..續本文上一頁ttached to their quarters, their ordination halls, their meeting halls, their bodies, will be reborn right there. This is called sensual clinging: Whatever object we cling to, there we will be reborn. For example, there is a story told in the Dhammapada Commentary of a monk who received a robe that gave him great satisfaction and of which he became very possessive. When he died he was reborn as a louse right there in the robe, all because he had no inner quality as a dwelling for the heart.
So for our building and development to go beyond physical objects, we should build and repair a shelter for the heart. Only then will we be qualified to take on external duties — and in performing our duties, we should be careful not to let our inner home become overgrown with the weeds of defilement, or to let the termites of the Hindrances eat into it. Don”t let vermin, lizards, or lice — character flaws (mala) — take up residence inside. Roof the home of the heart — jhana — with restraint of the senses so that the fires of passion, aversion, and delusion don”t burn it down.
To purify the principles of our conduct (sila) is to clear and grade our property. To give rise to jhana is to build a home for ourselves. To develop discernment within the mind is to light our home. We will then be safe both while we stay and when we go. When we are able to do this, it will lead to the true prosperity of the religion.
This is what it means to observe our duties in the area of building and development.
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IV. The Department of Spreading the Dhamma
Ways of spreading the Dhamma fall into three categories:
A. The first category: Study (pariyatti)
This refers to the appointment of monks in the various pisions to teach and train the populace at large. In addition, the establishment of syllabi such as the Nak Dhamma courses, and the appointment of teachers to instruct in accordance with them, can also be classed as a means of spreading the Dhamma.
Spreading the Dhamma can give rise to many sorts of benefits — welfare in this life, welfare in lives to come, and acquaintance with the ultimate welfare — nibbana. These are the aims of spreading the Dhamma by means of the written and spoken word, which is one aspect of the good that Buddhism has to offer.
1. Here, for those of us who are interested in welfare with regard only to this life, I would like to point out the way, which has four factors —
a. Initiative (utthana-sampada): We should be persistent and diligent in our work and our duties, making our living by means that are moral and upright, in line with the principles of Right Action.
b. Maintenance (arakkha-sampada): We should take good care of the possessions we have earned, and take good care of ourselves — which we have also worked hard to earn — so as not to fall into ways that are evil or wrong.
c. Having admirable friends (kalyana-mittata): We should associate with good people and avoid associating with immoral people who would lead us astray and cause our possessions to be squandered away.
d. An appropriate life style (samajivita): We should spend our earnings wisely and provide for our needs in a proper way. We should avoid spending our earnings in wrong ways that would soil how we live.
These four principles form the way to well-being in this lifetime, but we shouldn”t be short-sighted or unrealistic. The truth of the matter is that each and every human being born will have to die and be parted from the happiness found in this world.
2. This being the case, we must provide for our welfare in the lives to come. The way to happiness in the lives to come, as taught by the religion, is as follows —
a. Conviction (saddha-sampada): Our convictions should be we…
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