..續本文上一頁 we speak, we can speak the truth. You can call the mind brave or not-brave as you like, because we speak in line with what we experience, what we know and see, so why can”t we speak

　　 We can know, we can see, so why can”t we speak

　　 -- for these things exist as they have from the beginning. When the Buddha proclaimed the Dhamma to the world, he took the things that existed and that he saw in line with what he had known -- everything of every sort -- and proclaimed them to the world. Think of how broad it was, the knowledge of the Buddha, how subtle and profound -- because nothing was concealed or mysterious to him. Everything was completely opened to him. This is why he”s called lokavidu -- one who knows the world clearly -- through the vastness of his mind that had nothing to enclose or conceal it at all.

　　Aloko udapadi: ”Brightness arose.” His mind was bright toward the truth both by day and by night. This is how the Buddha knew. The Noble Disciples all knew in the same way, except that his range and theirs differed in breadth. But as for knowing the truth, it was the same for them all.

　　Here we”ve described both the benefits and the harm of the things involved with the mind -- in other words, both the Dhamma and the defilements -- for you as meditators to listen to and contemplate in earnestness.

　　So. Let”s try to develop our minds so as to shoot out beyond this world of conventional realities to see what it”s like. Then we won”t have to ask where the Buddha is, how many Buddhas there have been, whether the Noble Disciples really exist or how many they are -- because the one truth that we know and see clearly in our hearts resonates to all the Buddhas, all the Noble Disciples, and all the Dhamma that exists. We won”t have any doubts, because the nature that knows and exists within us contains them all: all the Buddhas, the community of Noble Disciples, and all the Dhamma that exists. It”s a nature just right in its every aspect, with nothing for us to doubt.

　　This is the place -- if we speak in terms of place -- where we run out of doubts about everything of every sort. We oversee the khandhas, which are simply conventions of the world, just as all the Noble Disciples do while they are still living. As for the mind, it has gained release and remains released in that way. As we have said, even though it remains in the midst of the world of conventions, this nature is its own nature, and those other things are their own affairs. Each is a separate reality that doesn”t mingle, join, or have an effect on the others. When we say release from the world, this is what we mean.

　　All of the Dhammas I have mentioned here: When do they exist

　　 And when don”t they exist

　　 The Dhamma exists at all times and in all places. It”s akaliko, timeless. So I ask that you penetrate into the Dhamma of these four Noble Truths. You”ll be right on target with the results of the Buddha and the Noble Disciples; and there”s no doubt but that you”ll be right on target with the results of the Buddha”s and the Noble Disciples” work. Their workplace is in these four Noble Truths, and the results that come from the work are the paths, fruitions, and nibbana. They arise right here. They”re located right here. When we have practiced and reached them fully and completely, there will be nothing for us to question.

　　This is why there won”t be any reason to doubt the time of the Buddha as compared to our own time, as to whether the Dhamma of the Buddha was different because the defilements are now different from what they were then. The defilements then and now are all of the same sort. The Dhamma is all of the same sort. If we cure defilement in the same way, we”re bound to gain release in the same way. There is no other way to gain release, no matter what the day…

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