..续本文上一页ll-founded and well-informed, firm in the belief that there is good and evil, that there is merit (puñña) and that our actions bear fruit we will receive. We should then avoid doing evil, and cultivate goodness as far as we are able.

　　b. Virtue (sila-sampada): We should be true to our moral principles and train ourselves to be full-fledged human beings in thought, word, and deed. Whatever we do should be done with honesty and rectitude.

　　c. Generosity (caga-sampada): We should be mature in our generosity, making donations to others, for instance, as we are able. To be giving in this way, the Buddha teaches, is a Noble Treasure, bearing pidends both in this life and in lives to come. If we are not giving of our possessions, they will bear us fruit only in this lifetime. At death, they will vanish. We won”t be able to transfer them for use in the next life, just as Thai currency can”t be used outside the boundaries of our country. When a person travels abroad, he won”t be able to use his native currency at all unless he is sensible enough to exchange his money beforehand and deposit it in an appropriate bank. Only then will it be of use to him when he goes abroad. In the same way, sensible people deposit their possessions in the bank called the field of merit (puññakkheta): When they sacrifice their wealth in this way, it becomes a Noble Treasure, bearing pidends on the road ahead. And this doesn”t apply only to possessions: When a person crosses the border from one country into another, even his native language won”t be of any use. The Buddha thus taught us a foreign language — chanting and the meditative practice of developing good will and loving-kindness — to serve us as language in the world to come.

　　d. Discernment (pañña-sampada): We should be circumspect and judicious in all our actions. Otherwise, we will act under the influence of such forms of delusion as chandagati — being prejudiced by affection, with no reasonable thought for right or wrong; bhayagati — being prejudiced by fear, with no thought for what is reasonable; dosagati — being prejudiced by anger and dislike, with no thought for right or wrong; and mohagati — being prejudiced by delusion, mistaking right for wrong, and wrong for right. To act in any of these ways means that we have no discernment. For this reason, whatever we may do in the area of making merit, we should first weigh things carefully and properly before acting. Only then will we qualify as being mature in our discernment.

　　These four practices open the way to a good bourn in the next life, i.e., in heaven, but even then we will still have to go whirling along the cycle of death and rebirth.

　　3. If we have strong conviction, we will be able to develop ourselves so as to go beyond this to the level of the ultimate welfare (paramattha), attaining the levels of transcendent virtue. This sort of virtue is something that all Buddhists should aim for. The prerequisites are two:

　　conviction and perseverance.

　　When we possess these qualities, they will serve as our tools — regardless of whether we are sharp-witted or dull, men or women, people with many defilements or with only a few. Once we have set our sights, we should then develop two practices that form the path to nibbana —

　　a. tranquillity meditation: developing stillness in the mind;

　　b. insight meditation: developing discernment in the mind; gaining internal insight, seeing through to the natural condition of the Dhamma that lies within us.

　　The natural condition of the Dhamma is this: birth, momentary existence, disbanding — like a wave on the sea. When the wind blows, great waves rise on the ocean. The same holds true with human life: The natural condition of the khandhas within us behaves like a w…

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