Buddhism As Education

Endurance and moderation are the foundation, the beginning of our practice. To start, we simply follow the practice and the schedule set up by ourself or in a retreat or monastery. To train an animal, we will have to restrain it; likewise, we also need to restrict ourselves. An animal which is difficult to train should be given little food. Here we have the ascetic practices to limit ourselves in regard to food, robes and living quarters, to bring us down to bare essentials, to cut away infatuation. These practices are the basis of concentration. Constant mindfulness in all postures and activities will make the mind calm and clear. But this calm is not the end point of practice. Tranquil states give the mind a temporary rest, as eating will temporarily remove hunger but that is not all there is to life. You must therefore use the calmed mind to see things in a new light, that is the light of wisdom. When the heart becomes firm in this wisdom, you will not adhere to worldly stand...

Three basic points of practice to work with are sense, restraint, which means taking care not to indulge and attach to sensations; moderation in eating and wakefulness. Sense restraint: We can easily recognize physical irregularities such as blindness, deafness, deformed limbs but irregularities of mind are another matter. When you begin to meditate, you see thing differently. You can see the mental distortions that previously you did not see it before. This brings sense of restraint. You become sensitive, like one who enters a forest or jungle and become aware of danger from poisonous creatures, thorns and so on. One with a raw wound is likewise more aware of danger from flies and gnats. For one who meditates, the danger is from sense objects. Sense restraint is this necessary; in fact, it is the highest kind of virtue. Moderation in eating: It is easy to fast, more difficult to eat little or in moderation in a meditation. Instead of frequent fasting, learn to eat with mindfu...