Cultivating Mindfulness through Eyes and Ears : หน้า 29/207

Humans also have eyes. We must train our eyes to be like bamboo knots, because the most important aspect of eyesight is, “Don’t look at things you aren’t supposed to see. Don’t look for trouble. Don’t look at other people’s problems. Don’t look for faults in others. Don’t flutter your eyes so others can follow, because it will shift the trouble from the eyes to your mind and into your home.” A person who is able to control where his eyes see will have a mind that is more calm and alert. Whenever he thinks, the thoughts will always be good. Spoken words will be positive, improving the mind which will extend to others. Anyone who can restrain their eyes as our grandparents advised will see the world optimistically, will not have the pessimistic way of finding faults in others, and will not be the cause of extramarital affairs. Conflicts that arise from the eyes will be avoided and the mind can maintain its calm and peaceful state. Thus, to control the mind through the eyes by training the eyes to be like the knots of a bamboo tree is the way to elevate the mind’s beauty. This is the first magic form of conduct to prevent divorce. 2) Ears like handles on a wok means we should only listen to what is appropriate. Do not try to listen for other people’s faults or eavesdrop because of your paranoia that someone may be gossiping about you. Do not believe the gossip of others; be cautious and listen only half-heartedly. Try to change the subject whenever the conversation topic is not worth listening to. We may end up being perceived as foolish, and can form the habit of finding fault and gossiping about others, which is very harmful to our accumulation of virtue. Our grandparents did not want us looking like fools who do nothing but listen to the faults of others with no chance for progress. Our grandparents cautioned us with a metaphor like, Ears like handles on a wok, which means listening to valuable messages that increase our knowledge and our virtues. When we are in the kitchen, we can clearly see that the handles on a wok are only for holding the wok, and we are to hang it up when finished. It is the same with people’s ears; they are not to be used for listening to gossip, because other people’s troubles have nothing to do with us. Our ears should only be used for listening to things that bring us wisdom, morals and virtues. This is the ears’ real purpose. Whenever you hear anything, you must decide whether to listen or not. If it is not useful, you must learn to make your ear like a wok handle. Then the problems of others will not get a chance to enter your mind.