..续本文上一页re is nothing left hidden in the mind. Let there simply be the ”pure meat.” Don”t let there be any bones, or they”ll be bad for your health.
Defilements, no matter what the sort, need to be cleansed away, peeled away until nothing is left. This is why it”s called a very big job. There are times when we have to give it our all — all our skill, all our mindfulness and discernment, even our life — to an extent that we will never forget.
”So. If we”re going to die, then let”s die. If not, then let”s know it.” That”s all there is. There can be nothing else. This is when the mind is its own mainstay. Atta hi attano natho: It can take care of itself. In other words, we leave it to the mind”s own strength. When the mind is whirling in for the sake of the realm beyond suffering, as if nibbana were always just coming into reach; while what”s behind us keeps pressing in, and we realize more and more its danger and harm, there”s only one way to escape the Great Danger:
”If we”re going to die, then let”s die. If not, then let”s know the Dhamma.” Wherever we are, we don”t want to stay. Wherever we”re stuck, we don”t want to be stuck. It”s a waste of our time in gaining release from suffering. We”ve simply got to reach release from suffering. This is the only thing that can satisfy such a mind at such times. When the mind is this way, where is it going to find any weakness or laziness
If things get tough, we fight. If they”re easy, we fight. If we”re going to die, we still fight until we have no more breath to breathe — and that”s when the mind finally stays put. It can”t possibly be moved. Once it knows and reaches the goal, it stays put on its own. No matter where you chase it, it won”t go.
Discernment — which has been spinning itself in circles even more than a wheel — when the time comes, stops on its own. It simply runs out of duties of its own accord, without our having to turn it off, the way we do with motors. This automatic mindfulness and discernment simply stops or turns off on its own — because it already knows, so what else is there to investigate
It has already let go, so what else is there to let go
It already knows, so what else is there to know
It has had enough, so where else is it going to look for enough
It knows all of this within itself. It knows in an instant and is released. In other words, it knows for the last time. This is where the big job is finished. The job is big, and the results are enormous. Nothing in any of the three worlds can compare.
The results of this big job, this heavy job, you know, excel the world — and how could we say that ultimate ease doesn”t excel the world
When excellence stands out, filling the heart, it”s far different from defilement standing out, filling the heart. Whoever wants to know has to practice for him or herself. No one else can do it for us. When we reach the level of excellence, we excel exclusively within, without disturbing anyone else.
This Dhamma is always timeless (akaliko). It has been the guarantor of the paths, fruitions, and nibbana from the time of the Buddha to the present. No one will ever be able to erase it. The Buddha excelled the world because of this Dhamma. The arahant disciples whom we revere as our refuge all excelled because of this Dhamma of purity — and because of this heavy job. When our Teacher has led us to proceed in this way, what business do we have shilly-shallying around
We can”t act only in line with our preferences, because our Teacher didn”t lead us in that way.
Our foremost Teacher was a genius, an utterly genuine person, unequaled by anyone. But we”re a bunch of show-offs, doing only what our Teacher criticized, and so we keep meeting only with things worth criticizing. Don”t we ever think of changing, or do we feel we”re being sty…
《Straight from the Heart - The Principle of the Present》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…