..續本文上一頁g has exactly the same history of repeated births and deaths. Everyone is equal in this respect. Stretching back indefinitely, everyone”s past is crowded with countless corpses. It was an unbearable sight.

　　 Consequently, I felt disgust as I reviewed my past lives. My goodness! Having been reborn so many times, I still struggled, continuously, to be born again and again. If Dhamma had not finally passed judgment, then I would have carried on indefinitely in this manner. I investigated in this way, examining the nature of the world; and the more I did, the more unbearable it became. I saw the same situation everywhere. Every living being in the whole universe is caught in the same vicious cycle. In this respect, all are equal.

　　 Then, a feeling of discouragement arose without warning in my heart. I thought: “How will I ever be able to teach people this Dhamma

　　 What is the point of teaching

　　 Since true Dhamma is like this, how can it possibly be presented so that others will be able to know and understand it

　　 Wouldn”t it be better to live out the rest of my life and then simply pass on

　　” There! Do you see

　　 I was disheartened. I felt little incentive to teach. As if, having found an escape route, I was satisfied to escape alone. I could see no benefits arising from teaching others. That is how I considered the matter at first. But that wasn”t the end of it. Occurring spontaneously in my heart, my reflection on this matter continued to develop in stages.

　　 Looking at the state of the world, I felt discouraged. I saw people who lived in total darkness as being hopeless. Being so blind that they”re worthless, the Buddha called such people padaparama. Gazing further up the scale, I saw the types of people known as neyya and vipacitaññu. Persons in the neyya category are capable of being trained in the way of Dhamma. Sometimes they make progress, sometimes they lose ground. Neyya inpiduals are fully capable of understanding the Teaching and putting it into practice. Should they be careless, however, they”ll lose ground. But if they are earnest in their practice, they can progress rapidly. Depending on the degree of commitment, neyya can go either way.

　　 Vipacitaññu inpiduals always progress toward the goal; they never lose ground. Still, their progress is slower than that of ugghatitaññu, inpiduals whose intuitive wisdom is so sharp that they”re always fully prepared to make a decisive breakthrough. Were they cattle, they would be waiting at the corral gate. As soon as the gate opened, they”d come rushing out. Ugghatitaññu are capable of the kind of quick understanding that allows them to pass beyond in one moment of insight.

　　 All living beings must fall into one of these four categories. As I investigated the nature of the world, it separated naturally, of its own accord, into these four types of inpiduals. I could see that superior inpiduals existed in that multitude of humanity which I had felt so discouraged about teaching. Ugghatitaññu: they were fully prepared to cross beyond in an instant. In descending order: there were vipacitaññu, those progressing quickly toward the goal; then, the neyya, whose desire to lie down and take it easy competes with their desire to be diligent. Do you see what I mean

　　 Those two opposing forces are vying for supremacy within their hearts. And finally padaparama: those who are human in physical appearance only. They have gained nothing at all to enhance their future prospects. Death for such people is death without distinction. There is only one possible direction they can go—down. And they fall further and further with each successive death. The way up is blocked, for th, ey have gained absolutely …

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