..续本文上一页. They say they”re taking the grandchildren to listen, but the truth is they just want to go themselves. To them, that”s what”s a good time is. If you invite them to come to the monastery to listen to Dharma and learn about right and wrong, they”ll say, “You go ahead. I want to stay home and rest,” or, “I”ve got a bad headache, my back hurts, my knees are sore, I really don”t feel well….” But if it”s a popular singer or an exciting play, they”ll rush to round up the kids, and nothing bothers them then.
That”s how folks are. They make such efforts yet all they”re doing is bringing suffering and difficulty on themselves. They”re seeking out darkness, confusion, and intoxication on this path of delusion. The Buddha is teaching us to create benefit for ourselves in this life, ultimate benefit, spiritual welfare. We should do it now, in this life. We should be seeking out the knowledge that will help us do that, so that we can live our lives well, making good use of our resources, working with diligence in ways of right livelihood.
After I ordained, I started practicing, studying and then practicing, and faith came about. When I first started practicing, I would think about the lives of beings in the world. It all seemed very heartrending and pitiful. What was so pitiful about it
All the rich people would soon die and have to leave their big houses behind, leaving the children and grandchildren to fight over the estate. When I saw such things happening, I thought, hmmm… It got to me. It made me feel pity towards rich and poor alike, towards the wise and the foolish—everyone living in this world was in the same boat.
Reflecting on our bodies, about the condition of the world and the lives of sentient beings, brings about weariness and dispassion. Thinking about the ordained life, that we have taken up this way of life to dwell and practice in the forest, and developing a constant attitude of disenchantment and dispassion, our practice will progress. Thinking constantly about the factors of practice, rapture comes about. The hairs of the body stand on end. There is a feeling of joy in reflecting on the way we live, in comparing our lives previously with our lives now.
The Dharma caused such feelings to fill my heart. I didn”t know who to talk to about it. I was awake, and whatever situations I met, I was awake and alert. It means I had some knowledge of Dharma. My mind was illumined, and I realized many things. I experienced bliss, a real satisfaction and delight in my way of life.
To put it simply, I felt I was different from others. I was a fully grown, normal man, but I could live in the forest like this. I didn”t have any regrets or see any loss in it. When I saw others having families, I thought that was truly regrettable. I looked around and thought, how many people can live like this
I came to have real faith and trust in path of practice I had chosen, and this faith has supported me right up to the present.
In the early days of Wat Pah Pong, I had four or five monks living here with me. We experienced a lot of difficulties. From what I can see now, most of us Buddhists are pretty deficient in our practice. These days, when you walk into a monastery, you only see the kutis, the temple hall, the monastery grounds, and the monks. But as to what is really the heart of the Buddha”s way (Buddhasasana), you won”t find that. I”ve spoken about this often; it”s a cause for sadness.
In the past I had one Dharma companion who became more interested in study than in practice. He pursued the Pali and Abhidharma studies, going to live in Bangkok after a while, and last year he finally completed his studies and received a certificate and titles commensurate with his learning. So now he has a brand name. Here, I don”t have any brand name…
《Some Final Words》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…