Lessons from a Dharma Master : หน้า 137/164

Thankings with a Dharma Master ourselves. This is also an important room for economy, as well, because we have to learn to cut back on our spending for clothing and accessories. The last room is the school or workplace. This is when our total accumulation of habits comes into play. And here is the source of success in our lives. "At home we need a teacher, too, and our parents or guardians are our first teachers. But if children are neglected and the parents don't teach them, they will be like monkeys, and the teachers will need to show great patience and tolerance for these young people. In order to help them, we need to create the five rooms at school. Simply re-create the atmosphere and the physical space so that we can give them the teachings they need. There are many, many activities that we can use to teach students about the Eightfold Noble Path without calling it that. Just the use of the bathroom at school can utilize important lessons for the students. Rotate the duties and teach them how to monitor their own health. We can monitor their manners, how they dress, how they interact with one another, and then compliment them and make suggestions as to the appropriate behavior. "However, we must remember that in developing habits and correcting our student's behavior, we have to know ourselves and look at our own behavior. The teacher is the model in each of the rooms. Teachers have to strive to have morals and knowledge. And they have to strive to meditate each and every day so that they can teach their students. Remember that teachers have to follow the precepts if we are asking students to follow them. So in Buddhism, we look at ourselves, and we look at our own six directions. We look at how we were trained, by our parents, our own teachers, and the temple that we attend. We always look at our own directions first, and we look at how and where our own six directions received their teachings. So you will see that it is all a chain reaction. "If the students can keep the precepts, then they can be responsible for their own morality. If they can abstain from having prejudices and biases, then they can be responsible for the morality of the society. If they can abstain from all of the ten 'roads to ruin', then they can be responsible for the economy. This could be the evaluation standard. "It is our duty to help the parents teach their children ethical behavior. The story is told about four different people planting trees. The child says: Grow fast so that I can work under your shade. The younger adult says: Grow fast so I don't have to work hard and the birds can use your shelter. The older person says: Grow fast so that I sit in your shade, meditate under your branches and listen to the Dhamma. The Wise person says: Grow