..续本文上一页following is a short-cut. It”s a path worn smooth. Following a smooth path means that there are no weeds growing on it, no obstacles in our way, no need to stop here and there and slow down our progress. The reason we don”t yet know how to follow this path is because we don”t know how to walk. We walk like people in general all over the world: going forward, turning back, looking left and right. This is why we keep running into one another all the time, falling down, and then picking ourselves back up. Sometimes, even when nobody runs into us, we stagger. Even when nobody trips us up, we fall. Sometimes we get lazy and lie down to rest. Sometimes we stop to look at things we meet along the way. This way we never get to the goal because we aren”t really intent on walking. We wander here and there without following the path.

　　So we have to learn a new way to walk, the Buddha”s way. What is the Buddha”s way

　　 The Buddha”s way of walking is to walk like a soldier. Soldiers don”t stagger back and forth the way we do. They walk standing up straight, staying in place, stamping their feet on the ground. This way they don”t get tired, because they don”t have to go far. If we were to walk in place for three hours, the grass beneath our feet would be flattened out. Any grass that tried to grow in its place wouldn”t be able to get above ground level.

　　It”s the same with the work we”re doing right now, being mindful to focus on the breath. If we”re really intent on it, focusing our attention solely on the breath without letting it wander off and disappear, all the various Hindrances — thoughts of past and future, good and bad — won”t be able to reach in to touch us. All the Hindrances, which are like grass, will have to be flattened out. No evil, unskillful thoughts will be able to appear in the heart. When this is the case, the mind won”t have to follow the paths to deprivation, and instead will keep following the path that goes higher and higher. This is called following the path worn smooth, in line with the Buddha”s way.

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　　Practicing meditation is like digging a diamond mine. The body is like a big rock; mindfulness is like a shovel. If you don”t really dig — i.e., if you dig little shallow holes here and there, instead of digging away at one place — you can dig for a month and yet get no deeper than your knees. But if you”re really intent on digging away at one place, the hole you dig will keep getting deeper and deeper until you get down to the rock. Now, when stupid people hit the rock, they throw down their shovels and run away. (This stands for people who practice meditation but can”t endure feelings of pain.) As for intelligent people, when they meet up with the rock, they keep chipping away at it until they get past it, and that”s when they find the valuable diamond that lies on the underside of the rock. If it”s a diamond seam, they won”t have to work again for the rest of their lives.

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　　Gems and diamonds that are really valuable lie deep, so we”ll have to dig deep if we want to find things of value. If we don”t go far beneath the surface, we”ll end up with dirt and sand that sells for only five cents a bushel.

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　　When we”re true in what we do — when we don”t stop or grow lax or give up — the results, even if they show up slowly, are bound to be great. The fact that they are all growing at once is what makes them slow. It”s like a tree with lots of branches to protect itself and give lots of shade. It”s bound to grow more slowly than a banana tree, which has only one stem and gives good fruit, but is exposed to lots of dangers. Some people get results quickly; others more slowly. The slower people shouldn”t compare themselves or compete with the quick ones. The quick ones shouldn”t compete with the slow ones. It”s like polis…

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