火 Fire

〖火〗

世上沒有一朝可成之事，所以剛開始在我們的修行里，是看不到什麼結果的。就像我常告訴你們的譬喻：一個人試圖磨擦兩根木棍取火，他告訴自己說：「他們說這里有火。」于是便開始使勁地磨擦。他很性急，不斷地磨擦，就是沒什麼耐性，心想火，卻一直沒有火的影子。他有點灰心，所以就停下來休息一會兒，後來又再開始，但是到了那時候，熱度都已經冷卻，所以進展得很慢。他就是磨擦持續的時間不夠久，以致一再地磨擦又磨擦，直到疲倦了，就將整個工作停頓下來，再說，他不只是疲倦，同時也變得愈來愈灰心，最後完全放棄且很堅決地說：「這里根本沒有火。」

事實上，他一直在做，但是卻沒有足夠的熱度可以引火，火一直潛在那兒，只是他沒有持續到最後。除非我們能達到平靜，否則心將依舊如前。因此我們偉大的導師說：「只要繼續做，繼續修行。」我們可能會認為：「如果我仍然不懂，我該怎麼辦才好？」但是，除非我們如法修持，否則智慧是不會現前的，所以我們說要持續地修行。只要不停地修行，我們就會開始思索自己的所作所為和修行。

Fire

Nothing happens immediately, so in the beginning we can’t see any results from our practice. This is like the example that I have often given you of the man who tries to make fire by rubbing two sticks together. “They say there’s fire here!” He says, looking at his sticks. He then begins rubbing energetically. He rubs on and on, but soon becomes impatient. He wants to have that fire, but the fire just won’t come, so he gets discouraged and stops to rest for while. When he starts again the initial heat that he had worked up has already been lost so the going is slow. He just doesn’t keep at long enough. He rubs and rubs until he is tired and stops altogether. Not only is he tired, but he becomes more and more discouraged. “There is no fire here!” He finally decides and gives up completely. Actually he was doing the work, but there wasn’t enough heat to start the fire. The fire was there all the time, but he didn’t carry on to the end. Likewise with the mind. Until we are able to reach peace, the mind will continue in its confusion. For this reason the teacher says, “Just keep on doing it. Keep on with the practice!” Maybe we think, “If I don’t yet understand, how can I do it?” Until we’re able to practice properly, wisdom won’t arise. So we say just keep on with it.