on to something good. Clinging to it is not in your best interest.
Your procrastination here is retarding your progress to a favorable
rebirth. Instead of trying to take the whole thing with you, had
you two been satisfied with the merit you made from working on
that stupa, you would both have comfortably gone on to a favora-
ble existence long ago – for merit is the mainstay of a good rebirth.
And merit is never transformed into something bad. It remains
virtuous forever – akãliko.
“It’s a mistake to be unduly concerned for things past. There
is no way you can possibly finish that stupa now, so you shouldn’t
set your hearts on such a hopeless endeavor. The power of the
merit you have made impacts you here in the present. So, don’t
waste your time thinking about the past or the future when now
you should be reaping the good results of what you’ve already
done. Correct your thinking and soon you will be able to pass on,
free of anxiety. Turn your attention to the present. It contains all
the virtues necessary for magga, phala, and Nibbãna. The past and
the future are impediments you must overcome without wasting
any more time.
“I feel really sorry for you two. You’ve done some very meri-
torious work for the sake of a happy future, only to get so bogged
down in your attachment to mere bricks and mortar that you can’t
freely move on. If you both make the effort to cut these attach-
ments from your hearts, before long you will be free of all binding
ties. The strength of your accumulated merit is ready and waiting
to take you to the rebirth of your choice.”
Ãcariya Mun then explained to them the essential mean-
ing of the five moral precepts, a code of conduct applying equally
to all living beings.
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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