So the majority of people believe that having been born into this life, we ought to go after one thing or another, according to our desires, being pleased when we get what we want and upset when we don't. When people have children they have nothing better to teach them than this primitive philosophy. This is all they have to offer. It is a far cry from the Path taught by the Buddha, children walk in the same old ruts as their parents, and so it goes on from one generation to the next. There is no progress forwards, no variation or improvement based on knowledge that all things are transient, unsatisfactory, and not selves, and therefore not to be grasped at. If then, our children and we ourselves too, are to walk the Path easily and quickly, it behoves us to take a special interest in this matter of grasping and non-grasping, to train ourselves in it and teach it to others.
True, we have to live in this world. We have to eat, to make use of various articles, to see and come in contact with all sorts of things, But, it is possible to live with these things without grasping at and clinging to them. We must act intelligently, always mindful of the three characteristics. When our offspring have this insight, when they have come to see that nothing whatsoever can be grasped at and clung to, we can then them to look after themselves. They are then able to think, speak, and act correctly of their own accord, in the way that is free from the unsatisfactory condition. It is up to us to teach and train our children in this matter of grasping and non-grasping so that they may be free from excessive depression and elation. They must develop sufficient intelligence to keep them above the things that would otherwise make them laugh or cry. They must develop in this insight just as they physically. this is how to be a good parent who hands on to his offspring the job of walking the Path the right and rapid way. This is how it should be, in keeping with the principle that man is born to walk the Path so that the goal may one day be attained.
True, we have to live in this world. We have to eat, to make use of various articles, to see and come in contact with all sorts of things, But, it is possible to live with these things without grasping at and clinging to them. We must act intelligently, always mindful of the three characteristics. When our offspring have this insight, when they have come to see that nothing whatsoever can be grasped at and clung to, we can then them to look after themselves. They are then able to think, speak, and act correctly of their own accord, in the way that is free from the unsatisfactory condition. It is up to us to teach and train our children in this matter of grasping and non-grasping so that they may be free from excessive depression and elation. They must develop sufficient intelligence to keep them above the things that would otherwise make them laugh or cry. They must develop in this insight just as they physically. this is how to be a good parent who hands on to his offspring the job of walking the Path the right and rapid way. This is how it should be, in keeping with the principle that man is born to walk the Path so that the goal may one day be attained.
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