..续本文上一页Ba Pong. Included also are parts of the questions and answers from Living Buddhist Masters, gathered at an earlier period during the 1970 rains retreat at Wat Ba Pong monastery.
Q: How should we start our practice
Must we begin practice with strong faith
A: Many people start out with little faith and little understanding. This is quite natural. We all must start where we are. What matters is that those who practice must be willing to look into their own mind, their own circumstances, to learn about themselves directly. Then faith and understanding will mature in their hearts.
Q: I”m trying very hard in my practice, but I don”t seem to be getting anywhere.
A: Don”t try to get anywhere in practice. The very desire to be free or to be enlightened will be the desire that prevents your freedom. You can try as hard as you wish, practice ardently night and day, but if you still have the desire to achieve, you will never find peace. The energy from this desire will cause doubt and restlessness. No matter how long or how hard you practice, wisdom will not arise from desire. Simply let go. Watch the mind and body mindfully, but don”t try to achieve anything. Otherwise, when you are beginning to practice meditation and your heart starts to quiet down, you will immediately think, "Oh, am I near the first stage yet
How much further do I have to go
" In that instant, you will lose everything. It is best just to observe how practice naturally develops.
You have to pay attention without any concept of levels, simply and directly to what”s happening in your heart or mind. The more you watch, the more clearly you”ll see. If you learn to pay attention totally, then you don”t have to worry about what stage you have attained; just continue in the right direction, and things will unfold for you naturally.
How can I speak of the essence of practice
To walk forward is not correct, to back up is not correct, and to stand still is not correct. There is no way to measure or categorize liberation.
Q: But aren”t we seeking deeper concentration in practice
A: In sitting practice, if your heart becomes quiet and concentrated, that”s an important tool to use. But you have to be careful not to be stuck in tranquility. If you”re sitting just to get concentrated so you can feel happy and pleasant, you”re wasting your time. The practice is to sit and let your heart become still and concentrated and then to use that concentration to examine the nature of the mind and body. Otherwise, if you simply make the heart mind quiet, it will be peaceful and free of defilement only as long as you sit. This is like using a stone to cover a garbage pit; when you take away the stone, the pit is still infested and full of garbage. The question is not how long or short you sit. You must use your concentration not to temporarily get lost in bliss but to deeply examine the nature of the mind and body. This is what actually frees you.
Examining the mind and body most directly does not involve the use of thought. There are two levels of examination. One is thoughtful and discursive, keeping you trapped in a superficial perception of experience. The other is a silent, concentrated, inner listening. Only when the heart is concentrated and still can real wisdom naturally arise. In the beginning, wisdom is a very soft voice, a tender young plant just beginning to spring up out of the ground. If you don”t understand this, you may think too much about it and trample it underfoot. But if you feel it silently, then in that space, you can begin to sense the basic nature of your body and mental process. It is this seeing that leads you to learn about change, about emptiness, and about selflessness of body and mind.
Q: But if we are not seeking anything, then what is the Dharma
A…
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