Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo.

Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo.

The affairs of the religion are an affair of the heart. Don’t go looking for them in the dirt or the grass, in temples or in monastery buildings. 

Although people may do good with their words and deeds, it’s still an affair of the world. The affairs of the religion are quiet and still, without any fuss or bother. They’re aimed at a mind that’s pure, undefiled, and bright. With goodness, there’s no need to do anything much at all. Simply sit still, and there’s purity.

Take the example of the little novice with quiet and composed manners who, as he was going out for alms one morning, happened to enter the compound of a stingy moneylender and his wife. Whether or not they would put any food in his bowl, he didn’t show the least concern, and he didn’t open his mouth to say a word. 

When he left—his bowl still empty—he went calmly and unhurriedly along his way. 

The moneylender’s wife, seeing him, became curious and trailed him from a distance, until he reached a point where he suddenly had to go to the bathroom. Carefully he put down his bowl and, using his foot, cleared away the leaves to make a little depression in the dirt so that the urine wouldn’t flow off anywhere. 

Then, after looking right, left and all around him to make sure that there wouldn’t be anyone walking past, he squatted down to urinate unobtrusively in the proper way.^1 

When he had finished, he used his foot to cover the spot with dirt and leaves as it had been before, picked up his bowl and went calmly on his way.

As for the moneylender’s wife, who had been watching from a distance, when she saw the manner in which the little novice was acting, the thought occurred to her that he had probably buried something of value. So she stealthily crept to the spot and, using her hand, dug the earth out of the hole buried by the novice and sniffed it to see what it was—and that was when she realized that it was urine. 

The little novice had taken care of his urine as if it were gold. ‘If it were something more valuable than this,’ she thought, ‘there’s no doubt how well he’d care for it. With manners like this, we should adopt him as our foster son. He’d be sure to look after our fortune to make sure that it wouldn’t get wasted away.’She went home to tell her husband who, impressed with her story, had a servant go and invite the novice into their home so that they could inform him of their intentions. 

The novice, however, declined their offer to make him their heir, and taught them the Dhamma, making them see the rewards of practicing generosity, virtue, and meditation. 

The moneylender and his wife were deeply moved, overcame their stinginess, and asked to take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha from that day onward. 

Eventually, they progressed in virtue, meditation, and right practice to the point where they both gained a glimpse of Liberation. Afterwards, they made a large donation to build a memorial over the spot where the novice had urinated, as a reminder of the goodness that had grown within them from the puddle of urine the little novice had bestowed on them that day.

The affairs of the religion come down to 

‘sacitta-pariyodapanam’

—making the heart entirely clean, clear and pure. 

‘Etam buddhana-sasanam’

—this is the heart of the Buddhas’ teachings.

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Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/ebook_index.html#food_for_thought

^1. "Not being ill, I will not defecate or urinate while standing: a training to be observed." One of the miscellaneous training rules for monks.

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สดจากเยาวชน : สามเณรนานาชาติ หยั่งรากพระธรรม

https://www.khaosod.co.th/lifestyle/news_1411424

12th October, 2022