can”t jump up and pounce on us. But if we sit on the ground, we”re exposed to the sun and rain and all sorts of disturbances. We”re mixed up with sages and fools.

　　When wise people practice the Dhamma, they have to be selective and choose only what”s good. They won”t let their minds feed on anything spoiled, because spoiled things, when we feed on them, can be toxic and harmful. As for good things, when we eat them, they don”t cause any harm. They can only benefit us.

　　Goodness, evil, purity — all come from within us. The Buddha thus taught that each of us has his or her own kamma. What he said on this point is absolutely true. There”s no way you can argue with it. ”Kamma” means the good and bad actions that come from intentions. Intentions are thoughts that come from the mind, so the mind lies at the essence of intention and kamma, because the mind is what thinks and gives the orders. When an intention is shoddy or dishonest, the resulting action is bad kamma and will result in suffering. When an intention is good, proper, and honest, the action will be good kamma and will result in pleasure. So whether we”re to suffer or to experience pleasure, to be good or shoddy, pure or impure, depends on our own actions and intentions, not on anything anyone else may do for us. Once we realize this, there”s no more confusion.

　　The Lessons of Unawareness

　　August 21, 1956

　　"The sermon this afternoon was on the theme, ”vijja-carana-sampanno sugato lokavidu.” I didn”t listen to the beginning. All I can remember is this:"

　　...The real nature of the Dhamma isn”t all that difficult for people who have awareness; but it is hard for people who don”t. It”s hard because it goes against our wishes. If it followed our wishes, it”d be easy. The genuine Dhamma is something that goes against our wishes because good things ordinarily are bound to be that way. It”s the nature of things that are beneficial and useful to us that they”re hard and require effort. Even worldly things are this way. Things actually beneficial are usually hard to obtain. But as for things of no real use to us, there”s no need to go to any great trouble to search for them. There are heaps of them right in our own back yard.

　　I”m referring here to unawareness — ignorance of what”s real. But this ignorance of what”s real is the wellspring that can give rise to awareness, or knowledge of what”s real. This knowledge of what”s real exists everywhere, like water vapor that rises into the atmosphere. Whoever has the ingenuity to find it and bring it inwards will feel cool, content and refreshed. This is called vijja-carana-sampanno, which is the opposite of unawareness. So I”d like to explain one more point in the theme, vijja-carana-sampanno, which means, ”Those who really search for the Dhamma are sure to be always giving rise to knowledge within themselves.”

　　Here we first have to explain the word ”dhamma.” Dhamma is something that exists in each and every one of us. It can be pided into three sorts: skillful, unskillful and neutral.

　　1. Skillfulness (kusala-dhamma) means the goodness that exists naturally, whether or not there”s a Buddha to point it out. This dhamma is what gives comfort and benefit to living beings in proportion to how much they practice it. Don”t go thinking that goodness comes from having been formulated by the Buddha, or that it comes from his teachings. Goodness has been in the world ever since long before the time of the Buddha, but no one was really acquainted with it because no sage had been able to identify it. But when the Buddha came and ferreted out awareness itself, he was able to see the dhamma that has existed in the world from time…

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