..续本文上一页when the mind is thinking good and bad, that it”s changing all the time. If we understand this, then even while we are thinking we can be at peace. For example, suppose at home you had a pet monkey. Monkeys don”t stay still for long. They like to jump around and grab onto things. That”s how monkeys are. Now you come to the monastery and see the monkey here. This monkey doesn”t stay still either, does it

　　 It jumps around, too, but it doesn”t bother you. Why doesn”t it bother you

　　 Because you are raising a monkey yourself so you know what they”re like. If you know just one monkey, no matter how many provinces you go to, no matter how many monkeys you see, you won”t be bothered by them, because you”re someone who understands monkeys. If we understand monkeys, then we won”t become like a monkey. If we don”t understand monkeys, we may become like one ourselves. When we see it reaching for this and that, we shout, "Hey!" We get angry. But if we understand the nature of monkeys, we”ll then see that the monkey at home and the monkey at the monastery are just he same. Why should we get annoyed by them

　　 When we see what monkeys are like, that”s enough. We can be at peace.

　　Nest of Red Ants

　　Sensual pleasure is like a nest full of red ants. We take a piece of wood and poke at the nest until the ants come running out, crawling down the wood and into our faces, biting our eyes and ears. And yet we still don”t see the difficulty we are in. In the teaching of the Buddha, it is said that if we”ve seen the harm of something, no matter how good it may seem to be, we know that it”s harmful. Whatever we haven”t yet seen the harm of, we just think it”s good. If we haven”t yet seen the harm of anything, we can”t get out of it.

　　Old Granny

　　Most people wait until they get old before they start going to a monastery and start practicing the Dhamma. Why do they leave it till they get old

　　 It”s like old grandma. You say, "Hey, Granny, let”s go to the monastery!" "Oh, you go ahead," she answers. "My ears aren”t so good anymore." You see what I mean

　　 When she had good ears what was she listening to

　　 Finally if she does go to the temple, she listens to the sermon but hasn”t got an idea of what”s being said. Don”t wait until you”re all used up before you start thinking of practicing the Dhamma.

　　Old Liar

　　Our habits try to deceive us over and over again, but if we remain aware of it, we will eventually be able to ignore them altogether. It”s like having an old person come around and tell us the same old lies time after time. When we realize what he”s up to, we won”t believe him any longer. But it takes a long time before we realize it, because deception is always there.

　　Old Rag

　　If we see everything as uncertain, then their value fades away. All things become insignificant. Why should we hold onto things that have no value

　　 We should treat things as we do an old rag that we keep only to wipe our feet with. We see all sensations as equal in value because they all have the same nature, that of being uncertain.

　　Paddy Worker

　　Practice consistently and not in spurts like the way some people work in their rice paddy. At first they work very hard and then they stop. They don”t even bother to pick up their tools. They just walk off and leave them behind. Later on when the soil has all caked up, they remember their work and do a bit more, only to leave it again shortly afterwards. Doing things this way you”ll never get a decent paddy. Our practice is the same.

　　Party Revelers

　　People go through life blindly, ignoring death like revelers at a party feasting on fine foods. They ignore that later they will have to go to the toilet, so they do not bother to find out where there is one. When nature finally calls, they have no idea where to g and are in a me…

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