..续本文上一页rious and skillful actions without reaping any benefits in return. Maybe it”s better to go out and have fun, enjoying ourselves by drinking and getting drunk. There is no such thing as hell to fall into. Surely it”s better than sitting here with our eyes closed and going hungry because we abstain from our evening meals. If we think like this, it means we are skeptical. We have no confidence in the Buddha”s teaching.
On the other hand, if we believe that by maintaining the eight precepts in which we have to abstain from having our evening meals, though it may cause us hunger pain and hardship, we know that it will be better for us in the end. The Buddha and his noble disciples have already proved it. They could vouch for us that these actions are good and will make us truly happy. When we believe this, we will put in the effort to do meritorious and skillful actions like coming to spend a day and night at the temple on every observance day, which occurs about once a week. In the past, we never came to the temple. But once we start coming and get to listen to the Dhamma talks, we start to see the benefits. We gain something that we never had before, namely Dhamma, which is unlike all other material things, such as automobiles. We can see these motor vehicles with our naked eyes, but not so with Dhamma because it is spiritual. It gradually seeps into our mind. We might not feel anything at all although we might have been coming to the temple for a long time. But Dhamma continues to slowly infiltrate. Then one day, suddenly there is calmness in our mind. We will then realize that this is what we have come to the temple for all along.
Maybe in the future we might encounter some crisis, go through unpleasant situations such as losing our loved ones. If we have the Buddha”s teaching to reflect on, we could remain calm and peaceful, rather than being afflicted with sorrow and lamentation to the point of not being able to eat or sleep, because the Buddha has told us that parting from our loved ones is a natural occurrence. It happens to everyone. It is not unusual. There is no need to be sad or tearful. We are still alive. Life goes on. We should maintain our composure and not fall prey to depression. If we could do this, we would see the benefits of the Dhamma teaching. In the past we came to the temple without knowing why we came. But when we run into trouble the Dhamma teaching that we have heard before could help get us out of our predicament and ease us out of our suffering, we would then appreciate immensely the value of the Dhamma teaching, would be a lot more diligent in our practice, and would want to do more meritorious actions like giving to charity.
Why do people give to charity or keep the training precepts
We might ask ourselves. It”s because it makes them feel good and help them in time of crisis. If we haven”t done it before we might not appreciate it. To find out we just have to do it. Just keep doing it until we reap the results. It is like planting trees. We don”t expect trees to bear fruit right away. When we plant durian or mango trees, we have to wait five to ten years for them to bear fruit. It”s the same with making merits, keeping the precepts or listening to Dhamma talks. It doesn”t come to fruition instantly. It takes time. What we have to do is to have faith in the Buddha”s teaching and apply it untiringly. The fruits of our labor will come in due course.
The third spiritual power is mindfulness or sati. If we want quick results from our practice we need mindfulness. We must always be mindful of what we do because mindfulness controls the mind. The mind is like an automobile and mindfulness its driver. If the driver has no mindfulness like when he is drunk, he …
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