..续本文上一页el in their hearts that these things are truths, they”re not for sure, they simply follow their conditions: They”re dhammas that arise and disband, that”s all.

　　Take this thermos: If we like it, it doesn”t react or say anything. The liking is all on our side. Even if we hate it and throw it into the woods, it still doesn”t react. It doesn”t respond to us. Why

　　 Because it”s just the way it is. We like it or dislike it because of our own attachment. We see that it”s good or no good. The view that it”s good squeezes our heart. The view that it”s no good squeezes our heart. Both are defilements.

　　So you don”t have to run away from things like this. Just understand this principle and keep contemplating. That”s all there is to it. The mind will see that these things are no big deal. They”re just the way they are. If we hate them, they don”t respond. If we like them, they don”t respond. We”re simply crazy of our own accord. Nothing disturbs us, but we get all worked up. Try to see everything in this way.

　　It”s the same with the body; it”s the same with the mind; it”s the same with the moods and preoccupations that make contact: See them as inconstant, stressful, and not-self. They”re just the way they are. We suffer because we don”t want them to be that way. We want to get things that we simply can”t get.

　　Is there something you want

　　"I guess it”s like when I want concentration. I want the mind to be quiet."

　　Okay, it”s true that you want that. But what”s the cause that keeps your mind from being quiet

　　 The Buddha says that all things arise from causes, but we want just the results. We eat watermelons but we”ve never planted any watermelons. We don”t know where they come from. We see when they”re sliced open and they”re nice and red: "Mmm. Looks sweet." We try eating them, and they taste good and sweet, but that”s all we know. Why watermelons are the way they are, we have no idea.

　　That”s because we aren”t all-around. All-around in what way

　　 It”s like watering vegetables. Wherever we forget to water doesn”t grow. Wherever we forget to give fertilizer doesn”t grow. Contemplate this principle and you”ll give rise to discernment.

　　When you”ve finished with things outside, you look at your own mind. Look at the affairs of your body and mind. Now that we”re born, why do we suffer

　　 We suffer from the same old things, but we haven”t thought them through. We don”t know them thoroughly. We suffer but we don”t really see suffering. When we live at home, we suffer from our wife and children, but no matter how much we suffer, we don”t really see suffering — so we keep on suffering.

　　It”s the same when the mind doesn”t get concentrated. We don”t know why it won”t get concentrated. We don”t really see what”s actually arising. The Buddha told us to look for the causes of what”s arising. All things arise from causes.

　　It”s like putting water in a bottle and giving it to someone to drink. Once he”s finished drinking it, he”ll have to come back and ask for more — for the water isn”t water in a spring. It”s water in a bottle. But if you show the spring to the person and tell him to get water there, he can sit there and keep on drinking water and won”t ask you for any more, for the water never runs out.

　　It”s the same when we see inconstancy, stress, and not-self. It goes deep, for we really know, we know all the way in. Ordinary knowledge doesn”t know all the way in. If we know all the way in, it never grows stale. Whatever arises, it”s already right. When it disbands, it”s already right. As a result, it”s right without stop.

　　The view that says, "That”s the way it is. It”s right the way it is": That”s when you”ve got it. That”s when you”re skilled and at ease. You don”t have to suffer. The problems that we get involved with and cling to will gradually u…

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