..续本文上一页we”re mindful and alert, that”s the effort of practice. Defilement is afraid of people who are mindful and alert, who are always watchful over themselves. It”s not afraid of complacent people. The Buddha thus opened the way, using the ascetic practices, for us to take victory over defilement. This is the way that will stamp out defilement. It”s not the case that he opened the way through the ascetic practices for defilement to stomp all over the heart.

　　All the ascetic practices, for those who follow them, are ways of subduing defilement. For example, living under the shade of a tree, in appropriate forests and mountains: The Buddha and his Noble Disciples all came into being in purity from these things, so we as meditators should reflect on this. We shouldn”t forget ourselves. However many material gains we may receive, we shouldn”t forget ourselves because of them, for that”s not the way of those who follow in the footsteps of the Buddha and his Noble Disciples.

　　No matter how many people come to respect us, that”s their business. We in practicing the Dhamma should beware of that sort of thing, because it”s a concern and a distraction, an inconvenience in the practice. We shouldn”t get involved in anything but the contact between the heart and the Dhamma at all times. That”s what”s appropriate for us. If the mind becomes a world of rebirth, it”ll outstrip the worldliness of the world to the point where it has no limits or bounds. The more people come to respect us -- and our defilements as monks and human beings are always ready to welcome this -- the more pride we feel, the more we forget ourselves. We swell up more than a river overflowing its banks, because this is a matter of defilement, not of the Dhamma. Matters of the Dhamma have to be even. They require us to be mindful at all times and not to forget ourselves. This is the path followed by those who have practiced to lift themselves beyond suffering and stress. Those of us who want to gain release like them have to practice like them -- or like students who have teachers. We shouldn”t practice haphazardly, claiming to be smart and not listening to anyone. That”s the path of practice taking us up on the chopping block with the onions and garlic, not the path taking us to the paths, fruitions, and nibbana.

　　These are things I have felt ever since I was a young monk, and so I”ve been able to hold to them as good lessons all along. There were times when I saw people coming to show respect to my teachers, and it gave rise to a strange sort of feeling in my heart -- the feeling that I”d like to have them respect me in the same way -- but at the same time I knew that the mind was base and was giving rise to an obscene desire, so I didn”t encourage it. I kept blocking it and was always conscious of my own fault in feeling that way.

　　When I really began to practice, I knew even more clearly that that was a wrong notion, that to think in that way wasn”t right at all. It was like the toad trying to compare himself to the ox. My teacher”s status was that of a teacher. My status was that of a toad lurking underground. How could I try to compare myself with him if I didn”t want to burst like the toad in Aesop”s fable

　　 That fable is a very good lesson for those who practice properly for the sake of release.

　　The practice of visiting the cemetery: Why visit the cemetery

　　 We people have to see evidence with our own eyes if we”re going to come to our senses. Visiting cemeteries is for the sake of seeing human death. Cemeteries in the past weren”t like they are today. Unburied bodies were scattered all over the place -- old bodies and new, scattered around like logs. When you saw them, you”d see clear evidence with your own eyes.

　　The Buddha gave instructions on how to visit a cemete…

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