What is good for some may not necessarily be good for others. One must not simply follow what others are doing without proper understanding. What is important is that one must hold the right belief only after understanding has been gained and then, with single-mindedness, practice it with effort. One must realise that the greatest difficulties in cultivation are the mental hindrances that are part and parcel of the defiled mind. That is why you get to feel so strongly, becoming so emotional in your daily life.

The arising of lustful thoughts, fear, anger, greed, arrogance, slothfulness, doubts, hatred, and other negativities comes about very naturally, which one cannot combat without being aware of them even though it is one’s intention to rid his mind of these defilements. So, how do you go about hoping to clean your mind and make it bright to reflect the Buddha Nature? Just praying for a strong mind is an illusion. The very desire to gain such a strong mind so as to be able to attain your goal is by itself a delusion and a frustration. One must never hope to gain anything that cannot be obtained by mere wishful thinking. One must truly be on the path and be willing to forsake that which may be pleasurable to the self and mind for the sake of cultivation. Too many people tend to follow the easy path and hope for the best or try to invent excuses to do improper things. Intellectual reasoning may be good in life but may not necessarily be good for the cultivation of a pure and strong mind. Because the mind is not pure, all manners of disguised thinking will lead one to wrong acts, which will be a problem if one is not aware of each thought that arises.

Sitting in meditation is never pleasant for the lazy and dull ones, nor is it appealing to those who are on the path of accumulation because inactivity is never appealing to anyone but the true seeker. In the beginning it takes much effort to tame the body and the mind even though one already knows and has seen the results of meditation to be good.

This is the first battle. To overcome it, you must not think of the joys that you will get out of the sitting because such a pre-conditioned mind will not be proper, because the joy will not come about to an impatient mind, and frustration again will come about to lead you away from the practice. There will be many who say that it is not necessary to learn to sit, and they will offer you alternative methods of cultivation, which may be good by themselves for most people, but they are only methods that will someday lead to the supreme method, that which is practised by the Buddhas of all times, the sitting in meditation as the means to enlightenment.

Those who are with you and hope to follow the path of mental progress must learn to overcome their dislike for sitting, for even the early period of training is the foundation to gaining the final enlightenment!

Developing a strong mind is therefore the first goal for all!

Friday, 5th August 1983 (6th Moon 27th Day)