..续本文上一页r not other people are aware of our actions, the goodness we do is a form of wealth that will stay with us throughout time.

　　2. Sila-sampada: Be a person of mature virtue, whose words and deeds are in proper order, whose behavior is in line with the principles of honesty leading to purity. These are truly human values that we should foster within ourselves.

　　3. Caga-sampada: Be magnanimous and generous in making donations and offerings to others, finding reward in the fruits of generosity. For example, we may give material objects so as to support the comfort and convenience of others in general: The fruits of our generosity are bound to find their way back to us. Or we may be magnanimous in ways that don”t involve material objects. For instance, when other people mistreat or insult us through thoughtlessness or carelessness, we forgive them and don”t let our thoughts dwell on their faults and errors. This is called the gift of forgiveness (abhaya-dana) or the gift of justice (dhamma-dana). It brings the highest rewards.

　　4. Pañña-sampada: Be a person of mature discernment, whose thinking is circumspect and whose sense of reason is in line with the truth.

　　All four of these qualities are classed as forms of goodness. If they haven”t yet arisen within you, you should give rise to them. They will reward you with well-being in body and mind.

　　D. Make a persistent effort to maintain the good in both of its aspects: cause and effect. In other words, keep up whatever good you have been doing; and as for the results — mental comfort, ease and light-heartedness — maintain that sense of ease so that it can develop and grow, just as a mother hen guards her eggs until they turn into baby chicks with feathers, tails, sharp beaks, and strong wings, able to fend for themselves.

　　The results of the good we have done, if we care for them well, are bound to develop until they take us to higher levels of attainment. For instance, when our hearts have had their full measure of mundane happiness, so that we develop a sense of enough, we”re bound to search for other forms of happiness in the area of the Dhamma, developing our virtue, concentration, and discernment to full maturity so as to gain release from all suffering and stress, meeting with the peerless ease described in the phrase,

　　Nibbanam paramam sukham:

　　Nibbana is the ultimate ease, invariable and unchanging.

　　When we have done good in full measure and have maintained it well until it”s firmly established within us, we should then make the effort to use that good with discretion so as to benefit people in general. In short: Do what”s good, maintain what”s good, and have a sense of how to use what”s good — in keeping with time, place, and situation — so as to give rise to the greatest benefit and happiness. Whoever can do all of this ranks as a person established in Right Effort.

　　VII. Right Mindfulness. There are four foundations of mindfulness or frames of reference for establishing the mind in concentration —

　　A. Contemplation of the body as a frame of reference: Focus mindfulness on the body as your frame of reference. The word "body" refers to what is produced from the balance of the elements or properties (dhatu): earth — the solid parts, such as hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, etc.; water — the liquid parts, e.g., saliva, catarrh, blood, etc.; fire — warmth, e.g., the fires of digestion; wind (motion) — e.g., the breath; space — the empty places between the other elements that allow them to come together in proper proportion; consciousness — the awareness that permeates and brings together the other elements in a balanced way so that they form a body. There are four ways of looking at the body —

　　1. Outer bodies: This refers to the bodies of othe…

《The Path to Peace and Freedom for the Mind》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…