There are many things we can talk about which are not worthy of conversation by those serious in the practice, conversation about kings, robbers, & ministers of state; armies, alarms, & battles; food & drink; clothing, furniture, garlands, & scents; relatives; vehicles; villages, towns, cities, the countryside; women & heroes; the gossip of the street & the well; tales of the dead; tales of diversity, the creation of the world & of the sea; talk of whether things exist or not.1 I wonder how many of us engage in such topics? And whether this has proved any benefit for practice?
It is easy to get caught up in the day to day troubles and claim it is engaging with society, and it is, but there is a difference between engaging, and interacting with what is there. If we are engaging in something we are not dealing with what is present, we are actively going out and looking for something to engage with, a project, something we see a problem with, we get ourselves involved and entangle in the situation. If we are interacting we are going out and minding our business and what is present we meet and deal with at the time, not looking for problems but meeting life as it is. If we go out looking for problems do we have time to devote to them all? Or do we face what is with us in this moment putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world?
There are ten topics worth our time to converse, reflect and act on, these are modesty, contentment, seclusion, non-entanglement, arousing persistence, virtue, concentration, discernment, and release.2 These topics are conductive to the practice, and to the end result of enlightenment and the fact that those who have the qualities and instigates talk on these is grounds for praise.
At the end of the day I may be right, I may be wrong, but I share this hoping I am one, the other or both.
It is easy to get caught up in the day to day troubles and claim it is engaging with society, and it is, but there is a difference between engaging, and interacting with what is there. If we are engaging in something we are not dealing with what is present, we are actively going out and looking for something to engage with, a project, something we see a problem with, we get ourselves involved and entangle in the situation. If we are interacting we are going out and minding our business and what is present we meet and deal with at the time, not looking for problems but meeting life as it is. If we go out looking for problems do we have time to devote to them all? Or do we face what is with us in this moment putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world?
There are ten topics worth our time to converse, reflect and act on, these are modesty, contentment, seclusion, non-entanglement, arousing persistence, virtue, concentration, discernment, and release.2 These topics are conductive to the practice, and to the end result of enlightenment and the fact that those who have the qualities and instigates talk on these is grounds for praise.
At the end of the day I may be right, I may be wrong, but I share this hoping I am one, the other or both.
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