The training in concentration is practice to make the mind firm and steady. This brings about peacefulness of mind Usually our minds are moving and restless, hard to control. The mind follows sense distractions wildly, just like water lowing this way and that. Men, though, know how to control water so that it is of greater use to mankind. Men are clever. They know how to dam water, make large reservoirs and canals - all of this merely to channel water and make it more usable, so that it doesn't run wild and eventually settle down into a few low spots, its usefulness wasted.
So, too, the mind which is dammed and controlled, trained constantly, will be of immeasurable benefit. The Buddha himself taught, "The mind that has been controlled brings true happiness, so train your minds well for the highest benefits." Similarly, the animals we see around us - elephants, horses, buffaloes, and so on must be trained before they can be useful for work. Only after they have been trained is their strength of benefit to us.
In the same way, the mind that has been trained will bring many times the blessings of that of an untrained mind. The Buddha and his Noble Disciples all started out in the same way as us with untrained minds. But, afterward, look how they became the subjects of reverence for us all. And see how much benefit we can gain from their teachings. Indeed see what benefits have come to the entire world from these men who had gone through the training of the mind to reach the freedom beyond. The mind controlled and trained is better equipped to help us in all professions, in all situations. The disciplined mind will keep our lives balanced, make work easier, and develop and nurture reason to govern our actions. In the end our happiness will increase accordingly as we follow the proper mind training.
Desire is a defilement, but we must first have desire in order to start practicing the way. Suppose you went to buy coconuts at the market and while carrying them back someone asked:
"Why did you buy those coconuts?"
"I bought them to eat."
"Are you going to eat the shells too?"
"Of course not!"
"I don't believe you. If you're not going to eat the shells, then why did you buy them?"
Well, What do you say? How are you going to answer that question?
We practise with desire to begin with. If we didn't have desire, we wouldn't practice. Contemplating in this way can give rise to wisdom, you know. For example, those coconuts: Are you going to eat the shells as well? Of course not. Then why do you take them? They're useful for wrapping up the coconuts in. If after eating the coconuts, you throw the shells away, there is no problem.
Our practice is like this. We're not going to eat the shells, but it's not yet time to throw them away. We keep them first, just like we do with desire. This is how the practice is. If somebody wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, that's their business. We know what we're doing.
"Why did you buy those coconuts?"
"I bought them to eat."
"Are you going to eat the shells too?"
"Of course not!"
"I don't believe you. If you're not going to eat the shells, then why did you buy them?"
Well, What do you say? How are you going to answer that question?
We practise with desire to begin with. If we didn't have desire, we wouldn't practice. Contemplating in this way can give rise to wisdom, you know. For example, those coconuts: Are you going to eat the shells as well? Of course not. Then why do you take them? They're useful for wrapping up the coconuts in. If after eating the coconuts, you throw the shells away, there is no problem.
Our practice is like this. We're not going to eat the shells, but it's not yet time to throw them away. We keep them first, just like we do with desire. This is how the practice is. If somebody wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, that's their business. We know what we're doing.
When we have contemplated the nature of the heart many times, then we will come to understand that this heart is just as it is and can't be otherwise. We will know that the heart's ways are just as they are. That's its nature. If we see this clearly, then we can detach from thoughts and feelings. And we don't have to add on anything ore if we constantly tell ourselves that "that's just the way it is." When the heart truly understands, it lets go of everything. Thinking and feeling will still be there, but that very thinking and feeling will be deprived of power.
It's like at first being annoyed by a child who likes to play in ways that annoy us so much that we scold or spank him. But later we understand that it's natural for a child to play and act like that, so we leave him alone. We let go and our troubles are over. Why are they over? Because we now accept the natural ways of children. Our outlook has changed and we now accept the true nature of things. We let go and our heart becomes more peaceful. We now have right understanding.
deprived = /dI"praIv/ to take something, especially something necessary or pleasant, away from someone: sp.pmrf;oh.bj,P;pAwf:? bdyf:wdkof:? Odrf:tofclof:cgifuGj,/
It's like at first being annoyed by a child who likes to play in ways that annoy us so much that we scold or spank him. But later we understand that it's natural for a child to play and act like that, so we leave him alone. We let go and our troubles are over. Why are they over? Because we now accept the natural ways of children. Our outlook has changed and we now accept the true nature of things. We let go and our heart becomes more peaceful. We now have right understanding.
deprived = /dI"praIv/ to take something, especially something necessary or pleasant, away from someone: sp.pmrf;oh.bj,P;pAwf:? bdyf:wdkof:? Odrf:tofclof:cgifuGj,/
We can compare practice to a bottle of medicine a doctor leaves for his patient. On the bottle are written detailed instructions on how to take the medicine, but no matter how many hundred times the patient may read the directions, he is bound to die if that is all he does. He will gain no benefit from the medicine. And before he dies, he may complain bitterly that the doctor wasn't any good, that the medicine didn't cure him. He will think that the doctor was a fake or that the medicine was worthless, yet he had only spent his time examining the bottle and reading the instructions. He hadn't followed the advice of the doctor and taken the medicine. However, if the patient had actually followed the doctor's advice and taken the medicine regularly as prescribed, he would have recovered.
Doctors prescribe medicine to eliminate diseases from the body. The teachings of the Buddha are prescribed to cure diseases of the mind and to bring it back to its natural healthy state. So the Buddha can be considered to be a doctor who prescribes cures for the illnesses of the mind which are found in each one of us without exception. When you see these illnesses of the mind, does it not make sense to look to the Dhamma as support, as medicine to cure your illnesses?
bitterly = /"bIt.E.li/ in a way which shows strong negative emotion such as anger or disappointment. bdlef.bmyf,ej,? cmef.pefej,? vDqif:ej,? rdlof,qmef;ej,/
eliminate = /I.lIm.I.leIt/ to remove or take away zAof;ySwf;? bj.ySwf;? tofwhySwf;? idlif.so;/
Doctors prescribe medicine to eliminate diseases from the body. The teachings of the Buddha are prescribed to cure diseases of the mind and to bring it back to its natural healthy state. So the Buddha can be considered to be a doctor who prescribes cures for the illnesses of the mind which are found in each one of us without exception. When you see these illnesses of the mind, does it not make sense to look to the Dhamma as support, as medicine to cure your illnesses?
bitterly = /"bIt.E.li/ in a way which shows strong negative emotion such as anger or disappointment. bdlef.bmyf,ej,? cmef.pefej,? vDqif:ej,? rdlof,qmef;ej,/
eliminate = /I.lIm.I.leIt/ to remove or take away zAof;ySwf;? bj.ySwf;? tofwhySwf;? idlif.so;/
Both the body and mind are constantly arising and ceasing, conditions are in a state of constant turmoil. The reason we can't see this in line with the truth is because we keep believing the untrue. It's like being guided by a blind man. How can we travel with him in safety? A blind man will only lead us into forests and thickets. how could he lead us to safety when he can't see? In the same way, our mind is deluded by conditions, creating suffering in the search for happiness, creating difficulty in the search for ease. Such a mind can have only difficulty and suffering. Really we want to get rid of suffering and difficulty, but instead we create those very things. All we can do is complain. We create bad causes, and the reasons we do so is because we don't know the truth of appearances and conditions and try to cling to them.
turmoil = /"tV:mOIl/ a state of confusion, uncertainty or lack of order: vgif;uleftefarj:sr:? vgif;tlefyef:
delude = /dI"lu:d/ to make someone believe something that's not ture; to deceive vSef? P;pefzdwf:ydlif;/
turmoil = /"tV:mOIl/ a state of confusion, uncertainty or lack of order: vgif;uleftefarj:sr:? vgif;tlefyef:
delude = /dI"lu:d/ to make someone believe something that's not ture; to deceive vSef? P;pefzdwf:ydlif;/
When we have no real home, we're like an aimless wanderer out on the road, going this way for a while and then that way, stopping for a while and then setting off again. Until we return to our real home, whatever we do we feel ill-at-ease, just like somebody who's left his village to go on a journey. Only when he gets home again can he really relax and be at ease.
Nowhere in the world is any real peace to be found. That's the nature of the world. Look within yourself and find it there instead.
When we think of the Buddha and how truly he spoke, we feel how worthy he is of reverence and respect. Whenever we see that truth of something, we see his teachings, even if we have knowledge of the teaching, have studied and practiced them, but still have not seen their truth, then we're still homeless like the aimless wanderer.
Nowhere in the world is any real peace to be found. That's the nature of the world. Look within yourself and find it there instead.
When we think of the Buddha and how truly he spoke, we feel how worthy he is of reverence and respect. Whenever we see that truth of something, we see his teachings, even if we have knowledge of the teaching, have studied and practiced them, but still have not seen their truth, then we're still homeless like the aimless wanderer.
