介绍:
25 Slogan: “Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one”
THE MAIN THING about bodhichitta training and about all practice is that you’re the only one who knows what is opening and what is closing down. You’re the only one who knows. One kind of witness is everybody else giving you his or her feedback and opinions. This is worth listening to; there’s some truth in what people say. The principal witness, however, is you. You’re the only one who knows when you’re opening and when you’re closing. You’re the only one who knows when you’re using things to protect yourself and keep your ego together and when you’re opening and letting things fall apart, letting the world come as it is—working with it rather than struggling against it. You’re the only one who knows.
Another slogan says, “Don’t make gods into demons.” What it means is you can take something good—mind-training practice, for example—and turn it into a demon. You can use anything to close your windows and doors. You can use practice to bolster your sense of confidence, bolster your sense of being in the right place at the right time, of having chosen the right religion, and feeling “I’m on the side of the good and all’s right with the world.” That doesn’t help much. Using tonglen or any practice to feel like a hero, you’ll eventually come to feel like you’re in a battle with reality and reality is always winning. But you’re the one who knows.
