..续本文上一页er than in our own pure mind.
It”s because of this that those who study theory and those who practice meditation misunderstand each other. Usually those who emphasize study say things like this, "Monks who only practice meditation just follow their own opinions. They have no basis in their Teaching." Actually, in one sense, these two ways of study and practice are exactly the same thing. It can help us to understand if we think of it like the front and back of our hand. If we put our hand out, it seems as if the back of the hand has disappeared. Actually the back of our hand hasn”t disappeared anywhere, it”s just hidden underneath. When we say that we can”t see it, it doesn”t mean that it has disappeared completely, it just means that it”s hidden underneath. When we turn our hand over, the same thing happens to the palm of the hand. It doesn”t go anywhere, it”s merely hidden underneath.
We should keep this in mind when we consider practice. If we think that it has "disappeared," we”ll go off to study, hoping to get results. But it doesn”t matter how much you study about Dhamma, you”ll never understand, because you won”t know in accordance with Truth. If we do understand the real nature of Dhamma, then it becomes letting go. This is surrender -- removing attachment (Upadana), not clinging anymore, or, if there still is clinging, it becomes less and less. There is this kind of difference between the two ways of study and practice.
When we talk about study, we can understand it like this: our eye is a subject of study, our ear is a subject of study -- everything is a subject of study. We can know that form is like this and like that, but we attach to form and don”t know the way out. We can distinguish sounds, but then we attach to them. Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily feelings and mental impressions are all like a snare to entrap all beings.
To investigate these things is our way of practicing Dhamma. When some feeling arises we turn to our understanding to appreciate it. If we are knowledgeable regarding theory, we will immediately turn to that and see how such and such a thing happens like this and then becomes that...and so on. If we haven”t learned theory in this way, then we have just the natural state of our mind to work with. This is our Dhamma. If we have wisdom then we”ll be able to examine this natural mind of ours and use this as our subject of study. It”s exactly the same thing. Our natural mind is theory. The Buddha said to take whatever thoughts and feelings arise and investigate them. Use the reality of our natural mind as our theory. We rely on this reality.
Insight Meditation (Vipassana)
If you have faith it doesn”t matter whether you have studied theory or not. If our believing mind leads us to develop practice, if it leads us to constantly develop energy and patience, then study doesn”t matter. We have mindfulness as a foundation for our practice. We are mindful in all bodily postures, whether sitting, standing, walking or lying. And if there is mindfulness there will be clear comprehension to accompany it. Mindfulness and clear comprehension will arise together. They may arise so rapidly, however, that we can”t tell them apart. But, when there is mindfulness, there will also be clear comprehension.
When our mind is firm and stable, mindfulness will arise quickly and easily and this is also where we have wisdom. Sometimes, though, wisdom is insufficient or doesn”t arise at the right time. There may be mindfulness and clear comprehension, but these alone are not enough to control the situation. Generally, if mindfulness and clear comprehension are a foundation of mind, then wisdom will be there to assist. However, we must constantly develop this wisdom through the practice of Insight Meditation. …
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