..续本文上一页g well do you think they”ll practice

　　 No, they only get lost in happiness. If they”re suffering they still don”t practice, they get lost in that. I don”t know when people think they”re going to practice! They can only see that they”re sick, in pain, almost dead from fever... that”s right, bring it on heavy, that”s where the practice is. When people are feeling happy it just goes to their heads and they get vain and conceited.

　　We must cultivate our practice. What this means is that whether you are happy or unhappy you must practice just the same. If you are feeling well you should practice, and if you are feeling sick you should also practice. Those who think, "This year I couldn”t practice at all, I was sick the whole time"... if these people are feeling well, they just walk around singing songs. This is wrong thinking, not right thinking. This is why the cultivators of the past have all maintained the steady training of the heart. If things are to go wrong, just let them be with the body, not in mind.

　　There was a time in my practice, after I had been practicing about five years, when I felt that living with others was a hindrance. I would sit in my kuti and try to meditate and people would keep coming by for a chat and disturbing me. I ran off to live by myself. I thought I couldn”t practice with those people bothering me. I was fed up, so I went to live in a small, deserted monastery in the forest, near a small village. I stayed there alone, speaking to no-one -- because there was nobody else to speak to.

　　After I”d been there about fifteen days the thought arose, "Hmm. It would be good to have a novice or pa-kow [32] here with me. He could help me out with some small jobs." I knew it would come up, and sure enough, there it was!

　　"Hey! You”re a real character! You say you”re fed up with your friends, fed up with your fellow monks and novices, and now you want a novice. What”s this

　　"

　　"No," it says, "I want a good novice."

　　"There! Where are all the good people, can you find any

　　 Where are you going to find a good person

　　 In the whole monastery there were only no-good people. You must have been the only good person, to have run away like this!"

　　...You have to follow it up like this, follow up the tracks of your thoughts until you see...

　　"Hmm. This is the important one. Where is there a good person to be found

　　 There aren”t any good people, you must find goodness anywhere else, you must look within yourself. If you are good in yourself then wherever you go will be good. Whether others criticize or praise you, you are still good. If you aren”t good, then when others criticize you, you get angry, and when they praise you, you get pleased.

　　At that time I reflected on this and have found it to be true from that day up until the present. Goodness must be found within. As soon as I saw this, that feeling of wanting to run away disappeared. In later times, whenever I had that desire arise I let it go. Whenever it arose I was aware of it and kept my awareness on that. Thus I had a solid foundation. Wherever I lived, whether people condemned me or whatever they would say, I would reflect that the point is not whether they were good or bad. Good or evil must be seen within ourselves. However other people are, that”s their concern.

　　Don”t go thinking, "Oh, today is too hot," or, "Today is too cold," or, "Today is...". Whatever the day is like that”s just the way it is. Really you are simply blaming the weather for your own laziness. We must see the Dhamma within ourselves, then there is a surer kind of peace.

　　So for all of you who have come to practice here, even though it”s only for a few days, still many things will arise. Many things may be arising which you”re not even aware of. There is some right thinking, some wrong …

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