..续本文上一页eds. Restlessness & anxiety is probably the most poisonous of the lot, because it makes us distracted, unsettled, and anxious all at the same time. It”s the kind of weed with thorns and sharp-edged leaves. If you run into it, you”re going to end up with a stinging rash all over your body. So if you come across it, destroy it. Don”t let it grow in your field at all.

　　Breath meditation -- keeping the breath steadily in mind -- is the best method the Buddha taught for wiping out these Hindrances. We use directed thought to focus on the breath, and evaluation to adjust it. Directed thought is like a plow; evaluation, like a harrow. If we keep plowing and harrowing our field, weeds won”t have a chance to grow, and our crops are sure to prosper and bear abundant fruit.

　　The field here is our body. If we put a lot of thought and evaluation into our breathing, the four properties of the body will be balanced and at peace. The body will be healthy and strong, the mind relaxed and wide open, free from Hindrances.

　　When you”ve got your field cleared and leveled like this, the crops of your mind -- the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha -- are sure to prosper. As soon as you bring the mind to the breath, you”ll feel a sense of rapture and refreshment. The four bases of attainment (iddhipada) -- the desire to practice, persistence in the practice, intentness, and circumspection in your practice -- will develop step by step. These four qualities are like the four legs of a table that keep it stable and upright. They”re a form of power that supports our strength and our progress to higher levels.

　　To make another comparison, these four qualities are like the ingredients in a health tonic. Whoever takes this tonic will have a long life. If you want to die, you don”t have to take it, but if you don”t want to die, you have to take a lot. The more you take it, the faster the diseases in your mind will disappear. In other words, your defilements will die. So if you know that your mind has a lot of diseases, this is the tonic for you.

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　　The Art of Letting Go

　　August 17, 1956

　　When you sit and meditate, even if you don”t gain any intuitive insights, make sure at least that you know this much: When the breath comes in, you know. When it goes out, you know. When it”s long, you know. When it”s short, you know. Whether it”s comfortable or uncomfortable, you know. If you can know this much, you”re doing fine. As for the various thoughts and concepts (sañña) that come into the mind, brush them away -- whether they”re good or bad, whether they deal with the past or the future. Don”t let them interfere with what you”re doing -- and don”t go chasing after them to straighten them out. When a thought of this sort comes passing in, simply let it go passing on. Keep your awareness, unperturbed, in the present.

　　When we say that the mind goes here or there, it”s not really the mind that goes. Only concepts go. Concepts are like shadows of the mind. If the body is still, how will its shadow move

　　 The movement of the body is what causes the shadow to move, and when the shadow moves, how will you catch hold of it

　　 Shadows are hard to catch, hard to shake off, hard to set still. The awareness that forms the present: That”s the true mind. The awareness that goes chasing after concepts is just a shadow. Real awareness -- "knowing" -- stays in place. It doesn”t stand, walk, come, or go. As for the mind -- the awareness that doesn”t act in any way coming or going, forward or back -- it”s quiet and unperturbed. And when the mind is thus its normal, even, undistracted self -- i.e., when it doesn”t have any shadows -- we can rest peacefully. But if the mind is un…

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