..续本文上一页an work, either, it”s dirty work. Yet why do people like it

　　 How can you say that people are intelligent when they behave like this

　　 Think about it.

　　Have you ever noticed the dogs in the monastery ground here

　　 There are packs of them. They run around biting each other, some of them even getting maimed. In another month or so they”ll be at it. As soon as one of the smaller ones gets into the pack the bigger ones are at him... out he comes yelping, dragging his leg behind him. But when the pack runs on he hobbles on after it. He”s only a little one, but he thinks he”ll get his chance one day. They bite his leg for him and that”s all he gets for his trouble. For the whole of the mating season he may not even get one chance. You can see this for yourself in the monastery here.

　　These dogs when they run around howling in packs... I figure if they were humans they”d be singing songs! They think it”s such great fun they”re singing songs, but they don”t have a clue what it is that makes them do it, they just blindly follow their instincts.

　　Think about this carefully. If you really want to practice you should understand your feelings. For example, among the monks, novices or laypeople, who should you socialize with

　　 If you associate with people who talk a lot they induce you to talk a lot also. Your own share is already enough, theirs is even more... put them together and they explode!

　　People like to socialize with those who chatter a lot and talk of frivolous things. They can sit and listen to that for hours. When it comes to listening to Dhamma, talking about practice, there isn”t much of it to be heard. Like when giving a Dhamma talk: As soon as I start off..."Namo Tassa Bhagavato” [39]... they”re all sleepy already. They don”t take in the talk at all. When I reach the "Evam" they all open their eyes and wake up. Every time there”s a Dhamma talk people fall asleep. How are they going to get any benefit from it

　　Real Dhamma cultivators will come away from a talk feeling inspired and uplifted, they learn something. Every six or seven days the teacher gives another talk, constantly boosting the practice.

　　This is your chance, now that you are ordained. There”s only this one chance, so take a close look. Look at things and consider which path you will choose. You are independent now. Where are you going to go from here

　　 You are standing at the crossroads between the worldly way and the Dhamma way. Which way will you choose

　　 You can take either way, this is the time to decide. The choice is yours to make. If you are to be liberated it is at this point.

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　　In the Dead of Night...

　　Take a look at your fear... One day, as it was nearing nightfall, there was nothing else for it... If I tried to reason with myself I”d never go, so I grabbed a pa-kow and just went.

　　"If it”s time for it to die then let it die. If my mind is going to be so stubborn and stupid then let it die"... that”s how I thought to myself. Actually in my heart I didn”t really want to go but I forced myself to. When it comes to things like this, if you wait till everything”s just right you”ll end up never going. When would you ever train yourself

　　 So I just went.

　　I”d never stayed in a charnel ground before. When I got there, words can”t describe the way I felt. The pa-kow wanted to camp right next to me but I wouldn”t have it. I made him stay far away. Really I wanted him to stay close to keep me company but I wouldn”t have it. I made him move away, otherwise I”d have counted on him for support.

　　"If it”s going to be so afraid then let it die tonight."

　　I was afraid, but I dared. It”s not that I wasn”t afraid, but I had courage. In the end you have to die anyway.

　　Well, just as it …

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