..续本文上一页s is enough to start seeing results. Those who don”t see results either aren”t intent on what they”re doing or, if they are intent, aren”t doing it right. If you”re intent and you do it right, you”re sure to reap rewards in proportion to the strength of your persistence.

　　This ends the discussion of the first topic.

　　2. To answer the second question — "What benefits come from practicing concentration

　　" — A person who practices concentration benefits in the following ways:

　　a. The heart of a person who practices concentration is radiant, steady, and fearless. Whatever projects such a person may contemplate can succeed because the mind has a solid footing for its thinking. Whatever work such a person may undertake will yield results that are substantial, worthwhile, and long-lasting.

　　b. Whoever has trained the mind to be steady and firm will be solid from the standpoint both of the world and of the Dhamma. A solid heart can be compared to a slab of rock: No matter whether the wind blows, the rain falls or the sun shines, rock doesn”t waver or flinch. To put it briefly: the eight fetters, i.e., the eight ways of the world (lokadhamma) — gain and loss, status and disgrace, praise and censure, pleasure and pain — can”t chain the heart of a person who has concentration. The five weevils, i.e., the five hindrances (nivarana) — sensual desires, ill will, drowsiness, restlessness, and uncertainty — can”t bore into such a person”s heart.

　　c. A heart made firm is like a tree with solid heartwood — Indian rosewood or teak — which, once it has died, is of use to people of ingenuity. The goodness of people who have trained their hearts in concentration can be of substantial use, even after they”ve died, both to themselves and to those surviving, an example being the Buddha who — even though he has nibbana-ed — has set an example that people still follow today. A person who practices concentration is like someone with a home and family; a person without concentration is like a vagrant with no place to sleep: Even though he may have belongings, he has nowhere to keep them.

　　A person with a mind made firm in concentration, though, has a place for his belongings. In other words, all major and minor acts of merit and wisdom come together in a mind that has concentration. A person without concentration is like a softwood tree with a hollow trunk: Poisonous animals, like cobras or crocodile birds, will come and make their nests in the hollow, laying their eggs and filling the hollow with their urine and dung. When such a tree dies, there”s no use for it but to throw it into the fire. If people haven”t trained their hearts with concentration, all the defilements — greed, anger and delusion — will come and make their nest there, causing harm and pain. When these people die, they are of no use except as food for worms or fuel for a pyre.

　　d. A person without concentration is like a boat without a dock or a train without a station: The passengers are put to all sorts of hardships.

　　Concentration is not something exclusive to Buddhism. Even in mundane activities, people use concentration. No matter what work you do, if you”re not intent on it, you won”t succeed. Even our ordinary everyday expressions teach concentration: "Set your heart on a goal." "Set your mind on your work." "Set yourself up in business." Whoever follows this sort of advice is bound to succeed.

　　But apart from mundane activities, whoever comes to put the Buddha”s teachings into practice is sure to perceive the great worth of concentration. To be brief: It forms the basis for discernment, which is the central principle in the craft taught by the Buddha, the craft of the heart. "Discernment" here refers to the wisdom and insight that come only from training the heart. People who haven”t…

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