..续本文上一页illful mental states.

　　Some people at this point think that there are six states to the mind, or even six minds. The true nature of the mind, though, is one. To count six states or six minds is to count the preoccupations; the primal mind is radiant. We take a few things to be many and so end up poor, just as when a foolish or poor person thinks that a thousand baht is a lot of money. An intelligent or rich person, though, realizes that it”s just a little: You can spend it all in two days. A fool, however, would think that a thousand baht would make him rich and so he”ll have to continue being poor. So it is if we see our one mind as many: We”ll have to be poor because we”ll be at our wits” end trying to train it.

　　The nature of the mind that”s clear and one is like clean, clear water mixed with different colors in different bottles. We may call it red water, yellow water, green water, etc., but the water itself is still clear as it always was. If a fool comes along and falls for the colors, he wants to taste them all. He may drink five bottles, but they”ll all be just like the first. If he knows beforehand that it”s all the same water, he won”t feel any desire to waste his time drinking this or that bottle. All he has to do is taste one bottle, and that”ll be enough. So it is with the mind: If we realize that the mind is in charge and is the determining factor in all good and evil and in the attainment of nibbana, we won”t feel any desire to go saying that the mind is like this or like that. The mind seems to be many because it gets entangled in various preoccupations, and when these preoccupations dye the mind, we count them as states of the mind itself.

　　The pure nature of the heart and mind is like the sun, which shines every day throughout the year but is concealed by clouds during the rainy season. Those who don”t know its nature then say that the sun isn”t shining. This is wrong. Their vision can”t penetrate the clouds and so they find fault with the sun. They suppose that the darkness of the clouds belongs to the sun, get stuck on their own supposings, and so don”t reach the truth. The true nature of the sun is always bright, no matter what the season. If you don”t believe me, ask an airplane pilot. If you go up past the clouds in an airplane on a dark rainy day, you”ll know whether the sun is in fact dark or shining.

　　So it is with the mind: No matter how it may be behaving, its nature is one — radiant and clear. If we lack discernment and skill, we let various preoccupations come flowing into the mind, which lead it to act — sometimes wisely and sometimes not — and then we designate the mind according to its behavior.

　　Because there is one mind, it can have only one preoccupation. And if it has only one preoccupation, then there shouldn”t be too much difficulty in practicing so as to know its truth. Even though the mind may seem to have many preoccupations, they don”t come all at once in a single instant. They have to pass by one at a time. A good mood enters as a bad one leaves; pleasure enters, pain leaves; ingenuity enters, stupidity, leaves; darkness enters, brightness leaves. They keep trading places without let-up. Mental moments, though, are extremely fast. If we aren”t discerning, we won”t be able to know our own preoccupations. Only after they”ve flared up and spread to affect our words and deeds are we usually aware of them.

　　Normally this one mind is very fast. Just as when we turn on a light: If we don”t look carefully, the light seems to appear, and the darkness to disperse, the very instant we turn on the switch. This one mind, when it changes preoccupations, is that fast. This one mind is what leads to various states of being because our preoccupations get into the act so that we”re entangled and snared.

　　…

《The Eye of Discernment - From The Craft of the Heart》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…