Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
I like going different places, not just for the fun of it but also because I want to learn. To learn something of value depends on three things: seeing, listening, and thinking, i.e., using all of your senses so as to serve a purpose.
Sometimes when you meet people and find that their beliefs and practices are on a level lower than yours, you can serve a purpose by teaching them to get started on the right path.
But when you see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and are convinced in your heart that something is really good, don’t think about whether it’s yours or theirs.
Remember it and put it into practice yourself.
Because my heart has been set on serving the purposes of the religion, I’ve kept on trying to do what’s good.
No matter whether I’m in a high place or a lowly one, I always think only of serving a purpose.
As for the question of manners—in other words, how to benefit advanced people and people not so advanced—that depends on the situation. The religion isn’t the exclusive property of homes or monasteries, of this or that city or nation. The religion is something meant to benefit everyone everywhere. It belongs to the world.
The further we can spread its benefits, the better.
But even though I’ve meant well, practicing in line with these thoughts, I can’t escape being criticized, probably because the people who criticize don’t understand. Just a short while back— last April 20th— I was talking with an old nobleman, but I didn’t want to come down too hard on him.
His criticism, to put it briefly, was, “You spend an awful lot of time involved with lay people, so how can you practice for the sake of release?”
I answered him frankly—but first I asked him, just to make sure, “What are you getting at?”
“Teach people to reach nibbāna,” he said. “Don’t get too involved with them.”
So I said, “I like teaching people to reach nibbāna, but it’s hard. I like it, mind you, I like it, but if I did as you said, I’d be crazy.
Suppose you plant some rice. When it’s golden and ripe, can you harvest just the white grains of rice? Without taking anything else? I take everything.
People may say I’m crazy, but why should I care? I take the whole plant because it has lots of uses. The straw you can keep to feed water buffaloes, or sell, or use as kindling. As for the rice husks, you can use them to feed pigs.”
“You know,” he said, “you’re right.” And that was the end of the matter.
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The Skill of Release: Teachings of Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/ebook_index.html
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