..续本文上一页ared to the conditions we have now, they are so far apart.

　　Before, we never had bowls or plates. Everything was put together in the almsbowl. Now that can”t be done. So if one hundred monks are eating, we need five people to wash dishes afterwards. Sometimes they are still washing when it”s time for the Dharma talk. This kind of thing makes for complications. I don”t know what to do about it; I”ll just leave it to you to use your own wisdom to consider.

　　It doesn”t have an end. Those who like to complain will always find something else to complain about, no matter how good the conditions become. So the result is that the monks have become extremely attached to flavors and aromas. Sometimes I overhear them talking about their ascetic wandering. “Oh boy, the food is really great there! I went tudong to the south, by the coast, and I ate lots of shrimp! I ate big ocean fish!” This is what they talk about. When the mind is taken up with such concerns, it”s easy to get attached and immersed in desire for food. Uncontrolled minds are roaming about and getting stuck in sights, sounds, smells, tastes, physical sensations, and ideas, and practicing Dharma becomes difficult. It becomes difficult for an Ajahn to teach people to follow the right way; they are attached to tastes. It”s like raising a dog. If you just feed it plain rice, it will grow strong and healthy. But give it some tasty curry on top of its rice for a couple of days, and after that it won”t look at the plain rice anymore.

　　Sights, sounds, smells, and tastes are the undoing of Dharma practice. They can cause a lot of harm. If each one of us does not contemplate the use of our four requisites—robes, almsfood, dwelling, and medicines—there will be no way for the Buddha”s way to flourish. You can look and see that however much material progress and development there is in the world, the confusion and suffering of humans increase right along with it. And after it goes on for some time, it”s almost impossible to find a solution. Thus I say that when you go to a monastery, you see the monks, the temple, and the kutis, but you don”t see the Buddhasasana. The sasana is in decline like this. It”s easy to observe.

　　The sasana, meaning the genuine and direct teaching that instructs people to be honest and upright, to have lovingkindness towards each other, has been lost, and turmoil and distress are taking its place. Those who went through the years of practice with me in the past have still maintained their diligence, but after twenty-five years here, I see how the practice has become slack. Now people don”t dare to push themselves and practice too much. They are afraid. They fear it will be the extreme of self-mortification. In the past we just went for it. Sometimes monks fasted for several days or a week. They wanted to see their minds, to train their minds: if it”s stubborn, you whip it. Mind and body work together. When we are not yet skilled in practice, if the body is too fat and comfortable, the mind gets out of control. When a fire starts and the wind blows, it spreads the fire and burns the house down. It”s like that. Before, when I talked about eating little, sleeping little, and speaking little, the monks understood and took it to heart. But now such talk is likely to be disagreeable to the minds of practitioners. “We can find our way. Why should we suffer and practice so austerely

　　 It”s the extreme of self-mortification; it”s not the Buddha”s path.” As soon as anyone talks like this, everyone agrees. They are hungry. So what can I say to them

　　 I keep on trying to correct this attitude, but this is the way it seems to be now.

　　So all of you, please make your minds strong and firm. Today you have gathered from the different branch monasteries to pay your respects to me as …

《Some Final Words》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…