..續本文上一頁 spirits — and they make a big production of it to boot. Think about it. Nearly all the material things lay people bring to donate are for the sake of dedicating the merit to the spirits of their dead ancestors and relatives: their parents, their grandparents, their brothers and sisters. And do we monks behave in a fitting way
What mental qualities do we have that will send the merit to those spirits
Be careful that you don”t become a monk who victimizes spirits."
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41. Nice, but...
At present there are a lot of meditators who get enthusiastic about new teachers or new meditation centers. Just as lottery enthusiasts get excited about monks who forecast lottery numbers, or amulet enthusiasts get excited about monks who make powerful amulets, in the same way, vipassana enthusiasts get excited about vipassana teachers. A lot of these people, when taken with a particular teacher, will praise that teacher to others and try to persuade them to share their opinion and respect for the teacher. And especially at present, there are famous speakers who tape their Dhamma talks and sell them all over the country. One woman once brought many tapes of a famous speaker”s talks for Luang Pu to listen to, but he didn”t listen to them. One reason was that he had never had a radio or tape player since the day he was born. Or supposing that he had had one, he wouldn”t have known how to turn it on. Later, someone brought a tape player and played many of these tapes for Luang Pu to listen to. Afterwards, she asked him what he thought. He said,
"Nice. He has a beautiful way of expressing himself, and an abundance of words, but I couldn”t find any substance to them. Each time you listen, you should be able to get the flavor of study, practice, and attainment. That”s when there”s substance."
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42. Meditators who are uncertain
At present, many people who are interested in meditation practice are extremely confused and doubtful about the correct way to practice. This is especially true of people just beginning to get interested, because meditation teachers often give conflicting advice on how to practice. What”s worse, instead of explaining things in a fair and objective way, these teachers seem reluctant to admit that other teachers or methods of practice might also be correct. There are not a few who show actual disdain for other methods.
Because many people with these sorts of doubts would often come to ask Luang Pu”s advice, I frequently heard him explain things in this way:
"When you start practicing meditation, you can begin with any method at all, because they all lead to the same results. The reason there are so many methods is because people have different tendencies. This is why there have to be different images to focus on or words to repeat — such as "buddho" or "arahang" — as means of giving the mind a point around which to gather and settle down as the first step. When the mind has gathered and is still, the meditation word will fall away on its own, and that”s where every method falls into the same track, with the same flavor. In other words, it has discernment as its surpassing state, and release as its essence."
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43. When dwelling, dwell above
Everyone who came to pay respect to Luang Pu would say the same thing: Even though he was almost 100 years old, his complexion was bright and his health strong. Even those of us who lived near him all along rarely saw his face darken or look exhausted or get furrowed in displeasure or pain. His normal state was to be quiet and cheerful at all times. He…
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