..續本文上一頁r you are doing; drinking your whisky, smoking your marijuana cigarette, picking a safe open, mugging someone you met in Soho – as long as it”s done mindfully, it”s all right.

　　There is a brilliant Buddhist philosopher in Thailand who is quite old now, but I went to stay at his monastery a few years ago. I was coming from Ajahn Chah”s monastery, so I asked him about the Vinaya – the rules of the monastic order – and how important these were in the practice of meditation and enlightenment.

　　”Well,” he said, ”only mindfulness - that”s all you need. Just be mindful, and everything is all right, you know. Don”t worry about those other things.”

　　And I thought: ”That sounds great, but I wonder why Ajahn Chah emphasises all these rules

　　”

　　I had great respect for Ajahn Chah, so when I went back I told him what the philosopher-bhikkhu had told me. Ajahn Chah said, ”That”s "true", but it”s not "right" [See Note 1]

　　Now we are prone to having blind attachments, aren”t we

　　 For example, say you”re locked up in a foul, stinking prison cell and the Buddha comes and says, ”Here”s the key. All you have to do is take it and put it in the hole there underneath the door handle, turn it to the right, turn the handle, open the door, walk out, and you”re free.”... But you might be so used to being locked up in prison that you didn”t quite understand the directions and you say, ”Oh, the Lord has given me this key” – and you hang it on the wall and pray to it every day. It might make your stay in prison a little more happy; you might be able to endure all the hardships and the stench of your foul-smelling cell a little better, but you”re still in the cell because you haven”t understood that it wasn”t the key in itself that was going to save you. Due to lack of intelligence and understanding, you just grasped the key blindly. That”s what happens in all religion: we just grasp the key, to worship it, pray to it ... but we don”t actually learn to use it.

　　So then the next time the Buddha comes and says, ”Here”s the key”, you might be disillusioned and say, ”I don”t believe any of this. I”ve been praying for years to that key and not a thing has happened! That Buddha is a liar!” And you take the key and throw it out of the window. That”s the other extreme, isn”t it

　　 But you”re still in the prison cell – so that hasn”t solved the problem either.

　　Anyway, a few years later the Buddha comes again and says, ”Here”s the key,” and this time you”re a little more wise and you recognise the possibility of using it effectively, so you listen a little more closely, do the right thing and get out.

　　The key is like religious convention, like Theravada Buddhism: it”s only a key, only a form – it”s not an end in itself. We have to consider, to contemplate how to use it. What is it for

　　 We also have to expend the energy to get up, walk over to the door, insert the key into the lock, turn it in the right direction, turn the knob, open the door and walk out. The key is not going to do that for us; it”s something we have to comprehend for ourselves. The convention itself cannot do it because it”s not capable of making the effort; it doesn”t have the vigour or anything of its own other than that which you put into it – just like the key can”t do anything for itself. Its usefulness depends on your efforts and wisdom.

　　Some modern day religious leaders tend to say, ”Don”t have anything to do with any religious convention. They”re all like the walls of prison cells” – and they seem to think that maybe the way is to just get rid of the key. Now if you”re already outside the cell, of course you don”t need the key. But if you”re still inside, then it does help a bit!

　　So I think you have to know whether you”re in or out; then you”ll know what to do. If you still find you”re full of d…

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