..续本文上一页ge. You can”t prevent it. Just think, could you exhale without inhaling

　　 Would it feel good

　　 Or could you just inhale

　　 We want things to be permanent, but that can”t be. It”s impossible.

　　46

　　If you know that all things are impermanent, all your thinking will gradually unwind and you won”t need to think too much. Whenever anything arises, all you need to say is "Oh, another one!" Just that!

　　47

　　Any speech which ignores uncertainty is not the speech of a sage. 48

　　If you really see uncertainty clearly, you will see that which is certain. The certainty is that things must inevitably be uncertain and that they cannot be otherwise. Do you understand

　　 Knowing just this much, you can know the Buddha, you can rightly do reverence to him.

　　49

　　If your mind tries to tell you it has already attained the level of sotapanna, go and bow to a sotapanna. He”ll tell you himself it”s all uncertain. If you meet a sakadagami, go and pay respects to him. When he sees you, he”ll simply say, "Not a sure thing!" If there”s an anagami, go and bow to him. He”ll tell you only one thing, "Uncertain!" If you meet even an arahant, go and bow to him. He”ll tell you even more firmly, "It”s all even more uncertain!" You”ll hear the words of the Noble Ones: "Everything is uncertain. Don”t cling to anything!"

　　50

　　Sometimes I”d go to see old religious sites with ancient temples. In some places they would be cracked. Maybe one of my friends would remark, "Such a shame, isn”t it

　　 It”s cracked." I”d answer, "If they weren”t cracked there”d be no such thing as the Buddha. There”d be no Dhamma. It”s cracked like this because it”s perfectly in line with the Buddha”s teaching."

　　51

　　Conditions all go their own natural way. Whether we laugh or cry over them, they just go their own way. And there is no knowledge of science, which can prevent this natural course of things. You may get a dentist to look at your teeth, but even if he can fix them, they still finally go their natural way. Eventually even the dentist will have the same trouble. Everything falls apart in the end.

　　52

　　What can we take for certain

　　 Nothing! There”s nothing but feelings. Suffering arises, stays, then passes away. Then happiness replaces suffering - only this. Outside of this, there is nothing. But we are lost people running and grabbing at feelings continuously. Feelings are not real, only changes.

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　　Kamma 53

　　When those who do not understand the Dhamma act improperly, they look all around to make sure no one is watching. But our kamma is always watching. We never really get away with anything.

　　54

　　Good actions bring good results; bad actions bring bad results. Don”t expect the gods to do things for you, or the angels and guardian deities to protect you, or the auspicious days to help you. These things aren”t true. Don”t believe in them. If you believe in them, you will suffer. You will always be waiting for the right day, the right month, the right year, the angels, or the guardian deities. You”ll only suffer that way. Look into your own actions and speech, into your own kamma. Doing good, you inherit goodness, doing bad you inherit badness.

　　55

　　Through right practice, you allow your old kamma to wear itself out. Knowing how things arise and pass away, you can just be aware and let them run their course. It is like having two trees: if you fertilize and water one and do not take care of the other, there is no question which one will grow and which one will die.

　　56

　　Some of you have come from thousands of miles away, from Europe and America and other far-off places, to listen to the Dhamma here at Nong Pah Pong Monastery. To think that you”ve come from so far and gone through so much trouble …

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