..续本文上一页icksters, that”s all they are.

　　The Buddha didn”t want us to follow this mind, he wanted us to train it. If it goes one way then take cover another way. When it goes over there then take cover back here. To put it simply: whatever the mind wants, don”t let it have it. It”s as if we”ve been friends for years but we finally reach a point where our ideas are no longer the same. We split up and go our separate ways. We no longer understand each other, in fact we even argue, so we break up. That”s right, don”t follow your own mind. Whoever follows his own mind, follows its likes and desires and everything else, that person hasn”t yet practiced at all.

　　This is why I say that what people call practice is not really practice... it”s disaster. if you don”t stop and take a look, don”t try the practice, you won”t see, you won”t attain the Dhamma. To put it straight, in our practice you have to commit your very life. It”s not that it isn”t difficult, this practice, it has to entail some suffering. Especially in the first year or two, there”s a lot of suffering. The young monks and novices really have a hard time.

　　I”ve had a lot of difficulties in the past, especially with food. What can you expect

　　 Becoming a monk at twenty when you are just getting into your food and sleep... some days I would sit alone and just dream of food. I”d want to eat bananas in syrup, or papaya salad, and my saliva would start to run. This is part of the training. All these things are not easy. This business of food and eating can lead one into a lot of bad kamma. Take someone who”s just growing up, just getting into his food and sleep, and constrain him in these robes and his feelings run amok. It”s like damming a flowing torrent, sometimes the dam just breaks. If it survives that”s fine, but if not it just collapses.

　　My meditation in the first year was nothing else, just food. I was so restless... Sometimes I would sit there and it was almost as if I was actually popping bananas into my mouth. I could almost feel myself breaking the bananas into pieces and putting them in my mouth. And this is all part of the practice.

　　So don”t be afraid of it. We”ve all been deluded for countless lifetimes now so coming to train ourselves, to correct ourselves, is no easy matter. But if it”s difficult it”s worth doing. Why should we bother with easy things

　　 So those things that are difficult, anybody can do the easy things. We should train ourselves to do that which is difficult.

　　It must have been the same for Buddha. If he had just worried about his family and relatives, his wealth and his past sensual pleasures, he”d never have become the Buddha. These aren”t trifling matters, either, they”re just what most people are looking for. So going forth at an early age and giving up these things is just like dying. And yet some people come up and say, "Oh, it”s easy for you, Luang Por. You never had a wife and children to worry about, so it”s easier for you!" I say, "Don”t get too close to me when you say that or you”ll get a clout over the head!"... as if I didn”t have a heart or something!

　　When it comes to people it”s no trifling matter. It”s what life is all about. So we Dhamma practicers should earnestly get into the practice, really dare to do it. Don”t believe others, just listen to the Buddha”s teaching. Establish peace in your hearts. In time you will understand. Practice, reflect, contemplate, and the fruits of the practice will be there. The cause and the result are proportional.

　　Don”t give in to your moods. In the beginning even finding the right amount of sleep is difficult. You may determine to sleep a certain time but can”t manage it. You must train yourself. Whatever time you decide to get up, then get up as soon as it comes round. Sometimes you can do it,…

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