..续本文上一页 so that they cause no harm; and, in addition, keeping watch over your thoughts so as to keep our mental kamma upright in three ways —

　　a. Anabhijjha-visamalobha: not coveting things that do not belong to you and that lie beyond your scope or powers; not focusing your thoughts on such things; not building what are called castles in the air. The Buddha taught us to tend to the wealth we already have so that it can grow on its own. The wealth we already have, if we use our intelligence and ingenuity, will draw more wealth our way without our having to waste energy by being covetous or greedy. For example, suppose we have a single banana tree: If we water it, give it fertilizer, loosen the soil around its roots, and protect it from dangers, our single banana tree will eventually give rise to an increase of other banana trees. In other words, if we”re intelligent we can turn whatever wealth we have into a basis for a livelihood. But if we lack intelligence — if our hearts simply want to get, without wanting work — then even if we acquire a great deal of wealth, we won”t be able to support ourselves. Thus, greed of this sort, in which we focus our desires above and beyond our capabilities, is classed as a wrong kind of mental action.

　　b. Abyapada: abandoning thoughts of ill will, hatred, and vengeance, and developing thoughts of good will instead; thinking of the good aspects of the people who have angered us. When people make us angry it comes from the fact that our dealings with them — in which we associate with and assist one another — sometimes lead to disappointment. This gives rise to dislike and irritation, which in turn cause us to brood, so that we develop hurt feelings that grow into anger and thoughts of retaliation. Thus we should regard such people from many angles, for ordinarily as human beings they should have some good to them. If they don”t act well toward us, they may at least speak well to us. Or if they don”t act or speak well to us, perhaps their thoughts may be well-meaning to at least some extent. Thus, when you find your thoughts heading in the direction of anger or dislike, you should sit down and think in two ways —

　　(1) Try to think of whatever ways that person has been good to you. When these things come to mind, they”ll give rise to feelings of affection, love, and good will. This is one way.

　　(2) Anger is something worthless, like the scum floating on the surface of a lake. If we”re stupid, we won”t get to drink the clean water that lies underneath; or if we drink the scum, we may catch a disease. A person who is bad to you is like someone sunk in filth. If you”re stupid enough to hate or be angry with such people, it”s as if you wanted to go sit in the filth with them. Is that what you want

　　 Think about this until any thoughts of ill will and anger disappear.

　　c. Samma-ditthi: abandoning wrong views and mental darkness. If our minds lack the proper training and education, we may come to think that we and all other living beings are born simply as accidents of nature; that "father" and "mother" have no special meaning; that good and evil don”t exist. Such views deviate from the truth and can dissuade us from restraining the evil that lies within us and from searching for and fostering the good. To believe that there”s no good or evil, that death is annihilation, is Wrong View — a product of short-sighted thinking and poor discernment, seeing things for what they aren”t. So we should abandon such views and educate ourselves, searching for knowledge of the Dhamma and associating with people wiser than we, so that they can show us the bright path. We”ll then be able to reform our views and make them Right, which is one form of mental uprightness.

　　Virtue on this level, when we can maintain it well, will qu…

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