..续本文上一页ading a very delicate life. They had the ranks of kings, courtiers, and financiers, all the way down to ordinary farmers and slaves.

　　Coming from different classes of society -- and some of them having lived in comfort in their homes -- when they went forth to practice, they had to train and fit their thoughts, words, and deeds into a single mould, the mould of the sons of the Sakyan. So why wouldn”t they have had trouble

　　 Why wouldn”t they have had difficulties

　　 The way they ate in their homes was one thing; when they went forth to become monks, they had to ask others for alms. Instead of getting to eat this, they got that. Instead of getting hot food, they got cold food. Instead of getting to eat a lot, they got just a little, not in keeping with their wants. So how wasn”t this difficult

　　 It had to be difficult. But after they had finished eating, the important thing was training the mind to subdue defilement. Defilement has been the adversary, the foremost opponent of the Dhamma within the heart all along. There is no adversary stronger, smarter, or trickier than the defilements that have held power over the hearts of living beings for so long.

　　For this reason, we have to produce enough mindfulness, discernment, conviction, and persistence to subdue defilement. Otherwise we”ll be deficient in the fight. To be deficient in the fight is no good at all. It”s sure to make us deficient in the results we”ll obtain. So the production of mindfulness, discernment, conviction, and persistence to be appropriate for subduing defilement of every sort, step by step, is the path of victory for the meditator who is to gain complete results, who will one day be free and independent for sure.

　　Virtually all of the Noble Disciples practiced in this way until reaching release. They gained release from suffering through struggle before becoming our saranam gacchami. So don”t forget. Our refuges -- Sangha saranam gacchami -- weren”t spoonfed people. They were people who struggled to the brink of death just like us. Think of them and hold to them as examples. Don”t take, the diddly-shit affairs of the world, which have no value or standards, as the principles in your heart, or you”ll become irresolute and good for nothing, unable to find any goodness, any release from stress, any happiness or prosperity, any standards at all to your dying day. When this is the case, fullness and satisfaction in your work and in the results of your work won”t exist in your heart. So be intent on practicing.

　　The Dhamma of the Buddha is always shining new. Don”t forget that it”s always shining new. Majjhima patipada -- the middle way -- is a shining-new Dhamma, not tarnished, shabby, or worn out like objects we”ve used for a long time. Majjhima means right in the middle -- the Dhamma that has been appropriate for curing defilements of every sort all along. Ultimately it becomes majjhima in the principles of nature, because it has cured defilement and brought release within the mind. The mind becomes a majjhima mind, always even within itself.

　　So don”t take anyone as your model more than the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. By and large, the mind tends to take lowly things as its model, which is why we have to say, ”Don”t take anyone as your model other than the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.” The meditation masters who have practiced rightly, appropriately, and well as a good example for us who aim at studying with them: They too derived their model from the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.

　　If we get weak or discouraged, we should reflect on the cemeteries of birth and death that will burn us forever: Is there anything good about them

　　 The struggle involved in the effort of the practice, even though it involves hardship, is a means of cutting back on our becoming and birth. More than that, it completely eliminates becoming and birth, which are a massive heap of stress, from the heart, so that we can freely pass by and gain release. There are none of the various sorts of defilement -- even the most subtle -- infiltrating or coercing such a heart. This is what it means to be free in every way, above the world of rebirth -- which is a conventional reality -- through the power of our persistent endeavor. For this reason, we should take persistence, endeavor, and effort as our basis for victory, or as our basis for the practice. We are then sure one day of attaining release from suffering and stress. No one has the power to coerce us or decide our score. We are the ones who”ll decide our score for ourselves.

　　Very well then. That”s all I”ll discuss for now.

《Things as They Are - Principles in the Practice, Principles in the Heart》全文阅读结束。