THE WAY OF PRACTICE

CHAPTER ONE

THE WAY OF PURIFICATIONI
PURIFICATION OF THE MIND

1. People have worldly passions which lead them intodelusions and sufferings. There are five ways to emancipate themselves from the bond of worldly passions.
First, they should have right ideas of things, ideasthat are based on careful obser vation, and understandcauses and effects and their significance correctly. Since
the cause of suffering is rooted in the mind’s desires andattachments, and since desire and attachment are related
to mistaken observations by an ego-self, neglecting thesignificance of the law of cause and effect, and since it isfrom these wrong observations, there can be peace only
if the mind can be rid of these worldly passions.
Second, people can get rid of these mistaken observations and resulting worldly passions by careful andpatient mind-control. With efficient mind-control they can
avoid desires arising from the stimulation of the eyes,
ears, nose, tongue, skin and the subsequent mental
processes and, by so doing, cut off the very root of all
worldly passions.
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Third, they should have correct ideas with regard to
the proper use of all things. That is, with regard to articles of food and clothing, they should not think of them in
relation to comfort and pleasure, but only in their relation
to the body’s needs. Clothing is necessary to protect the
body against extremes of heat and cold, and to conceal
the shame of the body; food is necessary for the nourishment of the body while it is training for Enlightenment
and Buddhahood. Worldly passions can not arise throughsuch thinking.

Fourth, people should learn endurance; they should
learn to endure the discomforts of heat and cold, hunger
and thirst; they should learn to be patient when receiving
abuse and scorn; for it is the practice of endurance thatquenches the fire of worldly passions which is burning up
their bodies.
Fifth, people should learn to see and so avoid all
danger. Just as a wise man keeps away from wild horses
or mad dogs, so one should not make friends with evilmen, nor should one go to places that wise men avoid. If
one practices caution and prudence, the fire of worldly
passions which is burning in their vitals will die down.

2.

There are five groups of desires in the world.
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Desires arising from the forms the eyes see; fromthe sounds the ears hear; from the fragrances the nose
smells; from tastes pleasant to the tongue; from things
that are agreeable to the sense of touch. From these fivedoors to desire come the body’s love of comfort.
Most people, being influenced by the body’s love ofcomfort, do not notice the evils that follow comfort, andthey are caught in a devil’s trap like a deer in the forest
caught in a hunter’s trap. Indeed, these five doors ofdesires arising from the senses are the most dangerous
traps. When caught by them, people are entangled inworldly passions and suffer. They should know how to
get rid of these traps.
3. There is no one way to get free from the trap ofworldly passions. Suppose you caught a snake, a crocodile, a bird, a dog, a fox and a monkey, six creatures ofvery different natures, and you tie them together with astrong rope and let them go. Each of these six creatures
will try to go back to its own lair by its own method: thesnake will seek a covering of grass, the crocodile willseek water, the bird will want to fly in the air, the dog willseek a village, the fox will seek the solitary ledges, andthe monkey will seek the trees of a forest. In the attemptof each to go its own way there will be a struggle, but,being tied together by a rope, the strongest at any one
time will drag the rest.
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Like the creatures in this parable, people are
tempted in dif ferent ways by the desires of their six
senses, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch and mind, and iscontrolled by the predominant desire.

If the six creatures are all tied to a post, they will try
to get free until they are tired out, and then will lie downby the post. Just like this, if people will train and control
the mind there will be no further trouble from the otherfive senses. If the mind is under control people will havehappiness both now and in the future.

4. People love their egoistic comfort, which is a love offame and praise. But fame and praise are like incense that
consumes itself and soon disappears. If people chase after
honors and public acclaim and leave the way of truth,
they are in serious danger and will soon have cause forregret.
A man who chases after fame and wealth and loveaffairs is like a child who licks honey from the blade of aknife. While he is tasting the sweetness of honey, he has
to risk hurting his tongue. He is like a man who carries atorch against a strong wind; the flame will surely burn his
hands and face.
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One must not trust his own mind that is filled withgreed, anger and foolishness. One must not let one’s
mind run free, but must keep it under strict control.
5. To attain perfect mind-control is a most difficult
thing. Those who seek Enlightenment must first rid
themselves of the fire of all desires. Desire is a raging
fire, and one seeking Enlightenment must avoid the fireof desire as a man carrying a load of hay avoids sparks.
But it would be foolish for a person to put out one’s
eyes for fear of being tempted by beautiful forms. The
mind is master and if the mind is under control, theweaker desires will disappear.
It is difficult to follow the way to Enlightenment, but
it is more difficult if people have no mind to seek such away. Without Enlightenment, there is endless suffering inthis world of life and death.
When a person seeks the way to Enlightenment, it islike an ox carrying a heavy load through a field of mud. If
the ox tries to do its best without paying attention toother things, it can overcome the mud and take a rest.
Just so, if the mind is controlled and kept on the right
path, there will be no mud of greed to hinder it and all its
suffering will disappear.
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6. Those who seek the path to Enlightenment mustfirst remove all egoistic pride and be humbly willing toaccept the light of Buddha’s teachings. All the treasuresof the world, all its gold and silver and honors, are not tobe compared with wisdom and virtue.
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to
one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first disciplineand control one’s own mind. If a man can control his
mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all
wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so
virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears
from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely throughthe maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom
and the guidance of virtue.
The Buddha’s teaching, which tells people how toeliminate greed, anger and foolishness, is a good teaching and those who follow it attain the happiness of a goodlife.
7. Human beings tend to move in the direction of theirthoughts. If they harbor greedy thoughts, they become
more greedy; if they think angry thoughts, they become
more angry; if they hold foolish thoughts, their feet movein that direction.
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At harvest time farmers keep their herds confined,
lest they break through the fences into the field and givecause for complaint or for being killed; so people mustclosely guard their minds against dishonesty and misfortune. They must eliminate thoughts that stimulate greed,anger and foolishness, but encourage thoughts that stimulate charity and kindness.
When spring comes and the pastures have an abundance of green grass, farmers turn their cattle loose; buteven then they keep a close watch over them. It is so withthe minds of people: even under the best of conditions
the mind will bear watching.
8. At one time Shakyamuni Buddha was staying in the
town of Kausambi. In this town there was one who
resented Him and who bribed wicked men to circulate
false stories about Him. Under these circumstances it
was difficult for His disciples to get sufficient food fromtheir begging and there was much abuse in that town.
Ananda said to Shakyamuni: “We had better not stayin a town like this. There are other and better towns to go
to. We had better leave this town.”
The Blessed One replied: “Suppose the next town islike this, what shall we do then?”− 122 −

The Way of Purification“Then we move to another.”
The Blessed One said: “No, Ananda, there will be noend in that way. We had better remain here and bear theabuse patiently until it ceases, and then we move toanother place.”“There are profit and loss, slander and honor, praise
and abuse, suf fering and pleasure in this world; theEnlightened One is not controlled by these externalthings; they will cease as quickly as they come.”II
THE GOOD WAY OF BEHAVIOR
1. Those who seek the way of Enlightenment must
always bear in mind the necessity of constantly keeping
their body, speech and mind pure. To keep the body pure
one must not kill any living creature, one must not steal
or commit adultery. To keep speech pure one must notlie, or abuse, or deceive, or indulge in idle talk. To keep
the mind pure one must remove all greed, anger andfalse judgment.
If the mind becomes impure, for sure, one’s deeds
will be impure; if the deeds are impure, there will be suffering. So it is of the greatest importance that the mind
and the body be kept pure.
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2. Once there was a rich widow who had a reputation
for kindness, modesty and courtesy. She had a housemaid who was wise and diligent.
One day the maid thought: “My mistress has a very
good reputation; I wonder whether she is good by nature,or is good because of her surroundings. I will try her andfind out.”
The following morning the maid did not appear
before her mistress until nearly noon. The mistress wasvexed and scolded her impatiently. The maid replied: “If I
am lazy for only a day or two, you ought not to become
impatient.” Then the mistress became angry.
The next day the maid got up late again. This madethe mistress very angry and she struck the maid with astick. This incident became widely known and the richwidow lost her good reputation.
3. Many people are like this woman. While their surroundings are satisfactor y they are kind, modest andquiet, but it is questionable if they will behave likewise
when the conditions change and become unsatisfactory.
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toward him or when he lacks sufficient food, clothes andshelter, that we may call him good.

Therefore, those who do good deeds and maintain apeaceful mind only when their surroundings are satisfactor y are not really good people. Only those who havereceived the Buddha’s teachings and are training theirminds and bodies by those teachings can be called truly
good, modest and peaceful people.

4. As to the suitability of words to be used there are
five pairs of antonyms: words that are suitable to theiroccasions and those not so suitable to theirs; words that
fit the facts and those that don’t fit; words that soundpleasant and those that sound rude; words that are beneficial and those that are harmful; and words that are sympathetic and those that are hateful.
Whatever words we utter should be chosen withcare for people will hear them and be influenced by themfor good or ill. If our minds are filled with sympathy andcompassion, they will be resistant to the evil words wehear. We must not let wild words pass our lips lest they
arouse feelings of anger and hatred. The words we speak
should always be words of sympathy and wisdom.
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dirt from the ground. He uses a spade and a winnow andworks perseveringly scattering the dirt all about, but it is
an impossible task. Like this foolish man we can not hopeto eliminate all words. We must train our mind and fill ourhearts with sympathy so that we will be undisturbed by
the words spoken by others.
One might try to paint a picture with water colors on
the blue sky, but it is impossible. And it is also impossible
to dry up a great river by the heat of a torch made of hay,or to produce a crackling noise by rubbing together twopieces of well-tanned leather. Like these examples, people
should train their minds so that they would not be disturbed by whatever kinds of words they might hear.
They should train their minds and keep them broadas the earth, unlimited as the sky, deep as a big river andsoft as well-tanned leather.
Even if your enemy catches and tortures you, if you
feel resentment, you are not following the Buddha’s
teachings. Under every circumstance you should learn tothink: “My mind is unshakable. Words of hatred andanger shall not pass my lips. I will surround my enemy
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5. There is a fable told of a man who found an anthillwhich burned in the daytime and smoked at night. He
went to a wise man and asked his advice as to what heshould do about it. The wise man told him to dig into itwith a sword. This the man did. He found in succession agate-bar, some bubbles of water, a pitchfork, a box, a tortoise, a butcher-knife, a piece of meat and, finally, adragon which came out. The man reported to the wise
man what he had found. The wise man explained the significance of it and said, “Throw away everything but the
dragon; leave the dragon alone and do not disturb him.”
This is a fable in which “anthill” represents thehuman body. “Burned in the daytime” represents the factthat during the day people turn into acts the things they
thought about the previous night. “Smoked at night” indicates the fact that people during the night recall withpleasure or regret the things they did the previous day.
In the same fable, “a man” means a person who
seeks Enlightenment. “A wise man” means Buddha. “Asword” means pure wisdom. “Dig into it” refers to theeffort he must make to gain Enlightenment.

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Fur ther in the fable, “gate-bar” represents ignorance; “bubbles” are puffs of suffering and anger; “pitchfork” suggests hesitation and uneasiness; “box” suggests
the storage of greed, anger, laziness, fickleness, repentance and delusion; “tortoise” means the body and themind; “butcher-knife” means the synthesis of the five sensory desires, and “a piece of meat” means the resulting
desire that causes a man to covet after satisfaction. These
things are all harmful to man and so Buddha said,“Throw away everything.”
Still further, “dragon” indicates a mind that has eliminated all worldly passions. If a man digs into the things
about him with the sword of wisdom he will finally cometo his dragon. “Leave the dragon alone and do not disturb
him” means to go after and dig up a mind free of worldly
desires.
6. Pindola, a disciple of Buddha, after gaining
Enlightenment, returned to his native place of Kausambi
to repay the people there for the kindness they had
shown him. In so doing he prepared the field for thesowing of Buddha-seeds.
On the outskirts of Kausambi there is a small parkthat runs along the bank of the Ganges River shaded byendless rows of coconut trees and where a cool wind continually blows.
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One hot summer day, Pindola sat in meditation in
the cool shade of a tree when King Udayana came to thispark with his consorts for recreation and, after music andpleasure, he took a nap in the shade of another tree.
While their King was asleep, his wives and ladies-inwaiting took a walk and suddenly came upon Pindola sitting in meditation. They recognized him as a holy-man
and asked him to teach them, and they listened to his
sermon.
When the King awoke from his nap, he went insearch of his ladies and found them surrounding thisman and listening to his teaching. Being of a jealous andlascivious mind, the King became angr y and abused
Pindola, saying: “It is inexcusable that you, a holy-man,should be in the midst of women and enjoy idle talking
with them.” Pindola quietly closed his eyes and remained
silent.
The angr y King drew his sword and threatened
Pindola, but the holy-man remained silent and was as
firm as a rock. This made the King still more angry so hebroke open an anthill and threw some of the ant-filled dirt
upon him, but still Pindola remained sitting in meditation,
quietly enduring the insult and pain.

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Thereupon, the King became ashamed of his ferocious conduct and begged Pindola’s pardon. As a result of
this incident, the Buddha’s teaching found its way into
the King’s castle and from there it spread all over thecountry.
7. A few days later King Udayana visited Pindola in theforest retreat where he lived and asked him, “Honored
teacher, how is it that the disciples of Buddha can keep
their bodies and minds pure and untempted by lust,
although they are mostly young men?”
Pindola replied: “Noble Lord, Buddha has taught us
to respect all women. He has taught us to look upon all
old women as our mothers, upon those of our own age as
our sisters, and upon younger ones as our daughters.
Because of this teaching the disciples of Buddha are able
to keep their bodies and minds pure and untempted bylust although they are youthful.”“But, Honored teacher, one may have impure
thoughts of a woman the age of a mother or a sister or adaughter. How do the disciples of Buddha control their
desires?”“Noble Lord, the Blessed One taught us to think ofour bodies as secreting impurities of all kinds such as
blood, pus, sweat and oils; by thinking thus, we, although− 130 −

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young, are able to keep our minds pure.”“Honored teacher,” still pressed the King. “It may beeasy for you to do this for you have trained your body andmind, and polished your wisdom, but it would be difficult
for those who have not yet had such training. They may
try to remember the impurities but their eyes will follow
beautiful forms. They may tr y to see the ugliness but
they will be tempted by the beautiful figures just thesame. There must be some other reason that the young
men among the Buddha’s disciples are able to keep theiractions pure.”“Noble Lord,” replied Pindola, “the Blessed One
teaches us to guard the doors of the five senses. When
we see beautiful figures and colors with our eyes, when
we hear pleasant sounds with our ears, when we smell
fragrance with our nose, or when we taste sweet things
with our tongue or touch soft things with our hands, weare not to become attached to these attractive things, neither are we to be repulsed by unattractive things. We aretaught to carefully guard the doors of these five senses. It
is by this teaching of the Blessed One that even young
disciples are able to keep their minds and bodies pure.”“The teaching of Buddha is truly marvelous. From
my own experience I know that if I confront anything
beautiful or pleasing, without being on my guard, I am
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disturbed by the sense impressions. It is of vital importance that we be on guard at the doors of the five senses,
at all times to keep our deeds pure.”
8. Whenever a person expresses the thought of his
mind in action there is always a reaction that follows. If
one abuses you, there is a temptation to answer back, orto be revenged. One should be on guard against this natural reaction. It is like spitting against the wind, it harms
no one but oneself. It is like sweeping dust against thewind, it does not get rid of the dust but defiles oneself.
Misfortune always dogs the steps of one who gives way
to the desire for revenge.
9. It is a ver y good deed to cast away greed and tocherish a mind of charity. It is still better to keep one’s
mind intent on respecting the Noble Path.
One should get rid of a selfish mind and replace itwith a mind that is earnest to help others. An act to makeanother happy inspires the other to make still anotherhappy, and so happiness is born from such an act.
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single
candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.

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Those who seek Enlightenment must be careful of
their each step. No matter how high one’s aspiration may
be, it must be attained step by step. The steps of the path
to Enlightenment must be taken in our everyday life.
10. At the very beginning of the path to Enlightenment
there are twenty difficulties for us to overcome in thisworld, and they are: 1. It is hard for a poor man to be generous. 2. It is hard for a proud man to learn the Way of
Enlightenment. 3. It is hard to seek Enlightenment at thecost of self-sacrifice. 4. It is hard to be born while Buddha
is in the world. 5. It is hard to hear the teaching of
Buddha. 6. It is hard to keep the mind pure against theinstincts of the body. 7. It is hard not to desire things thatare beautiful and attractive. 8. It is hard for a strong man
not to use his strength to satisfy his desires. 9. It is hard
not to get angry when one is insulted. 10. It is hard toremain innocent when tempted by sudden circumstances.
11. It is hard to apply oneself to study widely and thoroughly. 12. It is hard not to despise a beginner. 13. It is
hard to keep oneself humble. 14. It is hard to find goodfriends. 15. It is hard to endure the discipline that leads to
Enlightenment. 16. It is hard not to be disturbed by external conditions and circumstances. 17. It is hard to teachothers by knowing their abilities. 18. It is hard to maintain a peaceful mind.

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19. It is hard not to argue about right and wrong. 20. It is
hard to find and learn a good method.
11. Good men and bad men differ from each other intheir natures. Bad men do not recognize a sinful act as
sinful; if its sinfulness is brought to their attention, they
do not cease doing it and do not like to have anyone
inform them of their sinful acts. Wise men are sensitive
to right and wrong; they cease doing anything as soon as
they see that it is wrong; they are grateful to anyone whocalls their attention to such wrong acts.
Thus good men and bad men differ radically. Bad
men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise
men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express
their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else.

III
TEACHING IN ANCIENT FABLES
1. Once upon a time there was a country which had
the very peculiar custom of abandoning its aged people inremote and inaccessible mountains.
A certain minister of the State found it too difficult
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The Way of Purificationand so he built a secret underground cave where he hid
his father and cared for him.
One day a god appeared before the king of thatcountry and gave him a puzzling problem, saying that if
he could not solve it satisfactorily, his country would bedestroyed. The problem was: “Here are two serpents; tellme the sex of each.”
Neither the king nor anyone in the palace was able
to solve the problem; so the king offered a great reward
to anyone in his kingdom who could.
The minister went to his father’s hiding place andasked him for the answer to that problem. The old man
said: “It is an easy solution. Place the two snakes on a softcarpet; the one that moves about is the male, and theother that keeps quiet is the female.” The minister carried the answer to the king and the problem was successfully solved.
Then the god asked other difficult questions which
the king and his retainers were unable to answer, butwhich the minister, after consulting his aged father, could
always solve.

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Here are some of the questions and their answers.
“Who is the one who, being asleep, is called the awakened one, and, being awake, is called the sleeping one?”
The answer is this: - It is the one who is under training forEnlightenment. He is awake when compared with those
who are not interested in Enlightenment; he is asleep
when compared with those who have already attained
Enlightenment.
“How can you weigh a large elephant?” “Load it on aboat and draw a line to mark how deep the boat sinks into
the water. Then take out the elephant and load the boatwith stones until it sinks to the same depth, and thenweigh the stones.”
What is the meaning of the saying, “A cupful ofwater is more than the water of an ocean?” This is theanswer: “A cupful of water given in a pure and compassionate spirit to one’s parents or to a sick person has an
eternal merit, but the water of an ocean will some daycome to an end.”
Next the god made a starving man, reduced to skinand bones, complain, “Is there anyone in this world more
hungry than I?” “The man who is so selfish and greedy
that he does not believe in the Three Treasures of the
Buddha, the Dharma and the Samgha, and who does notmake offerings to his parents and teachers, is not only
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more hungr y but he will fall into the world of hungr ydemons and there he will suffer from hunger forever.”“Here is a plank of Chandana wood; which end was
the bottom of the tree?” “Float the plank in water; the end
that sinks a little deeper was the end nearest the root.”“Here are two horses apparently of the same sizeand form; how can you tell the mother from the son?”“Feed them some hay; the mother horse will push the
hay toward her son.”Ever y answer to these difficult questions pleased
the god as well as the king. The king was grateful to findout that the answers had come from the aged father
whom the minister had hidden in the cave, and he withdrew the law of abandoning aged people in the mountains
and ordered that they were to be treated kindly.

2. Queen of Videha in India once dreamed of a whiteelephant that had six ivory tusks. She coveted the tusks
and besought the king to get them for her. Although thetask seemed an impossible one, the king who loved thequeen ver y much offered a reward to any hunter who
would report if he found such an elephant.
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It happened that there was just such an elephantwith six tusks in the Himalayan Mountains who was training for Buddhahood. The elephant once had saved ahunter’s life in an emergency in the depths of the mountains and the hunter could go back safely to his country.
The hunter, however, blinded by the great reward andforgetting the kindness the elephant had shown him,
returned to the mountains to kill the elephant.
The hunter, knowing that the elephant was seeking
Buddhahood, disguised himself in the robe of a Buddhist
monk and, thus catching the elephant off guard, shot itwith a poisoned arrow.
The elephant, knowing that its end was near andthat the hunter had been overcome by the worldly desire
for the reward, had compassion upon him and sheltered
him in its limbs to protect the hunter from the fury of theother revengeful elephants. Then the elephant asked thehunter why he had done such a foolish thing. The hunter
told of the reward and confessed that he coveted its six
tusks. The elephant immediately broke off the tusks byhitting them against a tree and gave them to the huntersaying: – “By this offering I have completed my training
for Buddhahood and will be reborn in the Pure Land.
When I become a Buddha, I will help you to get rid ofyour three poisonous arrows of greed, anger and foolishness.”− 138 −

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3. In a thicket at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains
there once lived a parrot together with many other animals and birds. One day a fire started in the thicket fromthe friction of bamboos in a strong wind and the birds
and animals were in frightened confusion. The parrot,
feeling compassion for their fright and suffering, andwishing to repay the kindness he had received in thebamboo thicket where he could shelter himself, tried to
do all he could to save them. He dipped himself in a pond
nearby and flew over the fire and shook off the drops ofwater to extinguish the fire. He repeated this diligently
with a heart of compassion out of gratitude to the thicket.
This spirit of kindness and self-sacrifice was noticed
by a heavenly god who came down from the sky and said
to the parrot: – “You have a gallant mind, but what good
do you expect to accomplish by a few drops of water
against this great fire?” The parrot answered: – “There isnothing that can not be accomplished by the spirit of gratitude and self-sacrifice. I will try over and over again andthen over in the next life.” The great god was impressedby the parrot’s spirit and together they extinguished thefire.
4. At one time there lived in the Himalayas a bird with
one body and two heads. Once one of the heads noticed
the other head eating some sweet fruit and felt jealousand said to itself: – “I will then eat poison fruit.” So it ate− 139 −

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poison and the whole bird died.
5. At one time the tail and the head of a snake quarreled as to which should be the front. The tail said to thehead:– “You are always taking the lead; it is not fair, you
ought to let me lead sometimes.” The head answered;–“It is the law of our nature that I should be the head; I can
not change places with you.”
But the quarrel went on and one day the tail fastened itself to a tree and thus prevented the head fromproceeding. When the head became tired with the struggle the tail had its own way, with the result that the snake
fell into a pit of fire and perished.
In the world of nature there always exists an appropriate order and everything has its own function. If thisorder is disturbed, the functioning is interrupted and thewhole order will go to ruin.

6. There was a man who was easily angered. One day
two men were talking in front of the house about the man
who lived there. One said to the other: – “He is a niceman but is very impatient; he has a hot temper and gets
angry quickly.” The man overheard the remark, rushed
out of the house and attacked the two men, striking andkicking and wounding them.
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When a wise man is advised of his errors, he willreflect on them and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error.
7. Once there was a wealthy but foolish man. When hesaw the beautiful three-storied house of another man, heenvied it and made up his mind to have one built just likeit, thinking he was himself just as wealthy. He called acarpenter and ordered him to build it. The carpenter consented and immediately began to construct the foundation, the first story, the second story, and then the thirdstory. The wealthy man noticed this with irritation andsaid: – “I don’t want a foundation or a first stor y or asecond story; I just want the beautiful third story. Build it
quickly.”
A foolish man always thinks only of the results, andis impatient without the effort that is necessary to getgood results. No good can be attained without proper
effort, just as there can be no third stor y without thefoundation and the first and the second stories.
8. A foolish man was once boiling honey. His friend
suddenly appeared and the foolish man wanted to offer
him some honey, but it was too hot, and so without
removing it from the fire he fanned it to make it cool. In
like manner, it is impossible to get the honey of cool
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wisdom without first removing it from the fire of worldly
passions.

9. Once there were two demons who spent a whole
day arguing and quarreling about a box, a cane and apair of shoes. A man, passing by, inquired, “Why are you
arguing about these things? What magical power havethey that you should be quarreling about possessing
them?”The demons explained to him that from the box
they could get anything they desired-food, clothing ortreasure; with the cane they could subdue all their enemies; and with the pair of shoes they could travel throughthe air.
Upon hearing this, the man said: “Why quarrel? If
you will go away for a few minutes, I can think of a fairdivision of the things between you.” So the two demons
retired and as soon as they were gone, the man put on
the shoes, seized the box and the cane and was of f
through the air.
The “demons” represent men of heathen beliefs. “Abox” means the gifts that are made in charity; they do notrealize how many treasures can be produced fromcharity. “A cane” means the practice of concentration of
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spiritual concentration of mind, they can subdue allworldly desires. “A pair of shoes” means the puredisciplines of thought and conduct, that will carry thembeyond all desires and arguments. Without knowing
these, they quarrel and argue about a box, a cane and apair of shoes.
10. Once upon a time a man was traveling alone. He
came to a vacant house toward the evening and decided
to spend the night there. About midnight a demon
brought in a corpse and left it on the floor. Shor tly,
another demon appeared and claimed the corpse as his
and they quarreled over it.
Then the first demon said it was useless to argue
about it further and proposed that they refer it to a judge
to decide the possessor. The other demon agreed to this
and, seeing the man cowering in the corner, asked him todecide the ownership. The man was terribly frightened,for he well knew that whatever decision he might makewould anger the demon that lost and that the losing
demon would seek revenge and kill him, but he decided
to tell truthfully just what he had witnessed.
As he expected, this angered the second demon
who grabbed one of the man’s arms and tore it off, but
the first demon replaced the arm with one taken from thecorpse. The angry demon tore away the man’s other arm,
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but the first demon immediately replaced that with theother arm of the corpse. And so it went on until botharms, both legs, the head and the body had been successively torn away and replaced with the correspondingparts of the corpse. Then the two demons, seeing theparts of the man scattered about on the floor, picked
them up and devoured them and went away chuckling.

The poor man who had taken refuge in the desertedhouse was ver y much upset by his misfor tunes. The
parts of his body which the demons had eaten were theparts his parents had given him, and the parts that he
now had belonged to the corpse. Who was he, anyway?
Realizing all the facts, he was unable to figure it out and,becoming crazy, he wandered out of the house. Coming
to a temple, he went in and told his troubles to themonks. People could see the true meaning of selflessness
in his story.

11. Once a beautiful and well-dressed woman visited ahouse. The master of the house asked her who she was;and she replied that she was the goddess of wealth. The
master of the house was delighted and so treated hernicely.
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Soon after another woman appeared who was ugly
looking and poorly dressed. The master asked who she
was and the woman replied that she was the goddess ofpoverty. The master was frightened and tried to drive herout of the house, but the woman refused to depar t,
saying, “The goddess of wealth is my sister. There is anagreement between us that we are never to live separately;
if you chase me out, she is to go with me.” Sure enough,as soon as the ugly woman went out, the other woman
disappeared.
Birth goes with death. Fortune goes with misfortune. Bad things follow good things. People should realize this. Foolish people dread misfortune and strive after
good fortune, but those who seek Enlightenment must
transcend both of them and be free of worldly attachments.
12. Once there lived a poor artist who left his home,leaving his wife, to seek his fortune. After three years ofhard struggles he had saved three hundred pieces ofgold and decided to return to his home. On his way hecame to a great temple in which a grand ceremony ofoffering was in progress. He was greatly impressed by it
and thought to himself: “Hitherto, I have thought only of
the present; I have never considered my future happiness. It is a part of my good fortune that I have come tothis place; I must take advantage of it to plant seeds of− 145 −

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merit.” Thinking thus, he gratefully donated all his savings to the temple and returned to his home penniless.
When he reached home, his wife reproached him
for not bringing her some money for her support. The
poor artist replied that he had earned some money but
had put it where it would be safe. When she pressed him
to tell where he had hidden it, he confessed that he had
given it to the monks at a certain temple.
This made the wife angry and she scolded her husband and finally carried the matter to the local judge.
When the judge asked the artist for his defence, the artist
said that he had not acted foolishly, for he had earned themoney during long and hard struggles and wanted to use
it as seed for future good fortune. When he came to thetemple it seemed to him that there was the field where heshould plant his gold as seed for good fortune. Then headded: “When I gave the monks the gold, it seemed that I
was throwing away all greed and stinginess from mymind, and I have realized that real wealth is not gold but
mind.”The judge praised the artist’s spirit, and those whoheard of this manifested their approval by helping him invarious ways. Thus the artist and his wife entered into
permanent good fortune.
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13. A man living near a cemeter y heard one night avoice calling him from a grave. He was too timid to investigate it himself but the next day he mentioned it to abrave friend, who made up his mind to trace the place
whence the voice came the following night.
While the timid man was trembling with fear, hisfriend went to the cemetery and, sure enough, the same
voice was heard coming from a grave. The friend asked
who it was and what it wanted. The voice from under the
ground replied: “I am a hidden treasure that has decided
to give myself to someone. I offered it to a man last night
but he was too timid to come after it, so I will give it to
you who are worthy of it. Tomorrow morning I will cometo your house with my seven followers.”

The friend said: “I will be waiting for you, but pleasetell me how I am to treat you.” The voice replied: “We will
come in monk's robes. Have a room ready for us withwater; wash your body and clean the room, and haveseats for us and eight bowls of rice-porridge. After themeal, you are to lead us one by one into a closed room inwhich we will transform ourselves into crocks of gold.”

The next morning this man washed his body andcleaned the room just as he had been told and waited for− 147 −

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the eight monks to appear. In due time they appeared andhe received them courteously. After they had eaten thefood he led them one by one into the closed room, where
each monk turned himself into a crock full of gold.
There was a very greedy man in the same village
who learned of the incident and wanted the crocks ofgold. He invited eight monks to his house. After theirmeal he led them into a closed room, but instead of turning themselves into crocks of gold, they became angry
and rough and reported the greedy man to the police
who eventually arrested him.
As for the timid man, when he heard that the voicefrom the grave had brought wealth to the brave man, hewent to the house of the brave man and greedily demanded the gold, insisting that it was his, because the voice
first addressed him. When the timid man tried to take thecrocks away he found lots of snakes inside raising theirheads ready to attack him.
The king heard about this and ruled that the crocks
belonged to the brave man and uttered the following
obser vation: “Ever ything in the world goes like this.
Foolish people are avaricious for good results only, but
are too timid to go after them and, therefore, are continually failing. They have neither faith nor courage to face
the internal struggles of the mind by which alone true
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peace and harmony can be attained.”− 149 −

CHAPTER TWO

THE WAY OF PRACTICALATTAINMENTISEARCH FOR TRUTH

1. In the search for truth there are certain questions
that are unimportant. Of what material is the universe
constructed? Is the universe eternal? Are there limits or
not to the universe? In what way is this human society put
together? What is the ideal form of organization forhuman society? If a man were to postpone his searchingand practicing for Enlightenment until such questions
were solved, he would die before he found the path.

Suppose a man were pierced by a poisoned arrow,and his relatives and friends got together to call a surgeon to have the arrow pulled out and the wound treated.

If the wounded man objects, saying, “Wait a little.
Before you pull it out, I want to know who shot thisarrow. Was it a man or a woman? Was it someone ofnoble birth, or was it a peasant? What was the bow madeof? Was it a big bow, or a small bow, that shot the arrow?
Was it made of wood or bamboo? What was the bow− 150 −The Way of Practical Attainment

string made of? Was it made of fiber, or of gut? Was thearrow made of rattan, or of reed? What feathers wereused? Before you extract the arrow, I want to know allabout these things.” Then what will happen?

Before all this information can be secured, no doubt,
the poison will have time to circulate all through thesystem and the man may die. The first duty is to remove
the arrow, and prevent its poison from spreading.

When a fire of passion is endangering the world, thecomposition of the universe matters little; what is theideal form for the human community is not so important
to deal with.

The question of whether the universe has limits or
is eternal can wait until some way is found to extinguish
the fires of birth, old age, sickness and death; in the presence of misery, sorrow, suffering and agony, one should
first search for a way to solve these problems and devote
oneself to the practice of that way.

The Buddha’s teaching contains what is important
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people that they must learn what they should learn,remove what they should remove, train for what theyshould become enlightened about.
Therefore, people should first discern what is themost important, what problem should be solved first andwhat is the most pressing issue for them. To do all this,they must first undertake to train their minds; that is,they must first seek mind-control.

2. Suppose a man goes to the forest to get some of thepith that grows in the center of a tree and returns with aburden of branches and leaves, thinking that he has
secured what he went after; would he not be foolish, if heis satisfied with the bark, wood for the pith which he wasafter? But that is what many people are doing.

A person seeks a path that will lead him away frombir th, old age, sickness and death, or from miser y,sorrow, suffering and agony; and yet, he follows the patha little way, notices some little advance, and immediately
becomes proud and conceited and domineering. He is
like the man who sought pith and went away satisfied
with a burden of branches and leaves.

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Another man becoming satisfied with the progress
he has made by a little ef for t, relaxes his ef for t andbecomes proud and conceited; he is carrying away only aload of branches instead of the pith he was seeking.
Still another man finding that his mind is becoming
calmer and his thoughts clearer, he, too, relaxes his
ef for t and becomes proud and conceited; he has aburden of the bark instead of the pith he was looking for.
Then again, another man becomes proud and conceited because he notices that he has gained a measureof intuitive insight; he has a load of the woody fiber of thetree instead of the pith. All of these seekers, who become
easily satisfied by their insufficient effort and become
proud and over-bearing, relax their efforts and easily fall
into idleness. All these people will inevitably face suffering again.

Those who seek the true path to Enlightenment
must not expect any offer of respect, honor or devotion.
And further, they must not aim with a slight effort, at atrifling advance in calmness or knowledge or insight.

First of all, one should get clearly in mind the basic
and essential nature of this world of life and death.
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3. The world has no substance of its own. It is simply avast concordance of causes and conditions that have had
their origin, solely and exclusively, in the activities of themind that has been stimulated by ignorance, false imagination, desires and infatuation. It is not something external about which the mind has false conceptions; it has no
substance whatever. It has come into appearance by theprocesses of the mind itself, manifesting its own delusions. It is founded and built up out of the desires of themind, out of its sufferings and struggles incidental to thepain caused by its own greed, anger and foolishness.
Men who seek the way to Enlightenment should be readyto fight such a mind to attain their goal.
4. “Oh my mind! Why do you hover so restlessly overthe changing circumstances of life? Why do you make me
so confused and restless? Why do you urge me to collectso many things? You are like a plow that breaks in pieces
before beginning to plow; you are like a rudder that is
dismantled just as you are venturing out on the sea of lifeand death. Of what use are many rebirths if we do notmake good use of this life? ”“Oh my mind! Once you caused me to be born as aking, and then you caused me to be born as an outcast
and to beg for my food. Sometimes you cause me to beborn in heavenly mansions of the gods and to dwell in
luxur y and in ecstasy; then you plunge me into the− 154 −

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flames of hell.”“Oh, my foolish, foolish mind! Thus you have led mealong different paths and I have been obedient to you anddocile. But now that I have heard the Buddha’s teaching,
do not disturb me any more or cause me further sufferings, but let us seek Enlightenment together, humbly andpatiently.”“Oh, my mind! If you could only learn that everything is non-substantial and transitory; if you could only
learn not to grasp after things, not to covet things, not togive way to greed, anger and foolishness; then we mightjourney in quietness. Then, by severing the bond ofdesires with the sword of wisdom, being undisturbed bychanging circumstances - advantage or disadvantage,
good or bad, loss or gain, praise or abuse - we mightdwell in peace.”“Oh, my dear mind! It was you who first awakened
faith in us; it was you who suggested our seeking
Enlightenment. Why do you give way so easily to greed,
love of comfort and pleasant excitement again? ”“Oh, my mind! Why do you rush hither and thitherwith no definite purpose? Let us cross this wild sea ofdelusion. Hitherto I have acted as you wished, but now
you must act as I wish and, together, we will follow the− 155 −

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Buddha’s teaching.”“Oh, my dear mind! These mountains, rivers andseas are changeable and pain-producing. Where in thisworld of delusion shall we seek quietness? Let us follow
the Buddha’s teaching and cross over to the other shoreof Enlightenment.”

5. Thus, those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed withstrong determination. Even though they are abused bysome and scorned by others, they go for ward undisturbed. They do not become angry if they are beaten byfists, or hit by stones, or gashed by swords.
Even if enemies cut their head from the body, themind must not be disturbed. If they let their mind
become darkened by the things they suffer, they are notfollowing the teaching of Buddha. They must be determined, no matter what happens to them, to remain steadfast, unmovable, ever radiating thoughts of compassion
and good-will. Let abuse come, let misfortune come, andyet one should resolve to remain unmoved and tranquil in
mind, filled with Buddha’s teaching.
For the sake of attaining Enlightenment, one should
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the unendurable. One must give what he has to the last of
it. If he is told that to gain Enlightenment he must limit
his food to a single grain of rice a day, he will eat only
that. If the path to Enlightenment leads him through fire,
he will go forward.
But one must not do these things for any ulterior
purpose. One should do them because it is the wise
thing, the right thing, to do. One should do them out of a
spirit of compassion, as a mother does things for her little
child, for her sick child, with no thought of her own
strength or comfort.

6. Once there was a king who loved his people and his
country and ruled them with wisdom and kindness and,because of it his country was prosperous and peaceful.
He was always seeking for greater wisdom and enlightenment; he even offered rewards to anyone who could lead
him to worthy teachings.
His devotion and wisdom finally came to the attention of the gods, but they determined to test him. A god
in disguise as a demon appeared before the gates of theking’s palace and asked to be brought before the king as
he had a holy teaching for him.

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The king who was pleased to hear the message
courteously received him and asked for instruction. The
demon took on a dreadful form and demanded food,saying that he could not teach until he had the food heliked. Choice food was offered the demon, but he insisted
that he must have warm human flesh and blood. The
crown-prince gave his body and the queen also gave herbody, but still the demon was unsatisfied and so demanded the body of the king.
The king expressed his willingness to give his body,
but asked that he might first hear the teaching before hewould offer his body.
The god uttered the following wise teaching:“Misery rises from lust and fear rises from lust. Those
who remove lust have no misery or fear.” Suddenly the
god resumed his true form and the prince and the queen
also reappeared in their original bodies.
7. Once there was a person who sought the True Pathin the Himalayas. He cared nothing for all the treasuresof the earth or even for all the delights of heaven, but hesought the teaching that would remove all mental delusions.
The gods were impressed by the man’s earnestness
and sincerity and decided to test his mind. So one of thegods disguised himself as a demon and appeared in the− 158 −

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Himalayas, singing: “Ever ything changes, ever ythingappears and disappears.”
The seeker heard this song which pleased him verymuch. He was as delighted as if he had found a spring ofcool water for his thirst or as if a slave had been unexpectedly set free. He said to himself, “At last I have foundthe true teaching that I have sought for so long.” He followed the voice and at last came upon the frightful
demon. With an uneasy mind he approached the demonand said: “Was it you who sang the holy song that I havejust heard? If it was you, please sing more of it.”
The demon replied: “Yes, it was my song, but I can
not sing more of it until I have had something to eat; I am
starving.”
The man begged him very earnestly to sing more ofit, saying: “It has a sacred meaning to me and I havesought its teaching for a long time. I have only heard apart of it; please let me hear more.”
The demon said again: “I am starving, but if I cantaste the warm flesh and blood of a man, I will finish thesong.”The man, in his eagerness to hear the teaching,promised the demon that he could have his body after he− 159 −

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had heard the teaching. Then the demon sang the complete song.
Everything changes,
Everything appears and disappears,
There is perfect tranquility
When one transcends both life and extinction.
Hearing this, the man, after he wrote the poem onrocks and trees around, quietly climbed a tree and hurledhimself to the feet of the demon, but the demon had disappeared and, instead, a radiant god received the body ofthe man unharmed.
8. Once upon a time there was an earnest seeker of
the true path named Sadaprarudita. He cast aside every
temptation for profit or honor and sought the path at therisk of his life. One day a voice from heaven came to him,saying, “Sadaprarudita! Go straight toward the east. Do
not think of either heat or cold, pay no attention toworldly praise or scorn, do not be bothered by discriminations of good or evil, but just keep on going east. In thefar east you will find a true teacher and will gain Enlightenment.”
Sadaprarudita was very pleased to get this definite
instruction and immediately started on his journey eastward. Sometimes he slept where night found him in a
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lonely field or in the wild mountains.
Being a stranger in foreign lands, he suffered many
humiliations; once he sold himself into slavery, selling his
own flesh out of hunger, but at last he found the true
teacher and asked for his instruction.
There is a saying, “Good things are costly,” andSadaprarudita found it true in his case, for he had manydifficulties on his journey in search of the path. He had
no money to buy some flowers and incense to offer theteacher. He tried to sell his services but could find no one
to hire him. There seemed to be an evil spirit hindering
him every way he turned. The path to Enlightenment is a
hard one and it may cost a man his life.
At last Sadaprarudita reached the presence of theteacher himself and then he had a new difficulty. He had
no paper on which to take notes and no brush or ink towrite with. Then he pricked his wrist with a dagger andtook notes in his own blood. In this way he secured theprecious Truth.
9. Once there was a boy named Sudhana who also
wished for Enlightenment and earnestly sought the way.
From a fisherman he learned the lore of the sea. From a
doctor he learned compassion toward sick people in theirsuffering. From a wealthy man he learned that saving
pennies was the secret of his fortune and thought how− 161 −

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necessary it was to conserve every trifling gained on thepath to Enlightenment.
From a meditating monk he learned that the pureand peaceful mind had a miraculous power to purify andtranquilize other minds. Once he met a woman of exceptional personality and was impressed by her benevolent
spirit, and from her he learned a lesson that charity was
the fruit of wisdom. Once he met an aged wanderer who
told him that to reach a certain place he had to scale amountain of swords and pass through a valley of fire.
Thus Sudhana learned from his experiences that there
was true teaching to be gained from everything he sawor heard.
He learned patience from a poor, crippled woman;he learned a lesson of simple happiness from watching
children playing in the street; and from some gentle andhumble people, who never thought of wanting anythingthat anybody else wanted, he learned the secret of living
at peace with all the world.
He learned a lesson of harmony from watching theblending of the elements of incense, and a lesson of
thanksgiving from the arrangement of flowers. One day,passing through a forest, he took a rest under a noble
tree and noticed a tiny seedling growing near by out of afallen and decaying tree and it taught him a lesson of the− 162 −

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uncertainty of life.
Sunlight by day and the twinkling stars by night
constantly refreshed his spirit. Thus Sudhana profited by
the experiences of his long journey.
Indeed, those who seek for Enlightenment must
think of their minds as castles and decorate them. They
must open wide the gates of their minds for Buddha, andrespectfully and humbly invite Him to enter the inmost
chamber, there to offer Him the fragrant incense of faithand the flowers of gratitude and gladness.
II
THE WAYS OF PRACTICE
1. For those who seek Enlightenment there are three
ways of practice that must be understood and followed:
First, disciplines for practical behavior; second, right concentration of mind; and third, wisdom.
What are disciplines? Everyone, whether a person is
a common person or a way-seeker, should follow the precepts for good behavior. One should control both themind and body, and guard the gates of one’s five senses.
One should be afraid of even a trifling evil and, frommoment to moment, should endeavor to practice only
good deeds.
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What is meant by the concentration of mind? Itmeans to get quickly away from greedy and evil desiresas they arise and to hold the mind pure and tranquil.

What is wisdom? It is the ability to perfectly understand and to patiently accept the Fourfold Noble Truth,
to know the fact of suffering and its nature; to know thesource of suffering, to know what constitutes the end of
suffering, and to know the Noble Path that leads to theend of suffering.
Those who earnestly follow these three ways ofpractice may rightly be called the disciples of Buddha.
Suppose a donkey, that has no nice shape, no voiceand no horns like those of the cow, was following a herdof cows and proclaiming, “Look, I am also a cow.” Would
any one believe him? It is just as foolish when a person
does not follow the three ways of practice but boasts that
he is a way-seeker or a disciple of Buddha.

Before a farmer gathers a har vest in the fall, hemust first plow the ground, sow the seed, irrigate, andremove the weeds as they come up in the springtime.
Likewise, the seeker of Enlightenment must follow thethree ways of practice. A farmer can not expect to see the− 164 −

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buds today, to see the plants tomorrow, and to gather the
harvest the day after. So a person who seeks Enlightenment can not expect to remove worldly desires today, toremove attachments and evil desires tomorrow, and to
get Enlightenment the day after.
Just as plants receive the patient care of the farmer
after the seed has been sown and during the changes ofclimate and during the growth from plant to fruit, so theseeker of Enlightenment must patiently and perseveringly cultivate the soil of Enlightenment by following thethree ways of practice.

2. It is difficult to advance along the path that leads to
Enlightenment so long as one is covetous of comforts
and luxuries and his mind disturbed by the desires of thesenses. There is a wide difference between the enjoyment of life and the enjoyment of the True Path.
As already explained, the mind is the source of allthings. If the mind enjoys worldly affairs, illusions andsuffering will inevitably follow, but if the mind enjoys theTrue Path, happiness, contentment and enlightenment
will just as surely follow.
Therefore, those who are seeking Enlightenment
should keep their minds pure, and patiently keep and− 165 −

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practice the three ways. If they keep the precepts they
will naturally obtain concentration of mind; and if theyobtain concentration of the mind it will be just as naturalfor them to grasp wisdom, and wisdom will lead them to
Enlightenment.

Indeed, these three ways (keeping the precepts,
practicing concentration of mind and always acting
wisely) are the true path to Enlightenment.
By not following them, people have for a long time
accumulated mental delusions. They must not argue withworldly people, but must patiently meditate in their innerworld of a pure mind in order to attain Enlightenment.

3. If the three ways of practice are analyzed, they will
reveal the eightfold noble path, the four viewpoints to beconsidered, the four right procedures, the five faculties ofpower to be employed, and the perfection of six practices.
The Noble Eightfold Path refers to Right View,
Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Behavior, Right
Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right
Concentration.
Right View means to thoroughly understand the
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and not to be deceived by appearances and desires.
Right Thought means the resolution not to cherish,
desires, not to be greedy, not to be angry, and not to do
any harmful deed.
Right Speech means the avoidance of lying words,
idle words, abusive words, and double-tongues.
Right Behavior means not to destroy any life, not tosteal, or not to commit adultery.
Right Livelihood means to avoid any life that would
bring shame.
Right Effort means to try to do one’s best diligently
toward the right direction.
Right Mindfulness means to maintain a pure andthoughtful mind.
Right Concentration means to keep the mind rightand tranquil for its concentration, seeking to realize themind’s pure essence.
4. The Four View-points to be considered are: First, toconsider the body impure, seeking to remove all attachment to it, second, to consider the senses as a source of− 167 −

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suffering, whatever their feelings of pain or pleasure may
be; third, to consider the mind to be in a constant state offlux, and fourth, to consider everything in the world as
being a consequence of causes and conditions and that
nothing remains unchanged forever.

5. The Four Right Procedures are: First, to prevent
any evil from starting; second, to remove any evil as soon
as it starts; third, to induce the doing of good deeds; andfourth, to encourage the growth and continuance of gooddeeds that have already started. One must endeavor tokeep these four procedures.

6. The Five Faculties of Power are: First, the faith tobelieve; second, the will to make the endeavor; third, thefaculty of alertness; fourth, the ability to concentrate
one’s mind; and fifth, the ability to maintain clear wisdom.
These five faculties are necessar y powers to attain
Enlightenment.

7. The Perfection of Six Practices for reaching theother shore of Enlightenment are: the path of Offering,
the path of Keeping Precepts, the path of Endurance, thepath of Endeavor, the path of Concentration of mind, andthe path of Wisdom. By following these paths, one can− 168 −

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surely pass from the shore of delusion over to the shoreof Enlightenment.
The practice of Offering gets rid of selfishness; thepractice of Precepts keeps one thoughtful of the rights
and comforts of others; the practice of Endurance helps
one to control a fearful or angr y mind; the practice ofEndeavor helps one to be diligent and faithful; the practice of Concentration helps one to control a wanderingand futile mind; and the practice of Wisdom changes adark and confused mind into a clear and penetrating
insight.
Offering and Keeping Precepts make the foundationnecessar y to build a great castle on. Endurance andEndeavor are the walls of the castle that protect it against
enemies from outside. Concentration and Wisdom are
the personal armor that protects one against the assaults
of life and death.
If one gives away a gift only when convenient, or
because it is easier to give than not to give, it is an offering, of course, but it is not a True Of fering. A True
Of fering comes from a sympathetic hear t before any
request is made, and a True Offering is the one that gives
not occasionally but constantly.
Neither is it a True Offering if after the act there are− 169 −

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feelings of regret or of self-praise; a True Offering is one
that is given with pleasure, forgetting oneself as the giver,the one who receives it and the gift itself.
True Offering springs spontaneously from one’s
pure compassionate heart with no thought of any return,wishing to enter into a life of Enlightenment together.

There are seven kinds of offering which can be practiced by even those who are not wealthy. The first is thephysical offering. This is to offer service by one’s labor.
The highest type of this offering is to offer one’s own life
as is shown in the following story. The second is the spiritual offering. This is to offer a compassionate heart toothers. The third is the offering of eyes. This is to offer awarm glance to others which will give them tranquility.
The fourth is the offering of countenance. This is to offera soft countenance with smile to others. The fifth is theoral offering. This is to offer kind and warm words toothers. The sixth is the seat offering. This is to offer
one’s seat to others. The seventh is the offering of shelter. This is to let others spend the night at one’s home.
These kinds of offering can be practiced by anyone ineveryday life.

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8. Once there was a prince named Sattva. One day heand his two elder brothers went to a forest to play. There
they saw a famished tigress which was evidently tempted
to devour her own seven cubs to satisfy her hunger.
The elder brothers ran away in fear but Sattva
climbed up a cliff and threw himself over it to the tigressin order to save the lives of the baby tigers.
Prince Sattva did this charitable act spontaneously
but within his mind he was thinking: “This body is changing and impermanent; I have loved this body with nothought of throwing it away, but now I make it an offeringto this tigress so that I may gain Enlightenment.” This
thought of Prince Sattva shows the true determination to
gain Enlightenment.
9. There are Four Unlimited States of Mind that theseeker of Enlightenment should cherish. They are
Compassion, Tenderness, Gladness and Equanimity. One
can remove greed by cherishing Compassion; one canremove anger by Tenderness; one can remove sufferingby Gladness, and one can remove the habit of discrimination of enemies and friends by cherishing an Equitablemind.
It is a great compassion that makes people happy
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everything that does not make people happy and contented; it is a great gladness that makes everyone happy andcontented with a mind of joy; there is a great peacefulness when everyone is happy and contented, and then
one can have equal feelings toward everybody.
With care one may cherish these Four Unlimited
States of Mind and may get rid of greed, anger, suffering,and the minds of love-hate, but it is not an easy thing to
do. An evil mind is as hard to get rid of as a watchdog,
and a right mind is as easy to lose as a deer in a forest; oran evil mind is as hard to remove as letters car ved instone, and a right mind is as easy to lose as words written
in water. Indeed, it is the most difficult thing in life totrain oneself for Enlightenment.
10. There was a young man named Srona who was bornin a wealthy family but was of delicate health. He wasvery earnest to gain Enlightenment and became a disciple of the Blessed One. On the path to Enlightenment, he
tried so hard that finally his feet bled.
The Blessed One pitied him and said, “Srona myboy, did you ever study the harp at your home? You knowthat a harp does not make music if the strings are
stretched too tight or too loose. It makes music only
when the strings are stretched just right.
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The Way of Practical Attainment“The training for Enlightenment is just like adjusting the harp strings. You can not attain Enlightenment if
you stretch the strings of your mind too loosely or too
tightly. You must be considerate and act wisely.”
Srona found these words very profitable and finallygained what he sought.
11. Once there was a prince who was skillful in the useof the five weapons. One day he was returning homefrom his practice and met a monster whose skin wasinvulnerable.
The monster started for him but nothing daunted
the prince. He shot an arrow at him which fell harmless.
Then he threw his spear which failed to penetrate thethick skin. Then he threw a bar and a javelin but theyfailed to hurt the monster. Then he used his sword but
the sword broke. The prince attacked the monster withhis fists and feet but to no purpose, for the monster
clutched him in his giant arms and held him fast. Thenthe prince tried to use his head as a weapon but in vain.
The monster said, “It is useless for you to resist; I
am going to devour you.” But the prince answered, “Youmay think that I have used all my weapons and am helpless, but I still have one weapon left. If you devour me, I
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The courage of the prince disturbed the monster
and he asked, “How can you do that?” The prince replied,“By the power of the Truth.”
Then the monster released him and begged for his
instruction in the Truth.
The teaching of this fable is to encourage disciples
to persevere in their efforts and to be undaunted in theface of many set backs.
12. Both odious self-asser tion and shamelessness
offend mankind, but dishonor and shame protect humanbeings. People respect their parents, elders, brothers andsisters because they are sensitive to dishonor and shame.
After self-reflection it is meritorious to withhold honor
from one’s self and to feel ashamed by observing otherpeople.
If a person possesses a repentant spirit one’s sins
will disappear, but if one has an unrepentant spirit one’s
sins will continue and condemn that person forever.
It is only the one who hears the tr ue teachingrightly and realizes its meaning and relation to oneself
who can receive and profit by it.
If a person merely hears the true teaching but does
not acquire it, one will fail in one’s search forEnlightenment.
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Faith, modesty, humbleness, endeavor and wisdom
are the great sources of strength to him who is seeking
Enlightenment. Among these, wisdom is the greatest of
all and the rest are but the aspects of wisdom. If a man,
while in his training, loves worldly affairs, enjoys idle talkor falls asleep, he will be retired from the path toEnlightenment.

13. In training for Enlightenment, some may succeed
quicker than others. Therefore, one should not be discouraged to see others becoming enlightened first.
When a man is practicing archer y, he does notexpect quick success but knows that if he practices
patiently, he will become more and more accurate. A river
begins as a brook but grows ever larger until it flows into
the great ocean.
Like these examples, if a person trains with patienceand perseverance, one will surely gain Enlightenment.
As already explained, if one keeps one’s eyes open,
he will see the teaching everywhere, and so his opportunities for Enlightenment are endless.
Once there was a man who was burning incense. He
noticed that the fragrance was neither coming nor going;
it neither appeared nor disappeared. This trifle incident
led him to gain Enlightenment.
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Once there was a man who got a thorn stuck in his
foot. He felt the sharp pain and a thought came to him,that pain was only a reaction of the mind. From this incident a deeper thought followed that the mind may get outof hand if one fails to control it, or it may become pure if
one succeeds. From these thoughts, a little later,
Enlightenment came to him.
There was another man who was very avaricious.
One day he was thinking of his greedy mind when herealized that greedy thoughts were but shavings and kindlings that wisdom could burn and consume. That was
the beginning of his Enlightenment.
There is an old saying: “Keep your mind level. If themind is level, the whole world will be level.” Consider
these words. Realize that all the distinctions of the world
are caused by the discriminating views of the mind.
There is a path to Enlightenment in those very words.
Indeed, the ways to Enlightenment are unlimited.

III
THE WAY OF FAITH
1. Those who take refuge in the Three Treasures, theBuddha, the Dharma and the Samgha, are called the disciples of Buddha. The disciples of Buddha observe (the− 176 −

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four parts of mind-control) the precepts, faith, offering
and wisdom.
The disciples of Buddha practice the Five Precepts:
not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie,and not to take intoxicants of any kind.
The disciples of Buddha have faith in the Buddha’s
perfect wisdom. They try to keep away from greedinessand selfishness and to practice offering. They understandthe law of cause and effect, keeping in mind the transiencyof life and conform to the norm of wisdom.
A tree leaning toward the east will naturally fall eastward and so those who listen to the Buddha’s teaching
and maintain faith in it will surely be bor n in the
Buddha’s Pure Land.
2. It has rightly been said that those who believe in theThree Treasures of the Buddha, the Dharma and theSamgha are called the disciples of Buddha.
The Buddha is the one who attained per fect
Enlightenment and used His attainment to emancipate
and bless all mankind. The Dharma is the truth, the spiritof Enlightenment and the teaching that explains it. The
Samgha is the perfect brotherhood of believers in the
Buddha and Dharma.
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We speak of Buddhahood, the Dharma and theBrotherhood as though they are three different things,
but they are really only one. Buddha is manifested in His
Dharma and is realized by the Brotherhood. Therefore,
to believe in the Dharma and to cherish the Brotherhood
is to have faith in the Buddha, and to have faith in the
Buddha means to believe in the Dharma and to cherish
the Brotherhood.
Therefore, people are emancipated and enlightenedsimply by having faith in the Buddha. Buddha is the perfectly Enlightened One and He loves everyone as thougheach were His only child. So if anyone regards Buddha as
his own parent, he identifies himself with Buddha andattains Enlightenment.
Those who thus regard Buddha will be supported
by His wisdom and perfumed by His grace.

3. Nothing in the world brings greater benefit than tobelieve in Buddha. Just hearing Buddha’s name, believing and being pleased even for a moment, is incomparably rewarding.
Therefore, one must please oneself by seeking theteaching of Buddha in spite of the conflagration that fills
all the world.
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It will be hard to meet a teacher who can explain the
Dharma; it will be harder to meet a Buddha; but it will behardest to believe in His teaching.
But now that you have met the Buddha, who is hardto meet, and have had it explained to you what is hard tohear, you ought to rejoice and believe and have faith in
Buddha.
4. On the long journey of human life, faith is the bestof companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey;
and it is the greatest possession.
Faith is the hand that receives the Dharma; it is thepure hand that receives all the virtues. Faith is the firethat consumes all the impurities of worldly desires, itremoves the burden, and it is the guide that leads one’s
way.
Faith removes greed, fear and pride; it teaches courtesy and to respect others; it frees one from the bondage
of circumstances; it gives one courage to meet hardship;
it gives one power to overcome temptations; it enables
one to keep one’s deeds bright and pure; and it enriches
the mind with wisdom.

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Faith is the encouragement when one’s way is long
and wearisome, and it leads to Enlightenment.
Faith makes us feel that we are in the presence of
Buddha and it brings us to where Buddha’s arm supports
us. Faith softens our hard and selfish minds and gives usa friendly spirit and a mind of understanding sympathy.
5. Those who have faith gain the wisdom to recognize
the Buddha’s teaching in whatever they hear. Those whohave faith gain the wisdom to see that everything is but
the appearance that arises from the law of causes andconditions, and then faith gives them the grace of patient
acceptance and the ability to conform to their conditions
peacefully.
Faith gives them the wisdom to recognize the transiency of life and the grace not to be surprised or grieved
at whatever comes to them or with the passing of life
itself, knowing that, however conditions and appearances
may change, the truth of life remains always unchanged.

Faith has three significant aspects: repentance, arejoicing and sincere respect for the virtues of others,
and a grateful acceptance of Buddha’s appearance.

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People should cultivate these aspects of faith; theyshould be sensitive to their failings and impurities; theyshould be ashamed of them and confess them; theyshould diligently practice the recognition of the goodtraits and good deeds of others and praise them for theirsake; and they should habitually desire to act with
Buddha and to live with Buddha.
The mind of faith is the mind of sincerity; it is a deep
mind, a mind that is sincerely glad to be led to Buddha’s
Pure Land by His power.
Therefore, Buddha gives a power to faith that leads
people to the Pure Land, a power that purifies them, apower that protects them from self-delusion. Even if they
have faith only for a moment, when they hear Buddha’s
name praised all over the world, they will be led to His
Pure Land.
6. Faith is not something that is added to the worldly
mind – it is the manifestation of the mind’s Buddhanature. One who understands Buddha is a Buddha himself; one who has faith in Buddha is a Buddha himself.
But it is dif ficult to uncover and recover one’s
Buddha nature; it is difficult to maintain a pure mind in
the constant rise and fall of greed, anger and worldly passion; yet faith enables one to do it.
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Within the forest of the poisonous Eranda trees only
Eranda trees are said to grow, but not the fragrant
Chandana. It is a miracle if a Chandana tree grows in an
Eranda forest. Likewise, it is often a miracle that faith in
Buddha grows in the heart of the people.

Therefore, the faith to believe in Buddha is called a“rootless” faith. That is, it has no root by which it cangrow in the human mind, but it has a root to grow in thecompassionate mind of Buddha.
7. Thus faith is fruitful and sacred. But faith is hard to
awaken in an idle mind. In par ticular, there are five
doubts that lurk in the shadows of the human mind andtend to discourage faith.
First, there is doubt in the Buddha’s wisdom;
second, there is doubt in the Buddha’s teaching; third,
there is doubt in the person who explains the Buddha’s
teachings; fourth, there is doubt as to whether the ways
and methods suggested for following the Noble Path arereliable; and fifth, there is a person who, because of his
arrogant and impatient mind, may doubt the sincerity ofothers who understand and follow the Buddha’s teachings.

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Indeed, there is nothing more dreadful than doubt.
Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates
friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thornthat irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
The beginnings of faith were long ago planted by
the compassion of Buddha. When one has faith, one
should realize this fact and be very grateful to Buddha for
His goodness.
One should never forget that it is not because of
one’s own compassion that one has awakened faith, but
because of the Buddha’s compassion which long ago
threw its pure light of faith into human minds and dispelled the darkness of their ignorance. He who enjoys thepresent faith has entered into their heritage.
Even living an ordinary life, one can be born in thePure Land, if he awakens faith through the Buddha’s longcontinued compassion.
It is, indeed, hard to be born in this world. It is hardto hear the Dharma; it is harder to awaken faith; therefore, everyone should try one’s best to hear the Buddha’s
teachings.

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The Way of Practical AttainmentIV
SACRED SAYINGS
1. “He abused me, he laughed at me, he struck me.”Thus one thinks and so long as one retains such thoughts
one’s anger continues.
Anger will never disappear so long as there arethoughts of resentment in the mind. Anger will disappear
just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.
If a roof is improperly made or in disrepair, rain willleak into the house; so greed enters the mind that is
improperly trained or out of control.
To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent
is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are
diligent.
An arrow-maker tries to make his arrows straight;
so a wise man tries to keep his mind straight.
A disturbed mind is forever active, jumping hither
and thither, and is hard to control; but a tranquil mind ispeaceful; therefore, it is wise to keep the mind under control.
It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, thatlures him into evil ways.
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The one who protects his mind from greed, anger
and foolishness, is the one who enjoys real and lasting
peace.
2. To utter pleasant words without practicing them islike a fine flower without fragrance.
The fragrance of a flower does not float against thewind; but the honor of a good man goes even against thewind into the world.
A night seems long to a sleepless person and a journey seems long to a weary traveler; so the time of delusion and suffering seems long to a person who does notknow the right teaching.
On a trip a man should travel with a companion ofequal mind or one who has a better mind; one had better
travel alone than to travel with a fool.
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared
than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but
an evil friend will wound your mind.

So long as a man can not control his own mind, how
can he get any satisfaction from thinking such thoughts
as,“This is my son” or “This is my treasure”? A foolish− 185 −

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man suffers from such thoughts.
To be foolish and to recognize that one is a fool, isbetter than to be foolish and imagine that one is wise.
A spoon cannot taste of the food it carries. Likewise,a foolish man cannot understand the wise man’s wisdom
even if he associates with a sage.
Fresh milk is often slow to curdle; so sinful actions
do not always bring immediate results. Sinful actions are
more like coals of fire that are hidden in the ashes andkeep on smoldering, finally causing a greater fire.
A person is foolish to desire privileges, promotion,
profits, or honor, for such desires can never bring happiness but will bring suffering instead.
A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if hereveals the secret of some hidden treasure.
3. A person who is pleased when one receives good
instruction will sleep peacefully, because one’s mind isthereby cleansed.
A carpenter seeks to make his beam straight; anarrow-maker seeks to make his arrows well-balanced; the− 186 −

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digger of an irrigation ditch seeks to make the water runsmoothly; so a wise person seeks to control one’s mind sothat it will function smoothly and truly.
A great rock is not disturbed by the wind; the mindof a wise person is not disturbed by either honor orabuse.
To conquer oneself is a greater victory than to conquer thousands in a battle.
To live a single day and hear a good teaching isbetter than to live a hundred years without knowing suchteaching.
Those who respect themselves must be on constantguard lest they yield to evil desires. Once in a lifetime, atleast, they should awaken faith, either in their youth, orin middle age, or even in old age.
The world is always burning, burning with the firesof greed, anger and foolishness; one should flee fromsuch dangers as soon as possible.
The world is like a bubble, it is like the gossamer
web of a spider, it is like the defilement in a dirty jar; one
should constantly protect the purity of one’s mind.
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4. To avoid any evil, to seek the good, to keep the mind
pure: this is the essence of Buddha’s teaching.
Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines,
but it is to him who endures that the final victory comes.
One must remove resentment when he is feelingresentful; one must remove sorrow while he is in the
midst of sorrow; one must remove greediness while he issteeped in greed. To live a pure unselfish life, one must
count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.
To be healthy is a great advantage; to be contented
with what one has is better than the possession of great
wealth; to be considered reliable is the truest mark offriendliness; to attain Enlightenment is the highest happiness.
When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when
one feels tranquil, when one finds pleasure in listening togood teachings, when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.
Do not become attached to the things you like, do
not maintain aversion to the things you dislike. Sorrow,fear and bondage come from one’s likes and dislikes.

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5. Rust grows from iron and destroys it; so evil grows
from the mind of human and destroys him.
A scripture that is not read with sincerity soon
becomes covered with dust; a house that is not fixed
when it needs repairing becomes filthy; so an idle person
soon becomes defiled.
Impure acts defile a person; stinginess defiles anoffering; so evil acts defile not only this life but also thefollowing lives.
But the defilement to be most dreaded is the defilement of ignorance. A person can not hope to purify either
one’s body or mind until ignorance is removed.
It is easy to slip into shamelessness, to be pert andbold like a crow, to hurt others without any feeling ofregret for such action.
It is hard, indeed, to feel humble, to know respectand honor, to get rid of all attachments, to keep pure inthought and deed, and to become wise.
It is easy to point out the mistakes of others, while itis hard to admit one’s own mistakes. A person broadcasts
the sins of others without thinking, but one hides one’s
own sins as a gambler hides his extra dice.
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The sky holds no trace of bird or smoke or storm;
an evil teaching carries no Enlightenment; nothing in thisworld is stable; but an Enlightened mind is undisturbed.
6. As a knight guards his castle gate, so one must
guard one’s mind from dangers outside and dangers
inside; one must not neglect it for a moment.
Everyone is the master of oneself, one is the oasis
he can depend on; therefore, ever yone should control
himself above all.
The first steps toward spiritual freedom from theworldly bonds and fetters are to control one’s mind, tostop idle talk, and to be somewhat pensive.
The sun makes the day bright, the moon makes thenight beautiful, discipline adds to the dignity of a warrior;so quiet meditation distinguishes the seeker for
Enlightenment.
One who is unable to guard one’s five senses ofeyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, and becomes temptedby one’s surroundings, is not the one who can train for
Enlightenment. One who firmly guards the gateways of
one’s five senses and keeps one’s mind under control is
the one who can successfully train for Enlightenment.
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7. One who is influenced by one’s likes and dislikes
can not rightly understand the significance of circumstances and tends to be overcome by them; one who is
free from attachments rightly understands circumstances
and to one’s all things become new and significant.
Happiness follows sorrow, sorrow follows happiness, but when one no longer discriminates between happiness and sorrow, a good deed and a bad deed, one isable to realize freedom.
To worry in anticipation or to cherish regret for the
past is like the reeds that are cut and wither away.
The secret of health for both mind and body is not
to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or
not to anticipate troubles, but to live wisely and earnestly
for the present.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment.
It is worthy to perform the present duty well andwithout failure; do not seek to avoid or postpone it till
tomorrow. By acting now, one can live a good day.

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Wisdom is the best guide and faith is the best companion. One must tr y to escape from the darkness ofignorance and suf fering, and seek the light ofEnlightenment.
If a person’s body and mind are under control one
should give evidence of it in virtuous deeds. This is asacred duty. Faith will then be his wealth, sincerity will
give his life a sweet savor, and to accumulate virtues will
be his sacred task.
On life’s journey faith is nourishment, vir tuous
deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and rightmindfulness is the protection by night. If a person lives apure life nothing can destroy that person; if one has conquered greed nothing can limit one’s freedom.
One should forget oneself for the sake of one’s family; one should forget one’s family for the sake of one’s village; one should forget one’s village for the sake of thenation; and one should forget everything for the sake of
Enlightenment.
Everything is changeable, everything appears anddisappears; there is no blissful peace until one passes
beyond the agony of life and death.

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