Overcoming Bad Habits Through Meditation and Good Teacher Guidance : หน้า 99/164

Suzanne Jeffrey they drank because of cultural values; but in order for them to stop their drinking and smoking, we needed to provide an opportunity for them to follow the five precepts – or more! “Breaking a bad habit is not easy at all. It can take years to do it. Once we have a bad habit, how do we get rid of it? No one can really tell us, so the only way to change is to meditate and find out for ourselves. So keep meditating! And don’t complain about sitting for meditation. “If a man can sit at the gambling table and gamble for hours and hours and hours, then he can sit for meditation!” Everyone laughs. “It all depends on what we think is important, doesn’t it? “There are four principles to think about here: (1) Associate with good people (seek and find good teachers); (2) Listen to the Dhamma (listen to the teaching clearly and thoroughly); (3) Seek true understanding of the teaching of those teachers; and (4) Follow those teachings completely. “The fifth principle is the outcome because when we do the first four, the outcome will be the virtue of the individual when they have listened to the first four! “And why do we do it? Well, we would have to start by saying ‘Why do we need a good teacher, and what IS a good teacher? What are the qualifications of the teacher who is to be a superior role model for the student? Teachers are models of virtue, knowledge, respect and discipline. But what is respect? And how do we define it? In Thai, the definition of respect IS ‘teacher’; unfortunately in Thailand, not all of the students show respect for their teacher. “The job of a teacher is a heavy one. If we are ‘just teaching’ that is one thing, just like any job in which we are producing a product, then we do not have to think about it too much. But if we need to develop good habits in our students, then it becomes difficult. And it is more difficult because not only do we have to develop good habits in ourselves, but then we have to help our students develop their own good habits. This is a heavy duty, or responsibility, for the teacher. It is not as difficult as it sounds, but the students 98