..续本文上一页eaches full completion right here.

　　The ”world” means the world of living beings. ”Living beings” (satta) means those who are caught up, caught up right at the mind. This is where we cut through the problem. This is where we study and know. The arahant disciples studied and knew right here with their full hearts — and that was the end of the problem. They solved the problem and it fell away, with nothing remaining.

　　But as for us, we take on the whole thing: the entire heap of suffering and stress. We take on all problems, but we aren”t willing to solve them. We simply hoard them to weigh ourselves down all the time. Our heart is thus filled with a heap of stress that nothing else can equal, because nothing else is as heavy as a heart heaped with stress. Carrying this heap of stress and problems is heavy on the heart because we haven”t completed our studies. We carry nothing but this heap because of our delusion.

　　When vijja — true knowledge — has appeared and eradicated all the hazards from the heart, this is what it means to ”graduate” in line with natural principles, with none of the conferring of degrees or titles that would cause us to become even more deluded. To complete our study of the Dhamma in the heart means that we have erased it completely of all delusion, with no traces remaining.

　　At that moment, the three levels of existence — the levels of sensuality, form, and formlessness — become no more problem, because they all lie in the heart. The level of sensuality is a mind composed of sensuality. The levels of form and formlessness are the conventions of the various things in those levels buried in the heart. When the heart removes them, that”s the end of the problem. When we solve the problem, this is where we solve it. This world and the next world lie right here, because that which steps into any world lies right here. This mind is what steps out to receive stress in greater or lesser measure. The motor, the propeller, lies here in the heart and nowhere else.

　　The Lord Buddha thus taught at the right point, the most appropriate point: the heart, which is the primary culprit. The things I have mentioned here, with whom do they lie if not with each of us

　　 And if we don”t solve them right here, where will we solve them

　　Living beings have to go to their various worlds through the power of the good and bad kamma within the heart. That which goes to the worlds — to the bonfires — is this very heart. If we don”t solve the problem right here, there is no way of escaping the bonfires of stress and anxiety. If we solve the problem right here, there is no problem as to where the fires are, because we can keep ourselves protected. That”s all there is to it!

　　All of these things are very heavy worlds for living beings in general. Whatever problems arise, they arise right here. ”Is death followed by rebirth

　　 By annihilation

　　 Is there a next world

　　 Does hell exist

　　 Does heaven

　　 Does evil exist

　　 Does merit

　　” Everywhere I go, there”s the same question: ”Do heaven and hell exist

　　” I never feel like answering. I don”t see any reason to answer it, because that which is burdened with heaven and hell is the heart, which everyone already has. So why waste time answering

　　 After all, I”m not a record-keeper for heaven and hell!

　　Straighten things out right here at the cause that will go to heaven and hell. Straighten out the bad causes and foster the good. There will then be no stress, if we straighten things out right on target. And how can we miss

　　 The well-taught Dhamma (svakkhata-dhamma) teaches us to solve things right on target, not off-target. The Dhamma that leads (niyyanika-dhamma) by means of the well-taught Dhamma, leads out those who are caught up in stress and anxiety through the power of delusion. Where will we solve things …

《Straight from the Heart - Birth & Death》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…