..续本文上一页ally are stays as it is; they aren”t transformed by our words. At the same time, they themselves don”t announce that they are sun or moon or anything. They are thiti-dhamma — they simply are what they are.

　　So it is with the pure heart that we call nibbana. No matter what we call it, it simply stays as it is. Thus we say that with nibbana there”s no right and no wrong. Right and wrong belong to the person speaking. People who don”t know drag out their right and wrong to talk about. Nibbana is something known exclusively through the heart. Words and deeds aren”t involved. Our talking is merely a matter of the path. The result, once attained, is something completely apart. We thus call it release (vimutti) because it”s untouched by supposing, attaining a nature that is pure heartwood: the heart that neither spins forward nor back, the heart that attains a quality that doesn”t develop or deteriorate, come or go. It stays as it is — what we suppose as thiti-dhamma, free from the germs of defilement — our very own heart, i.e., the heart”s primal nature.

　　Actually, the heart is pure by nature, but various moods and objects — various preoccupations — are mixed up with it. Once these preoccupations are cleaned out, there you are: nibbana. To know nibbana clearly is nothing other than knowing how this one heart takes its preoccupations as itself. The heart by nature is one, but if it hasn”t been trained by discernment, it tends to go streaming toward preoccupations, both within and without, and then we say that this state of mind differs from that state of mind, and so they begin to multiply until they”re so many that we give up trying to look after them all. They seem many because we count each preoccupation as a state of the mind itself. The problem is that we don”t understand the teachings of the ancient philosophers, and so think that the mind can be called many. Take a simple example: Suppose a person has many jobs. Sometimes he sells, so he”s called a merchant. If he also grows rice, he”s called a farmer. If he works for the King, he”s called a government official. If he acquires rank, he”s called by his rank. Actually he”s only one person, and none of his titles are wrong. They”ve been given to him simply in line with the work he does. But anyone who didn”t understand would think that this man was an awful lot of people.

　　Another comparison: When a person is born, we call it a baby. When it gets older, we call it a child. When it gets still older, we call it a young man or a young lady, and when its hair gets gray and its teeth break, we call it Grandma or Gramps. What gives rise to all these names

　　 One and the same person. So it is with the mind that is supposed to be many. We don”t understand what the words are supposed to mean, so we go groping around after our own shadows. When this is the case, we find it hard to practice. We don”t understand the states of mind that have been supposed into being, and so don”t see the mind that is released, untouched by supposing.

　　When the mind is said to have many states, this is what is meant: Sometimes the mind takes on passion; this is called saraga-citta, a passionate mind. Sometimes it takes on irritation and aversion; this is called sadosa-citta, an angry mind. Sometimes it takes on a deluded state as itself; this is called samoha-citta, a deluded mind. These states are all on the unwise side, and are termed akusala-citta, unskillful mental states. As for the good side: vitaraga-citta, the mind has reached satisfaction and so its desires fade; vitadosa-citta, the mind has had enough and so its anger disappears; vitamoha-citta, the mind is bright and so withdraws from its dullness, just as the sun or moon withdraws from an eclipse and is bright and clear. These are termed kusala-citta, sk…

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