..续本文上一页ant, because they are in a direct sense the origin of stress. They give rise to stress as their direct result.

　　In the context of the four Noble Truths, the Buddha teaches us to diagnose stress, but why doesn”t he teach us to diagnose pleasure

　　 What does pleasure come from

　　 He doesn”t say — because it arises from the path doing its duty until the cause of stress disintegrates and pleasure arises in its stead.

　　Now when the stress that”s part and parcel of defilement disappears, this type of pleasure disappears as well, but another kind of pleasure or ease appears along with the heart that has been purified — and this doesn”t disappear with anything at all.

　　Now as for concentration: When you”re going to make the mind still, you really have to make it stay with its theme of tranquillity meditation. Don”t go concerning yourself with the topics you”ve been investigating, because the mind has to rest. You can”t not let it rest. When the time comes to rest, it needs rest. No matter how great the results and accomplishments you get from your practice of investigation, the heart can still grow tired and weary. Your work — your thinking and pondering in the area of discernment or whatever — is all work for the mind. When the mind has been thinking, pondering, and investigating for a long time, it can grow weary and so it has to rest. When the time comes to rest, you shouldn”t involve yourself with any work at all. Set your mind solely on performing your duties for the sake of mental stillness. This is called working without overstepping your boundaries; without being worried about what went before or will come after; without overflowing your banks. The heart will then have the strength to continue its work with clear insight and discernment.

　　When you want stillness of mind so as to provide strength for discernment, you should set your mind on the theme that will make the mind still and then stick right with it until the mind is still, right then and there. Once the mind has been still long enough to gain strength, you can then withdraw from that stillness. Now you start probing. You don”t have to concern yourself with stillness. Your duty is to investigate step by step. This is called the correct way — the appropriate way, the uniform way — to follow the path of tranquillity and insight all the way to the goal.

　　All of these are problems I”ve been through myself. When I would get engrossed in something, I”d be so stuck that I”d get addicted and heedless. I”d get addicted to the stillness, the sense of comfort and ease in concentration. When I”d get engrossed in investigating, I”d be so engrossed that I”d forget myself and wouldn”t let the mind rest at all. Neither of these ways is correct. In other words, neither is in keeping with what is just right.

　　The right way is that when the mind feels tired and weary from its work, we have to let it rest in stillness. When the time comes to investigate, we have to investigate. We can”t worry about anything else. We have to set our mind on our duties, step by step, in keeping with the job at hand. This is always the appropriate way to proceed with tranquillity and insight.

　　There is no job in the world bigger than the job of removing defilement, of removing oneself from the cycle of wheeling around from birth to death for countless lifetimes. When we think about it, it”s really dismaying — circling around from birth to death, carrying a load of nothing but suffering and stress. No matter what the level, the only difference is that the stress is less or more, because all levels have stress inasmuch as they contain the defilements that give rise to stress. So how can they not have stress

　　 All living beings have to suffer stress. The Buddha thus taught us to rid ourselves of all defilement until the…

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