..续本文上一页l passion (kama-raga): desire caused by the power of defilement.

　　5. Irritation (patigha): annoyance coming from the mind”s sense of being "struck" or disturbed.

　　6. Passion for form (rupa-raga): attachment to certain kinds of physical phenomena.

　　7. Passion for formless phenomena (arupa-raga): attachment to mental phenomena, such as feelings of pleasure.

　　8. Conceit (mana): construing ourselves to be this or that.

　　9. Restlessness (uddhacca): distraction, the mind”s tendency to get engrossed or carried away.

　　10. Unawareness (avijja): delusion; ignorance; being unacquainted with cause and effect, and out of touch with what is true.

　　All ten of these factors are walls in the citadel of Death. No one who lacks discernment will be able to destroy them, which is why the Buddha was especially insistent on this level of education, teaching his followers to study it from the very day of their ordination so that their education would be complete.

　　To summarize, there are three aspects to this third level of education —

　　1. Learning the alphabet: Studying in line with the labels we have for the various parts of the body, such as hair of the head, etc.

　　2. Learning to spell: Taking the consonants — such as the four properties of earth, water, wind, and fire — and then adding the vowels — feelings, labels, mental constructs, and cognizance — so that there is awareness of the six sense media, enabling us to know that there are good sights, good sounds, good smells, good tastes, good tactile sensations, and good ideas in the world, and that sometimes things that are not so good can also come in through the six sense media. The awareness that enters in and interacts in this way can be called patisandhi-viññana — cognizance connected with physical phenomena, interacting with physical phenomena, enabling us to know all levels of good and bad. When we are able to evaluate and choose what is good and bad within ourselves, we qualify as being able to "read," knowing thoroughly all the ways our inner alphabet works in practice.

　　3. Learning to make sense of it all: The word "sense" (attha) here has two meanings:

　　a. Realizing the results our education is aimed at.

　　b. Comprehending all the various parts into which we are analyzed — the 32 parts of the body, the properties, the khandhas, and the six sense media — or, what it all comes down to, the body and mind, plus the activity of thought, word, and deed. To put it briefly, all things are achieved through the heart.

　　mano-pubbangama dhamma:

　　The heart comes before all else. All things are excelled by the heart and made from the heart. A trained heart is the most superlative thing there is.

　　When we have tasted within ourselves the flavor and nourishment of all dhammas — mundane and transcendent (the flavor of deathlessness, which surpasses all flavors of the world) — then,

　　kevala paripunnam parisuddham brahmacariyam:

　　We have performed the entirety of the holy life. Our training in the holy life is perfect and pure.

　　This is what it means to graduate, to finish our higher education in the Buddha”s teachings.

　　Whoever has duties in the area of education, then, should attend to them. Otherwise, Buddhism is sure to degenerate because of our own lack of education. If this happens, the Department of Education established by the Sangha authorities will be futile and worthless, due to our own misunderstanding of its meaning and aims.

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　　III. The Department of Building and Development

　　This department is another important area, in that it works for the convenience of the Sangha through improving, repairing, and maintaining the physical surroundings in which we live. To be specific, its duties are to build and…

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