..续本文上一页ecause they have a new centre there and it seemed suitable. The Japanese co-host gave me a very beautiful, probably very expensive carved future of Amitabha Buddha. Seeing that I”m a Theravadan, I gave it to a Mahayana Buddhist nun in Sydney.

　　I always try and remember that any gain, honour or fame which I get as a monk does not belong to me. Nothing belongs to me, not even my body, my robes, my food or my hut. Gain, honour and fame belong to the Buddha, to the Dhamma, to the great Sangha. I encourage you all to see this in the same way. Whatever respect you receive, whatever gains you acquire, whatever fame you enjoy from being part of this well-known monastery, please understand that it belongs to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. If you reach any attainments on the path, if your meditation goes well, or if your understanding of the Suttas or the Vinaya is very deep and learned, please never take that to be ”mine,” ”my knowledge,” or my ”attainment”.

　　Never think that it”s your achievement, because if you do, you will get lost in the dangerous pit of gain, honour and fame. Whatever you achieve in monastic life, whatever knowledge you have of the suttas, whatever your understanding of Pali or Vinaya, never think that it”s your knowledge, that it”s your understanding. Don”t take that as being a jewel in your crown. Remember, that are only three jewels in this world: the Triple Gem of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. So whatever you have as a personal jewel, offer it to these beautiful Triple Jewels. See any learning which you have not as your learning; see it rather as your way of worshipping Dhamma and Vinaya, to which you give all gain, honour and fame. If awakening occurs, give any resultant gain, honour or fame to the Buddha. Any understanding or enlightened experience, any insight, any deep meditation, give it all to the Buddha and to the Dhamma. It”s not yours. If you regard them as yours - your attainment, your understanding, your knowledge - you”ll find yourself arguing with your fellow anagarikas, novices and monks; you”ll find your understanding becomes an embellishment of your ego; you”ll find yourself getting proud; you”ll find yourself defending your position and feeling uncomfortable when somebody questions you. All these are signs that you are getting lost in gain, honour and fame. So please don”t allow your achievements, your success, and all the wonderful fruits of your diligent effort to hinder your progress; please don”t allow them to become fuel for contention in this monastery. Whatever you have attained doesn”t belong to you; it belongs to the Triple Gem. If you see it like this, how could you get lost in gain, honour and fame

　　In Ajahn Chah”s tradition, monks are not allowed to have personal stashes of cash. Because we don”t own money, whatever is given goes into the common account, the common fund, so that whichever monk is in need can make use of it. If it wasn”t like this , I would be a millionaire by now. In Cambodia I was invited to meet the wealthy patron who funded the conference. He offered me a small packet which I thought was a medal or a set of pens; it was about that size, a little box wrapped in white paper. When I opened it I found two million Yen in cash (£10,000). It became the biggest Nissaggiya Pacittiya offence I have ever had to confess! How easy it would be for me to become personally wealthy! But as you know, in this monastery we share out everything as evenly as we possibly can. None of us needs very much, so any gains which we get we offer to the Buddhist Society so that it can benefit the whole Sangha: the monastery, the nuns” monastery, and the city centre.

　　I was told - I had nothing to do with this - that when Ajahn Kalyano was in Singapore deputising for me for one …

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