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.A good Dhamma teacher is a good counsellor.I understand that the Buddha was the best counsellor.What do you think, my dear friend?A fragmentary or specialised approach to life will not work.One needs an all-round understanding.In the body, every part is related to every other part.So it is with life.Every aspect of your life is related to every other aspect of life.The economic, sexual, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual aspects of your life are all related.You cannot keep them separate.If you try to keep them separate your life would be unfulfilling.There will be no harmony but conflict instead Ñ schism.Paralysis.DonÕt do anything you donÕt really love doing.We have wasted a lot of time doing things we donÕt really love doing.For dutyÕs sake, to please somebody, ÒanadayÓ (feeling bad, embarrassed, feeling obligated) Ñ enough!IÕm getting old.You are too.No time to waste.Understanding peopleÕs superstitions and stupidity is part of my education, but if I want to keep myself upset by thinking about other peopleÕs faults, IÕm sure I can do that for the rest of my life.ItÕs quite easy.Do I want to do that?ThatÕs the question.An important question for me at the moment.Dosa (aversion) is painful.LetÕs not waste so much time talking about peopleÕs stupidity, and letÕs be more mindful of our own defilements.DonÕt expect to change the world.Blind force (avijj paccay saºkhr) leading to blind action.We are upset about people being religious (orthodox and close-minded); we are upset about people being too sceptical (which is another form of close-mindedness).They wonÕt even try mindfulness.When will people become just what we want them to be?Seeing my own limitations, how hard it is for me to see where I am stuck and to become unstuck.ÒPeople are stuckÓ, you say.Only when you see clearly where you are stuck is there a chance that you might become unstuck.People behave like they know what they are doing.Do they really know what theyÕre doing?Self-deception.Sometimes it can be so complete that you donÕt even know it.Defensiveness makes you blind to your own weaknesses.We deceive ourselves in order to make ourselves happy.Sometimes it is painful to see our weak points; it takes a lot of courage, honesty and mindfulness.You know I am deeply interested in therapy because I know how much therapy can help.A good therapist who is also a good practitioner of mindfulness practice can help a lot.He/She can help a person become aware of their ÔstuffÕ.You know I am deeply interested in people.IÕve been doing counselling for nearly twenty years.ItÕs my nature, not my profession.IÕve read a lot about psychological problems in Western countries.I donÕt mean to say that I can solve all the problems but I can understand them.I have the will to understand.IÕve worked with many people with different problems and IÕve helped them to understand themselves.You have a lot of good qualities; you only have to develop them.If you understand dhamma in theory and practice you will be able to help many people as well as make your life more meaningful and productive.DonÕt you feel like you have something to express but couldnÕt? As if you have a treasure house but couldnÕt find the key to it?When you feel really OK about yourself and the way youÕre living, only then can you really help others.So, itÕs very important for you to get deeply in touch with your mind.Only when you see things very clearly in your mind can you find a way to live in harmony with yourself.With inner harmony you can do anything: help others, or just do nothing.Please donÕt get into the trip of helping others and bringing the Dhamma to the West.First be at peace with yourself.Understand your limitations and de-filements.After you have learnt to live peacefully and meaningfully, then think of helping others to do likewise.Worrying too much about others, about helping others, about dhamma in the West, about corruption of dhamma in the West, can be a way of escaping from oneÕs own meaningless existence.Anybody who is trying to transplant Buddhism to America hasnÕt understood it well.One should take the seed and grow it in new soil.I think the most important thing a person (either oriental or occidental) should do is to be mindful and to be even more mindful.Let mindfulness decide what forms the Dhamma should take on in the West.Dhamma should be learnt in life, not in schools or retreats.Retreats are crash courses.Is it possible to do nothing and feel happy about it? IÕm trying to find out.Doing nothing is not easy, especially in America where doing is the main thing in life.Without support from those who are near and dear to you it must be hard to live in a peaceful place and just meditate.You need a very strong mind to do that.But if youÕre sure thatÕs what you want to do forget what others think about it.Just go ahead and do it.The Buddha did that.Tell me if/when you find a peaceful home.Glad to know that you have time to meditate.In a country like America, where people can do so many things and where there are so many distractions, to meditate is not easy.One gets older doing this and that, finding no real satisfaction in anything.IÕm the only idle man.I donÕt want to be busy.Being busy is a wasteful way of living.When youÕre busy, you get so involved that you cannot see whatÕs going on in your mind.You become unmindful.So I donÕt want to be a busy teacher.Never.I talk about this again and again because I want you to understand me.I respect your wish.You want me to come to America.But why? To teach? To be busy? To teach what?Things IÕve read?The Pali text is such a great bank of treasure, containing so many clear instructions and guidance.Nothing wishy-washy like most fake gurusÕ talks and books.America Ñ a land of gurus.If you have to rely on somebody to explain to you the meaning of the text (Pali texts), you will never have real confidence in yourself.No translation is good enough.You can learn some Pali; itÕs not hard.In one year you could learn enough Pali to be able to read the suttas by yourself for the rest of your life.Americans are teaching the Dhamma in the West but they are not well grounded.No good foundation in learning and practice.Practice alone is not good enough if you are going to be a teacher.And the confidence you get from being able to read the teachings of the Buddha for yourself is unspeakable.Not having to rely on somebody elseÕs translation is a big relief.Anyway, all translations are inadequate.When you live differently you see things in a different way; when you live in a different culture you learn different things, even your own culture seems different to you.Your eyes become sharper.You see things that you hadnÕt noticed before.Values change; you become less rigid, more open.A different environment makes you alert.It calls forth different aspects of your nature.YouÕre compelled to use your resources that you donÕt use in your familiar place, resources that you didnÕt even know you had.So itÕs very useful to be in a different country, in a different culture, and living with different people.Books are my best companions.They enrich my life, giving me a deeper and broader understanding of the world I live in.I think I will read for as long as my eyes can see.Reading, meditating, walking in the forest, talking with some people sometimes, living a simple and quiet life, nothing to worry about: thatÕs the way I will live the rest of my life, no matter where I live.Yesterday I talked with the primary school children in the evening.Some kids recited poems, some asked me questions.One asked me why I took robes.I answered their questions as best as I could.I told them about my childhood days.A lot of people came in the evening.Most of them are educated.They have a lot to say and a lot to ask.We talked for two and a half hours [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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