September 6, 2546 B.E.
Putting Away Temporarily One’s Old Beliefs
Today is the 55th day of the Rains-Retreat and only thirty-five days are left before the Rains-Exit Day is upon us. Days and nights are passing by quickly and before one knows it, one’s time on earth is already up. With the passing of days and nights, less and less time is left for one’s pursuit of Perfections. We have been doing the countdown every day to keep
everyone cognizant of the fact that the Rains-Retreat will soon come to an end.
This is the Rains-Retreat designated as the season for attaining the Dhammakaya. It is the season where the monks can see the Dhammakaya, the novice monks can see the Dhammakaya, and the lay devotees can see the Dhammakaya. Everyone on earth has the Dhammakaya inside him whatever his race or creed, and whether or not he knows about or believes in the existence of the Dhammakaya.
A person born into a family with a different religious background may try to deny the truth about the Lord Buddha and His Teachings. He may try to destroy a Buddha Image or has no wish to see it. But however much he tries to deny the reality of the Inner Triple Gem, he cannot obliterate the fact that the Inner Triple Gem is inside him. Denial and resistance do not work. But what works is to give one’s self the opportunity to learn about the reality of life in addition to what one has already heard or been taught by one’s family.
It is better that a person breaks out of the box that he is in and puts away his beliefs temporarily. He should free his mind from everything he has ever known like a child just starting school. Knowledge is universal and necessary especially true and noble knowledge. One should give one’s self the opportunity to learn it. And then, one can decide for one’s self whether or not one should believe it.
Regardless of a person’s belief, every human being has inside him the Inner Triple Gem. One has only to prove it to one’s self. What has one got to lose, anyway? One should not turn an opportunity into a crisis. True knowledge is still available and it has already been well recorded. It has been learnt to a certain extent by many already. One should endeavor to learn true knowledge while one is still young and healthy. Once one is old and sick, one can hardly learn it. And then it will be too late.
Death comes to all of us sooner or later. One may die as a result of an accident or an illness. One may die in one’s house or outside it. Whatever the case may be, everyone must be well prepared because unpreparedness is dangerous. It is important to know that there are special codes which determine how one will fare in the hereafter. A dark and gloomy mind is destined for the States of Unhappiness whereas a bright and clear mind is destined for the States of Happiness.
Now is the time to prepare one’s self well. One should never wait until one is old and sick because it will be too late by then. If one has prepared well, even when one is lying in one’s sickbed and can hardly move, one will be dignified and brave. One will not be terrified of death or the hereafter.
