“If cleaning the mind is not enough, we need to clean our life. By doing nothing, except doing good deeds. We need to abandon wearing nothing, excepts robe or nun clothes or yogi uniform only. We should also try do deal with no one, except Buddha – Dhamma – Shangha, medititors and volunteers. We should also try to stay nowhere, except monastery, meditation center or in the forest, only by ourself . This is the way correct our habitual mistakes, our habitual graspings and misusing mistakes of the mind.
Whatever method we use we should try to be using only to follow the Middle way – this is the way to correct the mistakes of living beings. There is the truth of nature in both living beings and impermanent nature. The nature of living beings and non living beings are dualism with good and bad, right and wrong, young and old, alive and dead, intelligent and non-intelligent, clever and stupid, lost or failure and success, meeting and departing. We can not choose one, we need to choose all. We can not only choose what is good, we also need to choose what is bad. We can not choose only being alive, we have to choose being dead also. But we don’t want to choose what is bad, If we choose bad, we will reject what is good. If we choose what is good, we will reject what is bad. If we choose socialism, we will reject democracy. If we choose democracy, you will reject socialism.
In facts, we can not reject the opposite one even if we choose what we like. That is sure, that why there is competition between the opposite forces or energies. We can not stop that competition, competition is nature.
Even in the life of a noble one, a noble person, there would be competition between good and bad, right and wrong but it is gentle, smooth; not loud, harsh. For example, doing by force is bad, doing only is good so this is a view of good and bad from a nobel person. To be doing only is necessary in whatever we do. Even if we are doing by force we should try to be doing only. If we are doing naturally, it should be doing only with the present awareness of our like or dislike or absence of mindfulness.
Doing intentionally is bad, doing naturally is good. So it is difficult to understand by the normal lay people. But if we try to understand and practice like this we are sure to be able. That’s why we should try, we all should try. We may not get as much as we wish, but we can get success as much as we practice. When we are doing worldly affairs we should try to accept the nature of dualism bettween good and bad, right and wrong. If we can not accept, we are rejecting the nature and we are sure to experience with problems, inconvenients and and difficulties. If we can accept we can avoid from experiencing problems, inconveniences and difficulties. Even if we have to experience we can endure. So to know the nature of living beings is important. It also important as to know the nature of ultimate truth or impermanent and permanent nature.
If we can not use the living beings and non living beings naturally in the right way: using only – non using only – experiencing only – non-experiencing only, knowing only – non-knowing only, doing only – non-doing only. We can not understand the ultimate truth or Paramatha for sure. Only when we are able to use the living beings – non living beings in the right way by accepting the incomplete or opposite nature of them. We can be enlighten as we wish. That why we don’t need to change anything , we just need to change ourselves, our body and mind, in this way we can endure and be free. We just need to accept good as good, bad as bad , right as right, wrong as wrong.
Because of doing good deeds freely, here in Phuoc Son monastery, even the Thai nuns and yogis can have chance to understand what is right. They can understand about the Middle way. One of them can understand, the others also have chance to understand the Middle way . In this way , more and more people and more and more places will be easy to follow the Middle Way. In this way, we can do many things.”