We hear some parts of the teachings and can't really understand them. We think they shouldn't be the way they are, so we don't follow them, but really there is a reason to all the teachings. Maybe it seems that things shouldn't be that way, but they are. At first I didn't even believe in sitting meditation. I couldn't see what use it would be to just sit with your eyes closed. And walking meditation... walk from this tree, turn around and walk back again... "Why bother?" I thought, "What's the use of all that walking?" I thought like that, but actually walking and sitting meditation are of great use.
คำสอนของพระบางอย่างเราฟังดูแล้ว ไม่ค่อยจะเข้าใจเลย บางสทีคิดว่ามันน่าจะเป็นไปอย่างนั้นไม่ได้ ก็เลยไม่ทำ ความเป็นจริงนั้นคำพูดของพระมีเหตุผลทุกอย่าง ครั้งแรกที่อาตมาไม่นั่งหลับตา แล้วก็ไม่เชื่อเหมือนกัน ไม่เห็นว่าจะเกิดประโยชน์อะไรจากการหลับตาไปหมด นอกจากนั้นก็ไปเดินจงกรม เดินไปจากต้นไม้ต้นนี้ไปต้นนั้น เดินไปเดินมาก็ขี้เกียจ เดินทำไม? กลับไปกลับมาไม่เกิดประโยชน์อะไร อย่างนี้มันก็คิดไป แต่ความจริงการเดินจงกรมนี้ มีประโยชน์มาก การนั่งสมาธินี้ก็มีประโยชน์มาก
Some people's tendencies โน้มเอียง make them prefer walking meditation, others prefer sitting, but you can't do without either of them. In the scriptures they talk about the four postures: standing, walking, sitting and lying. We live with these four postures. We may prefer one to the other, but we must use all four.
They say to make these four postures even อิริยาบถทั้ง ๔ เสมอกัน, to make the practice even in all postures. At first I couldn't figure out ไม่เข้าใจ what this meant, to make them even. Maybe it means we sleep for two hours, then stand for two hours, then walk for two hours... maybe that's it? I tried it — couldn't do it, it was impossible! That's not what it meant นั่นไม่ได้หมายความอย่างนั้น to make the postures even. "Making the postures even" refers to the mind, to our awareness ความรู้สึกของเรา. That is, to make the mind give rise ทำให้เกิด to wisdom, to illumine the mind จิตสว่างไสว. This wisdom of ours must be present in all postures; we must know, or understand, constantly อยู่เสมอ. Standing, walking, sitting or lying, we know all mental states อารมณ์ (จิตใจ)ทั้งหมด as impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self. Making the postures even in this way can be done, it is possible. Whether แม้นว่า like or dislike are present in the mind ที่แสดงอยู่ในจิต we don't forget our practice ไม่ลืมปฏิปทาของเรา, we are aware เราก็รู้อย่างนั้น.
If we just focus our attention on the mind constantly then we have the gist of the practice แก่นสารของการปฏิบัติ. Whether we experience mental states อารมณ์มากมาย which the world knows as good or bad we don't forget ourselves, we don't get lost หลง in good or bad. We just go straight. Making the postures constant มั่นคง in this way is possible. If we have constancy in our practice and we are praised, then it's simply praise เป็นเพียงสรรเสริญ; if we are blamed, then it's just blame เป็นเพียงตำหนิ. We don't get high or low over it, we stay right here ตรงนี้. Why? Because we see the danger in all those things, we see their results. We are constantly aware of the danger in both praise and blame. Normally, if we have a good mood the mind is good also, we see them, as the same thing; if we have a bad mood the mind goes bad as well, we don't like it. This is the way it is นี่คือสิ่งที่มันจะเป็นไป, this is uneven practice.
If we have constancy just to the extent of knowing our moods, and knowing we're clinging to them, this is better already. That is, we have awareness, we know what's going on, but we still can't let go. We see ourselves clinging to good and bad, and we know it. We cling to good and know it's still not right practice, but we still can't let go. This is 50% or 70% of the practice already. There still isn't release but we know that if we could let go that would be the way to peace. We keep going like that, seeing the equally harmful consequences of all our likes and dislikes จะเห็นผลกระทบที่เป็นอันตรายเสมอกันทั้งหมด ทั้งชอบ และไม่ชอบ , of praise and blame, continuously. Whatever there is, the mind is constant in this way.
But for worldly people โลกียชน, if they get blamed or criticized วิพากษ์วิจารณ์ they get really upset. If they get praised it cheers them up, they say it's good and get really happy over it. If we know the truth of our various moods, if we know the consequences ผลลัพธ์ of clinging to praise and blame, the danger of clinging to anything at all, we will become sensitive รู้สึกไว to our moods. We will know that clinging to them really causes suffering. We see this suffering, and we see our very clinging as the cause of that suffering. We begin to see the consequences of grabbing ความโลภ and clinging to good and bad, because we've grasped ยึด, ไขว่คว้า them and seen the result before — no real happiness. So now we look for the way to let go.
Where is this "way to let go"? In Buddhism we say "Don't cling to anything." We never stop hearing about this "don't cling to anything!" This means to hold, but not to cling. Like this flashlight ไฟฉาย. We think, "What is this?" So we pick it up, "Oh, it's a flashlight," then we put it down again. We hold things in this way. If we didn't hold anything at all, what could we do? We couldn't walk meditation or do anything, so we must hold things first. It's wanting, yes, that's true, but later on it leads to parami (virtue or perfection). Like wanting to come here, for instance... Venerable Jagaro 22 came to Wat Pah Pong. He had to want to come first. If he hadn't felt that he wanted to come he wouldn't have come. For anybody it's the same, they come here because of wanting. But when wanting arises don't cling to it! So you come, and then you go back... What is this? We pick it up, look at it and see, "Oh, it's a flashlight," then we put it down. This is called holding but not clinging, we let go. We know and then we let go. To put it simply we say just this, "Know, then let go." Keep looking and letting go. "This, they say is good; this, they say is not good"... know, and then let go. Good and bad, we know it all, but we let it go. We don't foolishly cling to things, but we "hold" them with wisdom. Practicing in this "posture" can be constant. You must be constant like this. Make the mind know in this way, let wisdom arise. When the mind has wisdom, what else is there to look for?
We should reflect on what we are doing here. For what reason are we living here, what are we working for? In the world they work for this or that reward, but the monks teach something a little deeper than that. Whatever we do, we ask for no return. We work for no rewards. Worldly people work because they want this or that, because they want some gain or other, but the Buddha taught to work just in order to work, we don't ask for anything beyond that. If you do something just to get some return it'll cause suffering. Try it out for yourself! You want to make your mind peaceful so you sit down and try to make it peaceful — you'll suffer! Try it. Our way is more refined. We do, and then let go; do, and then let go.
Look at the brahman who makes a sacrifice: he has some desire in mind, so he makes a sacrifice. Those actions of his won't help him transcend อยู่เหนือ suffering because he's acting on desire. In the beginning we practice with some desire in mind; we practice on and on, but we don't attain our desire. So we practice until we reach a point where we're practicing for no return, we're practicing in order to let go. This is something we must see for ourselves, it's very deep. Maybe we practice because we want to go to Nirvana — right there, you won't get to Nirvana! It's natural to want peace, but it's not really correct. We must practice without wanting anything at all. If we don't want anything at all, what will we get? We don't get anything! Whatever you get is just a cause for suffering, so we practice not getting anything.
Just this is called "making the mind empty." It's empty but there is still doing. This emptiness is something people don't usually understand, but those who reach it see the value of knowing it. It's not the emptiness of not having anything, it's emptiness within the things that are here. Like this flashlight: we should see this flashlight as empty, because of the flashlight there is emptiness. It's not the emptiness where we can't see anything, it's not like that. People who understand like that have got it all wrong. You must understand emptiness within the things are here.
Those who are still practicing because of some gaining idea are like the brahman who makes a sacrifice just to fulfill some wish. Like the people who come to see me to be sprinkledพรม with "holy water.น้ำมนต์" When I ask them, "Why do you want this 'holy water'?" they say, "We want to live happily and comfortably and not get sick." There! They'll never transcendอยู่เหนือ suffering that way. The worldly way is to do things for a reason, to get some return, but in Buddhism we do things without any gaining idea. The world has to understand things in terms of cause and effect, but the Buddha teaches us to go above cause, beyond ef