Luang Por Liem: The Ways of the Peaceful - Wat Pah Nanachat

are aspects of our being samanas, being ones who have Gone
Forth.
Some of our views may lead us into ways of thinking that
aren’t right or appropriate. Then we should remind ourselves of
nature, seeing things in a way that accords in with nature. In the
words of the Buddha “having wisdom and all-around knowledge
of this heap of sankharas”. Sankharas are compounded things.
This needs to be understood on the basis of the experience of
impermanence (anicca). Certainly, there are states that are hard to
endure, but there are also the states where there isn’t anything at
all. We try to focus on seeing things in this way, letting our
understanding be a factor that influences our way of living.
We also need to be aware of the conventions that govern the
way that we live together with other people. If that’s not the case,
we won’t attain freedom. To like certain people one moment and
later hate them is like a virus causing damage to us and keeping us
from a state of peace. That’s why we need to know, watch and
observe things that are related to us. Bit by bit we have to put our
hearts into those things.
If there are times when our behaviour or our actions aren’t
good, our friends in the Dhamma might caution us or criticize us.
Then we have to know how to accept it, not just taking our own
feelings as a basis, or taking self (atta) as our principle. We need
to know how to relax, whether the criticism is right or wrong. We
need to be humble and lower ourselves first. If the criticism is
right, we really need to accept that there are still parts of ourselves
that we have to face with humbleness.
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