Concentration, friends, connncccennnttrrrationn
December 17th, 2009
Please
understand what
the Buddha taught: let go
of everything. Let go with knowing
and awareness. Without knowing and awareness,
the letting go is no different than that of cows and water buffaloes.
Without putting your heart into it, the letting go isn’t correct. You let go because
you understand conventional reality. This is non-attachment. The Buddha
taught that in the beginning stages of Dhamma practice you should
work very hard, develop things thoroughly and attach a lot.
Attach to the Buddha. Attach to the Dhamma. Attach
to the Sangha. Attach firmly and deeply. That’s
what the Buddha taught. Attach with
sincerity and persistence
and hold on
tight.
In my own
search I tried nearly every
possible means of contemplation.
I sacrificed my life for the Dhamma, because
I had faith in the reality of enlightenment and the Path
to get there. These things actually do exist, just like the Buddha said
they did. But to realize them takes practice, right practice. It takes pushing yourself
to the limit. It takes the courage to train, to reflect and to fundamentally
change. It takes the courage to actually do what it takes. And how
do you do it? Train the heart. The thoughts in our heads
tell us to go in one direction, but the Buddha
tells us to go in
another.
Why is
it necessary to train?
Because the heart is totally encrusted with
and plastered over with defilements. That’s what a
heart is like that has not yet been
transformed through the
training.
If we
take a good look
at our monastic discipline,
we’ll see that the whole thing is about
training the heart. And whenever we train the heart
we feel hot and bothered. As soon as we’re hot and bothered we start
to complain, “Boy, this practice is incredibly difficult! It’s
impossible.” But the Buddha didn’t think like that.
He considered that when the training was
causing us heat and friction, that
meant we’re on the right
track.
Humiliation: Beth Cavener Stichter
