..续本文上一页It”s not that every time you have an impulse, you instantly accumulate bad karma. Otherwise, how could there be any way to liberation

　　 Impulses are merely impulses. Thoughts are merely thoughts. In the first instant, you haven”t created anything yet. In the second instant, if you act on it with body, speech, or mind, then you are creating something. Ignorance (avijja) has taken control. If you have the impulse to steal, and then you are aware of yourself and aware that this would be wrong, this is wisdom, and there is knowledge (vijja) instead. The mental impulse is not consummated.

　　This is the timely awareness, wisdom arising and informing our experience. If there is the first mind-moment of wanting to steal something, and then we act on it, that is the dhamma of delusion, and actions of body, speech, and mind that follow the impulse will bring negative results.

　　This is how it is. It”s not that merely having the thoughts is negative karma. If we don”t have any thoughts, how will wisdom develop

　　 Some people simply want to sit with a blank mind. That”s wrong understanding.

　　I”m talking about samadhi that is accompanied by wisdom. In fact, the Buddha didn”t wish for a lot of samadhi. He didn”t want jhana and samapatti. He saw samadhi as one component factor of the path. Sila, samadhi, and panya are components or ingredients, like ingredients used in cooking. Spices we use for cooking are for making food tasty. The point isn”t the spices themselves, but the food we eat. Practicing samadhi is the same. The Buddha”s teachers, Udaka and Alara, put heavy emphasis on practicing the jhanas, attaining various kinds of powers and clairvoyance. But if you get that far, it”s hard to undo. Some places teach this deep tranquility, sitting with delight and enjoyment in quietude. Then the meditators get intoxicated by their samadhi. If they have sila, they get intoxicated by their sila. If they walk the path, they become intoxicated by the path, dazzled by the beauty and wonders they experience, and they don”t reach the real destination.

　　The Buddha said that this is a subtle error; still, it”s something correct for those on a coarse level. But actually, what the Buddha wanted was for us to have an appropriate measure of samadhi, without getting stuck there. After we train in and develop samadhi, then samadhi should develop wisdom.

　　Samadhi that is on the level of samatha, tranquility, is like a rock covering grass. In samadhi that is sure and stable, when the eyes are opened, wisdom is there. When wisdom has been born, it encompasses and knows (“rules”) all things. So the Teacher did not want those refined levels of concentration and cessation, because they become a persion, and the path is forgotten.

　　So what is necessary is not to be attached to sitting or any other particular posture. Samadhi doesn”t reside in having the eyes closed or in the eyes open, or in sitting, standing, walking, or lying down. Samadhi pervades all postures and activities. Older persons, who often can”t sit very well, can contemplate especially well and practice samadhi easily, and they can develop a lot of wisdom.

　　How is it that they can develop wisdom

　　 Everything is rousing them. When they open their eyes, they don”t see things as clearly as they used to. Their teeth give them trouble and fall out. Their bodies ache most of the time. Just that is the place of study. So really, meditation is easy for old folks. Meditation is hard for youngsters. Their teeth are strong, so they can enjoy their food. They sleep soundly. Their faculties are intact, and the world is fun and exciting to them, so they get deluded in a big way. For the old ones, when they chew on something hard, they”re soon in pain. Right there, the pine messengers (devadhuta) are talking to them; they”re…

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