..续本文上一页ding its instructions instead of actually taking the medicine. If he had followed the doctor”s advice, however, and taken the medicine regularly as prescribed, he would have recovered.
Doctors prescribe medicine to eliminate diseases from the body. The teachings of the Buddha are prescribed to cure diseases of the mind and to bring it back to its natural healthy state. So the Buddha can be considered to be a doctor who prescribes cures for the illnesses of the mind, which are found in each one of us without exception. When you see these illnesses of the mind, does it not make sense to look to the Dhamma as support, as medicine to cure your illnesses
Child Playing
When we have contemplated the nature of the heart many times, we will come to understand that the heart”s ways are just as they are and can”t be otherwise. They make up the nature of the heart. If we see this clearly, then we can detach from thoughts and feelings. And we don”t have to add on anything more if we constantly tell ourselves that "that”s just the way it is." When the heart truly understands, it lets go of everything. Thinking and feeling will be deprived of power. It is like at first being annoyed by a child who likes to play in ways that annoy us so much we scold or spank him. But later we understand that it”s natural for a child to play and act like that, so we leave him alone. We let go and our troubles are over. Why are they over
Because we now accept the natural ways of children. Our outlook has changed and we now accept the true nature of things. We let go and our heart becomes more peaceful. We now have right understanding.
Cobra
Mental activity is like a deadly, poisonous cobra. If we don”t interfere with a cobra, it simply goes its own way. Even though it may be extremely poisonous, we are not affected by it. We don”t go near it, or take hold of it, and so it doesn”t bite us. The cobra does what is natural for a cobra to do. That”s the way it is. If you are clever, you”ll leave it alone. Likewise, you let be that which is not good - you let it be according to its own nature. You also let be that which is good. Don”t grab at liking and disliking, just as you wouldn”t grab at the cobra. One who is clever will have this kind of attitude towards the various moods that arise in his mind. When goodness arises, we let it be good. We understand its nature. In the same, we let be the non-good. We let it be according to its nature. We don”t take hold of it because we don”t want anything. We don”t want evil. We don”t want good. We don”t want heaviness or lightness, happiness or suffering. When our wanting is at an end, peace is firmly established.
Coconut Shells
Desire is a defilement. But we must first have desire in order to start practicing the Way. Suppose you went to buy coconuts at the market and while carrying them back home someone asked: "Why did you buy those coconuts
" "I bought them to eat," you reply. "Are you going to eat the shells, too
" "Of course not!" "I don”t believe you," he insists. "If you”re not going to eat the shells, then why did you buy them
" Well, what do you say
How are you going to answer that question
We practice with desire to begin with. If we didn”t have desire, we wouldn”t practice. Contemplating in this way can give rise to wisdom, you know. For example, those coconuts: Are you going to eat the shells as well
Of course not. Then why do you take them
They”re useful for wrapping the coconuts in. If after eating the coconuts you throw the shells away, there is no problem. Our practice is the same. We keep desire first, just like we do with the coconut shells, for it”s still not time to "throw" it away. This is how the practice is. If somebody wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, that”s their business…
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