..续本文上一页owing your mind. Push your bowl away, get up and leave, don”t allow yourself to eat. If it really wants to eat so much and acts so stubborn then don”t let it eat. The saliva will stop flowing. If the defilements know that they won”t get anything to eat they”ll get scared. They won”t dare bother you next day, they”ll be afraid they won”t get anything to eat. Try it out if you don”t believe me.
People don”t trust the practice, they don”t dare to really do it. They”re afraid they”ll go hungry, afraid they”ll die. If you don”t try it out you won”t know what it”s about. Most of us don”t dare to do it, don”t dare to try it out, we”re afraid.
When it comes to eating and the like I”ve suffered over them for a long time now so I know what they”re about. And that”s only a minor thing as well. So this practice is not something one can study easily.
Consider: What is the most important thing of all
There”s nothing else, just death. Death is the most important thing in the world. Consider, practice, inquire... If you don”t have clothing you won”t die. If you don”t have betel nut to chew or cigarettes to smoke you still won”t die. But if you don”t have rice or water, then you will die. I see only these two things as being essential in this world. You need rice and water to nourish the body. So I wasn”t interested in anything else, I just contented myself with whatever was offered. As long as I had rice and water it was enough to practice with, I was content.
Is that enough for you
All those other things are extras, whether you get them or not doesn”t matter, the only really important things are rice and water.
"If I live like this can I survive
" I asked myself, "There”s enough to get by on all right. I can probably get at least rice on almsround in just about any village, a mouthful from each house. Water is usually available. Just these two are enough..." I didn”t aim to be particularly rich.
In regards to the practice, right and wrong are usually co-existent. You must dare to do it, dare to practice. If you”ve never been to a charnel ground you should train yourself to go. If you can”t go at night then go during the day. Then train yourself to go later and later until you can go at dusk and stay there. Then you will see the effects of the practice, then you will understand.
This mind has been deluded now for who knows how many lifetimes. Whatever we don”t like or love we want to avoid, we just indulge in our fears. And then we say we”re practicing. This can”t be called "practice." If it”s real practice you”ll even risk your life. If you”ve really made up your mind to practice why would you take an interest in petty concerns
..."I only got a little, you got a lot." "You quarreled with me so I”m quarreling with you..." I had none of these thoughts because I wasn”t looking for such things. Whatever others did was their business. Going to other monasteries I didn”t get involved in such things. However high or low others practiced I wouldn”t take any interest, I just looked after my own business. And so I dared to practice, and the practice gave rise to wisdom and insight.
If your practice has really hit the spot then you really practice. Day or night you practice. At night, when it”s quiet, I”d sit in meditation, then come down to walk, alternating back and forth like this at least two or three times a night. Walk, then sit, then walk some more... I wasn”t bored, I enjoyed it.
Sometimes it”d be raining softly and I”d think of the times I used to work the rice paddies. My pants would still be wet from the day before but I”d have to get up before dawn and put them on again. Then I”d have to go down to below the house to get the buffalo out of its pen. All I could see of the buffalo would be covered in buffalo shit. Then the buf…
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