..续本文上一页es, when we think of the past, it can still seem that we have done things that are bad all the time - Even to ordain as a monk doesn”t seem good enough. We don”t know how to think positively in order to encourage ourselves. This is not to suggest to force our thoughts away from our bad aspects, but rather to acknowledge both sides of ourselves.

　　Tan Mettiko: Usually the krooba- ajahns teach that when we practice a lot, our need for sleep gets less. But could it also be that if our practice is to use investigation a lot, that it makes us more tired

　　Luang Por: Yes, that”s possible. To investigate makes one tired, and one needs a lot of energy - especially when one analyzes the body one uses of energy.

　　Tan Mettiko: If one is tired after having investigated, should one continue to investigate or have a rest

　　Luang Por: You can stop, no need to investigate further, whether it is watching the breath, investigating the body or reflecting on Dhamma. You can stop -no need to investigate further, just as when you have used up all the energy from the rice you have eaten and you can”t derive any more from it, then you need to start eating again, in order to give the body new strength.

　　It”s the same with investigation in your meditation: when the thinking has been exhausted, you have to make a fresh start with new power and focus of mind. If you think you”ve reached the point where you feel relaxed, go and continue to investigate. Or you can go ahead to the furthest that you have been before, and then go on reflecting.

　　Tan Dto: How can we know that our practice is progressing

　　Luang Por: Let me put it this way: think of the fact that our livelihood is to gather almsfood and that we use the requisites given to us by the laypeople. Ask yourself, whether your practice is on the side of causing debts or yielding profit. If you are wasting the investment, then the practice isn”t progressing, but if you feel it”s making plus, then it”s getting better.

　　Tan Dto: Can you give us some advice for going to see the autopsy tomorrow

　　Luang Por: Try to be able to remember what you see. If you remember it, then try to recall the memory afterwards. Before, when I came back from seeing autopsies with some other monks, at the meal time here, most of the monks couldn”t eat any meat any more (but I was indifferent and continued to eat normally). Some of the monks had to stop eating meat for up to three days, because it looked so much alike to what they had seen at the autopsy. Try to recall these impressions very often. Have a good look and if it happens to be that there is a certain part of the body that you feel particularly interested in or attracted to, think of how they cut it open at the autopsy. For example the head, the abdomen or the intestines. Suppose you are attracted to the head, think of how unattractive it was when it was cut open. Take your memory to counter your feelings of attraction.

　　If you don”t have much feelings of attraction now, maybe nothing much comes up now, but later, when desire arises you won”t have the means to counter it.

　　This practice is called asubha, (looking at the loathsomeness of the body), looking at what is not beautiful or attractive as opposed to the beautiful. If you don”t know how to practice asubha try for example standing in front of the skeletons that most of the wats have, and look at it. Before, in my first pansah at Wat Pah Pong, at midnight or one o”clock in the night, I would go to look at the skeleton in the sala, using my torch to shine on it. There were two skeletons, one male and one female, and when I looked at them in the light of my torch, I would reflect on my feelings towards a certain woman that I found nice, think of her beautiful hair. But here in th…

《Practice without Stopping》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…