Do Not Imitate, Knowing Yourself and Knowing Others

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We have to be aware of how people tend to imitate their teachers. They become copies, prints, castings and it is like the story of the king's horse trainer. The old trainer died, so the king hired a new trainer. Unfortunately, this man limped when he walked. New and beautiful horses were brought to him and he trained them exquisitely, to run, to canter, to pull carriages.

But each of the new stallions developed a limp. Finally, the king summoned the trainer and seeing him limp as he entered the court, he understood everything and immediately hired a new trainer.

As teachers, you must be aware of the force of the examples you set. And even more important, as students, you must not follow the image, the outer form, of your teacher. He is pointing you back to your own inner perfection. Take the inner wisdom as your model and do not imitate his limp.

Know your own mind and body and you will know others' as well. One's facial expressions, speech, gestures, actions, all stem from one's state of mind. A Buddha, an enlightened being, can read these because he has experienced and seen the wisdom the states of mind that underlie them, just as wise older people, having passed through childhood, can understand the ways of children.

This self knowledge differs from memory. An old person can be clear inside but fuzzy in regards to external things. Books learning may be very difficult for him, he forgets names and faces and so on. Maybe he knows very well that he wants a basin, but because of the weakness of his memory, he may ask for a glass instead.

If you see states rising and falling in the mind and do not cling to the process, letting go of both happiness and suffering, mental rebirth become shorter and shorter. Letting go, you can even fall into hell states without too much disturbance, because you know the impermanence of them. Through right practice, you allow your old karma to wear itself out.

Knowing how things arise and pass away, you can just be aware and let them run their course. It is like having two trees: if you fertilize and water one and do not take care of the other, there is no question which one will grow and which one will die off.

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