..續本文上一頁ou can explain the Dhamma correctly in line with the principles of the practice following the teachings of the Buddha: This is all the more the right and proper proclamation of the religion for good people to hold to in their hearts. The religion will come to flourish more and more in the hearts of Buddhists.
Wherever you go, wherever you stay, don”t forget the basic principles -- virtue, concentration, and discernment -- which are the basic principles of our work as contemplative. These are the essential principles of each monk”s work. This is where we become ”sons of the Sakyan (sakya-putta), of the victorious Buddha,” disciples of the Tathagata, and not when we simply shave our heads and don the yellow robe. That”s something anyone can do and isn”t important. What”s important is behaving in line with our duties.
Virtue. We should be careful to maintain our precepts so that they aren”t broken or stained. We should be careful, using mindfulness and discernment in our every activity. Whatever else may get broken, don”t let your precepts get broken, for they are the invaluable treasure of your status as a monk, something on which you can truly stake your life.
Concentration. If it hasn”t yet arisen, try to train the heart and bring it under control, coming down hard on its unruliness caused by the power of defilement, so that you can have it in hand in your efforts with the practice. Use mindfulness and discernment to block its recklessness so that it can settle down in peace and quiet. This is our samadhi treasure as monks.
Discernment is intelligence and ingenuity. Discernment is of use in all places at all times. Both in your internal and in your external activities, always make use of your discernment. Especially in your internal activities, when you”re investigating the various kinds of defilements and mental effluents, discernment becomes especially important. Discernment and mindfulness shouldn”t be separated. They have to perform their duties together. Mindfulness is what keeps watch over the work discernment is doing. Whenever mindfulness lapses, that work won”t accomplish its full aims. For this reason, mindfulness is a necessary quality that must always be kept fastened on your work.
These things are our work as contemplatives. Remember them and always take them to heart. Don”t be apathetic, or you”ll become a shameless monk, callous to the fact that the world is bowing down to you at all times.
Now that the Rains Retreat is over, we”ll each go our separate ways in line with duty and necessity and the laws of inconstancy, stress, and not-self. These are things we can”t prevent, because they are big matters, the way of nature. Even I myself: I”m not sure how much longer I”ll be able to stay with you all, because I lie under the law of inconstancy, too. So while we are still living together, I want you to be intent on training yourselves with your full hearts, in keeping with the fact that you”ve come to study, to train yourselves, and to practice.
The word ”discernment,” which I mentioned a moment ago, means to investigate and unravel the various factors that become involved with us within and without. (And here I have to ask forgiveness of the men and women interested in the Dhamma who fall under the condition I”m about to discuss. Please reflect on it in all fairness.) The body: Usually it”s the body of the opposite sex. As the Dhamma says, there is no sight that”s a greater enemy to the state of a contemplative than the sight of the opposite sex. The same holds true for the voice, the smell, the taste, and the touch of the opposite sex. These are the foremost dangers that face contemplatives, so we have to show greater care and restraint toward these things than toward anything else. Mindfulness and disce…
《Things as They Are - The Work of a Contemplative》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…