《Explanation of the Three

The two methods mentioned by the Buddha have not solved the problem after using them, you can use the third method (forget about bad thoughts):

A monk should try to forget and not be interested in these thoughts. When he tries to forget and not be interested in these thoughts, these thoughts that trigger greed, anger and ignorance will be abandoned and calmed down.After abandoning them, your mind will be focused and you will be determined.。

First of all, we must explain: Even if the previous two methods cannot completely calm down their delusions, they will be helpful to the methods we talked about today. Especially the second method: poor thinking and thinking have various faults and dangers. After knowing these faults and dangers, it is relatively easy to forget bad thoughts. The annotation gives four ways to forget bad thoughts:

1.Recite the memorized Dharma principles loudly.

2.Read the manual that records the merits of Buddha treasures and magic treasures.

3.Organize your own items.

4.Sew the robes.

The first is to recite the Dharma meaning that you remember loudly. For example, many friends now like the "Great Mindfulness Sutra". If you have delusions when you are meditating, you can't get rid of your delusions, and then just stop meditating. First recite the "Great Mindfulness Sutra". The "Great Mindfulness Sutra" is relatively long. After memorizing the "Great Mindfulness Sutra", you may forget the delusions.

The second is to read a manual that records the merits of Buddha treasures and magic treasures. Now that you have a mobile phone, you can just store the merits of Buddha treasures and magic treasures in your mobile phone. You can read when you need to forget your delusions. The chapters of "The Purification of the Path of Purification" include the merits of Buddha treasures and Dharma treasures, which you can learn. There is another alternative method: everyone can read the biography of the Buddha. It is recommended that you read more orthodox versions, such as "Getting to Sakyamuni Buddha" written by Venerable Zhiji. I have seen that some novelists write biographies that are made up of many things, which are seriously separated from Buddhist scriptures, so this version is not recommended to read. What are the benefits of understanding the merits of Buddha treasures and Dharma treasures? Can inspire our confidence. The arising of delusions is sometimes related to our decreased faith and interest in meditation. To be honest, it is not easy for many people to make obvious progress in meditation in a short period of time. Even if you make some progress, you may retreat later. ； Or we started to make rapid progress, but there was no obvious progress for a long time. Over time, you will become tired and your interest in meditation and your confidence in the Three Jewels will decrease. What to do at this time? An effective method is to review the merits of Buddha treasures and magic treasures. The Buddha's merits of precepts, concentration, wisdom, and teaching sentient beings and understanding the merits of the world will be very excited after reading them. You can think: The Buddha has so many extraordinary merits, which are also obtained through meditation. If we can also achieve the same merits in meditation, then your interest in meditation will be easily restored, and it will be easy to forget bad thoughts at this time. The way I solve my depression myself is to read the scriptures, especially the scriptures I like. After reading it, you will feel your energy is rejuvenated and the motivation for meditation will be restored. When we are in a secular living environment, we will be unknowingly polluted by worldly troubles over time. Reading the scriptures, re-recommending the right knowledge and right views, and re-enactment of renunciation, will easily get rid of all kinds of worldly troubles.

The third is to organize your own items. The monk would carry a small bag with him, which contained scissors, nail clippers, and needlework. If you want to forget bad thinking, you can pour out all the things in the bag, then sort them out one by one and put them back. During this process, your attention will be diverted, and if you don’t think well, you will be forgotten. Everyone here often uses computers, and there must be a lot of information stored in the computer: files, videos, audio, etc. You might as well sort these materials into a classified and sorted out, such as the meditation category, the sutras and treasures category, the mahayana category, the vizhana category, etc. (What materials are needed in the future will be easy to find). And in the process of sorting out the data, the attention will naturally shift. Others, such as tidying up your own drawers, tidying up your own bookshelf, and even cleaning and tidying up your room. These methods seem ordinary, but they are practical.

The fourth is to sew the cassock. This is also mainly for monks and monks. The robes were very expensive in ancient India and were valuable items (two robes can be exchanged for a sheep). Therefore, if the cassock is broken, it must be sewn. When sewing a cassock, your attention will naturally be shifted to sewing a cassock, which will easily forget about bad thoughts.

The annotation mentions that it is not suitable to use building a residence to forget bad thoughts in general. Why? Because building a house is time-consuming, you may not have time to meditate after doing this work. But the annotation tells another interesting story, which shows that in special circumstances, the method of building a residence can be used. This story takes place in ancient Sri Lanka. There is a novice monk named Disa ( Tissa）。 After becoming a monk for a while, Disashami became tired and wanted to return to secular life. He then proposed to Master Jing to return to secular life. His master of precepts did not answer him positively, but said to him, "The temple I live in is quite short of water now. I want to change my place. I want to go to Jidala Mountain (maybe there is plenty of water in Jidala Mountain). You should have been there, take me to this Jidala Mountain. ”The novice monk then led his master to Mount Jidala. There is a temple in Jidala Mountain. But Master Jie was not very satisfied with this temple: this temple was for a monastic community, it was too big. The Master of Precepts asked the novice monk, "Can you help me find a smaller place for living alone? ”The novice monk felt that the precepts were kind to him in the past, so he should help him find a place to live, so he agreed. I spent a lot of effort to find a cave. I thought it was quite suitable for the size, but it still needed to be cleaned and trimmed, and the workload was quite large. Since he had agreed to the abstinence master, the novice monk started his construction work regardless of whether the workload was large or not. When he was tired and needed to rest, he would start to learn the scriptures of the corresponding section from scratch and also meditate. What karma does he cultivate? It means practicing fire. In this way, he built a residence for the Master of Precepts, studied scriptures, and practiced the fire everywhere. Finally, when you are finished with your residence, you have also learned the corresponding sutras and practiced the fire and achieved peace and samadhi. The novice monk then reported that his residence of the preceptor was completed. The Master of Precepts said to him: "You should enjoy the place you have worked hard and worked hard to complete. You can live in this cave first. ”This novice monk was very obedient, so he lived in this cave to meditate and quickly attained the Arhat fruit.

The master of precepts in the story is very skillful. He asked the novice monk to help build a residence, diverting the novice monk's attention and forgetting the bad thinking of returning to the world. In fact, it is better to say that the novice monk asked the novice monk to find a place suitable for meditation than to let the novice monk build a place for meditation. But if the preceptor directly says to the novice monk, “You go and find a suitable place for yourself, study the scriptures of the corresponding department, and practice the fire. ”The novice monk might think: "I'm going to return to secular life, why are you doing this? ”And reject it. But the Master of Precepts is very skillful, and he asked the novice monk to do a favor. Now the novice monk is not easy to refuse: It is appropriate to help the master if he returns to secular life.

This story is very inspiring to us. Meditation requires long-term persistence. But to be honest: if you meditate all day long, it will be a few months, but it will be a barely enough for a year, and it may not be possible for two or three years. Because such a life is too monotonous and boring for many people and can’t stand it! It is so different from our past secular life! Some meditators have been meditating all day long, and if they are too tense, they will easily lose their minds and give up meditation altogether. Why? Troubles will rebound. If you become tired after meditation for a period of time, your worries will counterattack and you will not be able to resist and you will soon lose your mind. When we feel tired of meditation, we can do other things to divert our attention and avoid the rebound of troubles. For example, you can stop and learn scriptures, learn Pali, or volunteer. Not only can you avoid the rebound of troubles, but you can also increase your knowledge and blessings, and quickly restore your confidence and interest in meditation. (to be continued)