..续本文上一页and the Path to get there. These things actually do exist, just like the Buddha said they did. But to realize them takes practice, right practice. It takes pushing yourself to the limit. It takes the courage to train, to reflect, and to fundamentally change. It takes the courage to actually do what it takes. And how do you do it

　　 Train the heart. The thoughts in our heads tell us to go in one direction, but the Buddha tells us to go in another. Why is it necessary to train

　　 Because the heart is totally encrusted with and plastered over with defilements. That”s what a heart is like that has not yet been transformed through the training. It”s unreliable, so don”t believe it. It”s not yet virtuous. How can we trust a heart that lacks purity and clarity

　　 Therefore the Buddha warned us not to put our trust in a defiled heart. Initially the heart is only the hired hand of defilement, but if they associate together for an extended period of time, the heart perverts to become defilement itself. That”s why the Buddha taught us not to trust our hearts.

　　If we take a good look at our monastic training discipline, we”ll see that the whole thing is about training the heart. And whenever we train the heart we feel hot and bothered. As soon as we”re hot and bothered we start to complain, ”Boy, this practice is incredibly difficult! It”s impossible”. But the Buddha didn”t think like that. He considered that when the training was causing us heat and friction, that meant we were on the right track. We don”t think that way. We think it”s a sign that something is wrong. This misunderstanding is what makes the practice seem so arduous. In the beginning we feel hot and bothered, so we think we”re off track. Everyone wants to feel good, but they”re less concerned about whether it”s right or not. When we go against the grain of the defilements and challenge our cravings, of course we feel suffering. We get hot, upset, and bothered and then quit. We think we”re on the wrong path. The Buddha, however, would say we”re getting it right. We”re confronting our defilements, and they are what is getting hot and bothered; but we think it”s us who are hot and bothered. The Buddha taught that it”s the defilements that get stirred up and upset. It”s the same for everyone.

　　That”s why Dhamma practice is so demanding. People don”t examine things clearly. Generally, they lose the Path on either the side of self-indulgence or self-torment. They get stuck in these two extremes. On one hand they like to indulge their heart”s desires. Whatever they feel like doing they just do it. They like to sit in comfort. They love to lie down and stretch out in comfort. Whatever they do, they seek to do it in comfort. This is what I mean by self-indulgence: clinging to feeling good. With such indulgence how could Dhamma practice possibly progress

　　If we can no longer indulge in comfort, sensuality and feeling good, we become irritated. We get upset and angry and suffer because of it. This is falling off the Path on the side of self-torment. This is not the path of a peaceful sage, not the way of someone who”s still. The Buddha warned not to stray down these two sidetracks of self-indulgence and self-torment. When experiencing pleasure, just know that with awareness. When experiencing anger, ill will, and irritation, understand that you are not following in the footsteps of the Buddha. Those aren”t the paths of people seeking peace, but the roads of common villagers. A monk at peace doesn”t walk down those roads. He strides straight down the middle with self-indulgence on the left and self-torment on the right. This is correct Dhamma practice.

　　If you”re going to take up this monastic training, you have to walk this Middle Way, not getting worked up about either happiness or unhappine…

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