..续本文上一页s to subjugate the defilements and mental effluents that have been subjugating us, or that have been the ruling elite, the big bosses of the cycle of rebirth, forcing the mind to go here and there for so long. Now we”re going to set our hearts on contending with the defilements for victory so as to see the truth of everything of every sort, with nothing to obscure our discernment at all. At the same time, we will take victory for our own — after having been defeated for so long — using the power of unflagging mindfulness, discernment, conviction, and perseverance.

　　Those who have reached the realm of excellence through perseverance have a dignity that outshines that of others. At the same time, they can take pride in their own perseverance. Those who have reached the realm of excellence through gaining victory over themselves, and no one else, are supreme within themselves, with no creation of animosity — unlike victory in war, with which the world creates endless animosities, like links in a chain. To gain victory over oneself, though, is to gain the foremost victory. As the Dhamma says,

　　atta have jitam seyyo:

　　”It is better to gain victory over oneself.”

　　The things that have created turmoil for the heart, causing it suffering and stress in the past, now come to an absolute stop. In what I have been saying, don”t forget that perseverance is the important factor, the factor that supports mindfulness and discernment as the trailblazers for the sake of progress in our work. Discernment is very important for investigating and exploring so as to see causes and effects. Mindfulness supervises the work, to keep our attention from straying. When discernment has investigated so as to see the truth of such things as the five khandhas, the defilements will have no place to hide and so will come pouring together into one place — into the heart. They have no other place to hold onto, no other place to attach themselves, because all such places have been obliterated by discernment.

　　The next stage is to lay siege to the heart, where the enemies lie gathered, so as to disperse them from it until nothing is left. There! That”s called the death of the defilements. They die right there, right there in the heart where they”ve always been. They”ve lived there; and when they die, they die there through the power of the most up-to-the-minute ”super-mindfulness” and ”super-discernment.” This is called full victory. The supreme victory is won right here. The teachings of the religion all converge at this point. The final stage in their practice comes to an end right here. We finish our task right here. When we reach the realm of release from suffering and stress, we reach it right here.

　　Aside from this, there is nothing: no time, no place, no future, no past. As for the present, we are wise to everything of every sort. We have no more issues, no more disputes. There are no more cases in court between defilement and the mind. Super-mindfulness and super-discernment have sat on the bench and handed down a death sentence for defilement and all its tribe. There is nothing left to carry on the lineage of birth and being. At that moment, defilement and all its tribe sink out of sight. This is called reaching nibbana: a heart truly constant and sure.

　　All the various conditions that used to deceive the mind no longer exist. All that remains is pure awareness. Even though the khandhas — rupa, vedana, sañña, sankhara, and viññana — may form in accordance with their nature, they simply go their own way, which has no meaning in terms of defilement at all. The body behaves in its ”body way.” Feelings — pleasure, pain, neither pleasure nor pain, which appear in the body — behave in the way of feelings. Sañña — labels, acts of recognition — behave in their own way. Sankhara — the various thought-formations — behave in line with their own nature. Viññana — acts of noticing when external objects come into contact with the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — notice and vanish, notice and vanish, in line with their nature, without being able to provoke the mind as before, because the things that cause provocation have all been destroyed without leaving a trace. These are thus called ”khandhas pure and simple.” The mind has reached nibbana in the midst of khandhas pure and simple. This is to reach living nibbana: the mind purified of defilement.

　　Those who have reached this point, you know, don”t ask where nibbana is. And why should they

　　 What is nibbana, actually

　　 The word nibbana is a name. The nature we call nibbana is the actual thing. When you reach the actual thing, why ask the name

　　 Why ask for traces and signs

　　 What is there left to grope for

　　 Those who really know don”t grope, aren”t hungry, don”t lack — because they have reached ”enough,” completely, of everything of every sort.

　　So. That should be enough explanation for now. I ask that we as meditators take this and contemplate it so as to see the truth I have mentioned. We will then be complete in our hearts, as I have described, without a doubt.

　　So I”ll ask to stop here.

《Straight from the Heart - Investigating Pain》全文阅读结束。