..续本文上一页 destroy that vow, and yet we ourselves are the ones who destroy it: This is what is meant by writing with the hand and erasing with the foot, which is something very unseemly. We have to be true to our plans and always decisive. Once we”ve determined that a particular task is worthwhile and right, we should give our life to that task and to our determination. This way we”ll become dependable and self-reliant. The virtues we are maintaining will become dependable virtues and won”t turn into virtues floating in the wind. Our practice of concentration will become dependable concentration on every level and won”t turn into concentration floating in the wind, i.e., concentration only in name but without the actuality of concentration in the heart. And when we develop each level of discernment, it will be dependable discernment, in keeping with the truthfulness of our character, and won”t turn into discernment floating in the wind, i.e., discernment only in name but without any ingenuity in freeing ourselves. What I”ve said so far is so that you will see the drawbacks of being undependable and desultory, without any inner truthfulness, and so that if you hope for genuine progress in terms of the world and the Dhamma, you”ll look for a way to give these things a wide berth.

　　Now I”d like to say more about mindfulness and discernment, the factors that can make your character more stable and circumspect. You should always be aware that discernment isn”t something that you can cook up like food. It comes from considering things carefully. A person without discernment is unable to complete his tasks with any sort of finesse and unable to protect his valuables -- in the sense of the world or of the Dhamma -- from danger. For this reason, the important factors in maintaining and practicing the teachings of the religion are mindfulness and discernment. Whenever an event, whether good or bad, makes contact with the mind, mindfulness and discernment should take it up immediately. This way you can be alert to good and bad events in time and can prevent the heart from straying after things that will harm it.

　　For the most part, whenever an issue arises, whether it”s sudden or not, the heart can be swayed or harmed in line with that issue because it lacks the mindfulness and discernment to observe and inspect things carefully beforehand. It then sees everything as worth pursuing, and so you let the mind follow along with things without your being aware of it. By the time you realize what has happened, time has been wasted, and it”s too late to put a stop to the mind, so you let things follow their own course until they all turn to ashes, without any way of being remedied. Don”t think that this comes from anything other than a lack of the mindfulness and discernment that can lead out to freedom. If not for this, who would be willing to sacrifice his or her own worth -- with a value above that of anything else in the world -- for the sake of this sort of failure

　　 Yet it”s unavoidable and we have to give in -- all of us -- for when the chips are down, it”s normal that mindfulness will lapse, and we won”t be able to latch onto anything in time. We”ll then let things follow their own course in line with the force of events too strong for the mind to withstand.

　　Thus it is only right that we should prepare ourselves from this moment onward to be ready for the events that lie in wait around us, within and without, and are ready to strike at any time or place. Even though it”s still morning (even though you”re still alive), don”t let yourself delay. To be prepared is to strive to have a firm basis, both within and without, for your living and dying. Whether you live here or there, whether death will happen here or there, whether you live in this world o…

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