..续本文上一页 always changing. And because of the fear which arises when one starts to look at anicca, it means that unless you”ve got the powerful mind-states of jhanas or post-jhanas, you”ll never be able to pass through that fear and see through to reality. There”ll always be some part of existence you”ll think is secure, reliable, permanent. And that”s why we aren”t enlightened.

　　Sometimes we think it”s not very nice to realise insecurity, but it”s wonderful to realise the truth of insecurity for two reasons. One, because when you know you haven”t got a home (in all senses of that word), then you can be like a bird, you can fly everywhere. Every place is a tree where you can rest for a while. You”ll never think that you own that particular tree, that "that”s mine and the other birds should keep out". You can share. Two, it also means that when you realise that all these things are completely changing, then when they do change, when they do disappear, when things alter, you”re never surprised. You realise that this is actually the truth of things, that their insecurity is actually a freedom. Security is like being in prison, being bonded to something. So after a while, one gets quite a sense of release with insecurity, a sense of being able to fly and being able to go where one wishes rather than being bound down.

　　And so this is what happens when we look at anicca, it gives us a sense that all this is coming and going, that there”s nothing which is stable, no place that we can rest on. But in particular, the anicca which is going to discover the third aspect of the three characteristics of existence, anatta, that is the anicca which is very difficult to apply. That”s anicca which applies to the one who sees anicca. Sometimes to see the one who”s seeing is just so difficult - it”s like trying to catch an eel, it”s so slithery and slippery. As soon as you catch it it”s slipped away again. Or it”s like a dog trying to catch its tail. The self trying to see the self. And this is why seeing anicca in the doer and the seer is just so hard to do. This is, again, one of the reasons why we can”t do this is because we don”t want to do it, we don”t like to do it, we”d rather not see the insubstantiality of everything. It”s just too frightening, it”s just too challenging, it”s just cutting too deep. So the only way that can actually happen is if after a good meditation, which is just so peaceful, and we”re so happy and joyful, that that happiness and joy overcomes any fear and we can go so deep into insight.

　　In the same way, and you”ve heard me tell you this before, the only way you can be open to hearing things you don”t want to hear, to criticism for example, is when you”re in a good mood. If you”re in a really good mood and you”re really high, then I can tell you anything which is wrong with you, even personal things, and you don”t mind. That”s why I tell people who are in relationships with husbands and wives, if there”s something very difficult you have to tell your partner, some criticism which you think they might not really take very well, then take them out to dinner, dress up really nicely, take them out to a really nice dinner, give them the very best food, what they really like, and then, when they”re on the last course, when they”re really nice and happy, all soft and smiley, you can tell them anything and they”ll accept it. You can give all sorts of criticism, which is personal or otherwise, and because they”re happy and relaxed, they can listen, they don”t feel challenged. But if you tell them when they”ve just come home from work after a hard day, then "that”s it, I”m calling the lawyers, this is porce!" This is what happens because when you”re feeling happy and when you”re feeling relaxed, you”re more open to seeing or hearing what y…

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