..续本文上一页igher and higher, until it no longer wants anything at all. If you used to eat a lot, you won”t want to eat a lot. If you used to eat in moderation, there”ll be times when you won”t want to eat at all. If you used to talk a lot, you won”t want to talk a lot. If you used to sleep a lot, you”ll want to sleep only a little. However you live, the heart will be entirely happy, with no more danger to fear from anyone. This is how you cut down the number of times you”ll take rebirth.

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　　If you see any areas in which you”re still lacking in inner worth, you should try to fill in the lack right away. Be steady in your practice of meditation and make your mind clear, free from the distractions that will drag it down into the dirt. Dirt is where animals live — pigs, dogs, ducks, chickens, and cows. It”s no place for human beings. If you”re really a human being, you have to like living in clean places, free from danger and germs. This is why the Buddha praised seclusion as the well-spring of happiness. So try to find a secluded spot for yourself to stay within the mind, secluded from hindering distractions. Make your mind as bright as a jewel, and don”t let temptation come along and try to trade garbage for the good things you”ve got. You have to be mindful at all times, so don”t let yourself be absent-minded or forgetful.

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　　If your mind doesn”t stay with your body in the present, all sorts of evil things — all sorts of distractions — will come flowing in to overwhelm it, making it fall away from its inner worth, just as a vacant house is sure to become a nest of spiders, termites, and all sorts of animals. If you keep your mind firmly with the body in the present, you”ll be safe. Like a person on a big ship in the middle of a smooth sea free from wind and waves: Everywhere you look is clear and wide open. You can see far. Your eyes are quiet with regard to sights, your ears quiet with regard to sounds, and so on with your other senses. Your mind is quiet with regard to thoughts of sensuality, ill will, and harm. The mind is in a state of seclusion, calm and at peace. This is where we”ll let go of our sense of "me" and "mine," and reach the further shore, free from constraints and bonds.

《Food for Thought - Taking The Long View》全文阅读结束。