grave kamma and I’ve yet to grow weary of my wretched condi-
tion. I’m still debating this matter with myself and I haven’t come
to any definite conclusions. My heart tends to gravitate toward a
state of degradation, as it always has, so it balks at listening to the
Dhamma you are teaching.”
Ãcariya Mun asked the nãga what it meant by saying that
its heart liked to gravitate toward a state of degradation.
The nãga answered: “My heart enjoys finding fault with you
all the time, even though you’ve done nothing wrong – that’s just
the way my heart is. I don’t know how to convince myself of the
harmful effects of this tendency so that I can correct it and prac-
tice the way of virtue from now on.”
Ãcariya Mun offered some encouragement:
“Careful consideration will convince you that such bad ten-
dencies are truly harmful. Once you are persuaded, then evil will
naturally begin to fade from your heart, ceasing to be so conspic-
uous in the future. But by assuming that these tendencies are
beneficial and then encouraging them, you will naturally tend to
think in an endless variety of ways that are detrimental to you.
Unless you hurry to improve things now, you’ll keep on doing
evil until you are completely beyond help. I cannot do this job
for you. I can give some guidance, but it’s up to you to make the
necessary adjustments in your character. The onus is on you to
press ahead, trying to accomplish this as best you can. Once you
do, you will see the dangerous aspects of your character gradually
diminish as beneficial qualities develop, displacing them until all
that’s left is pure, simple virtue, untainted by any form of evil. By
placing your faith in the Dhamma of the Lord Buddha, which has
always helped living beings to transcend dukkha, you will always
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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