Just this much.
A Dharma talk by Venerable Ajahn Chah.
Do you know where it will end?
Or will you just keep on studying like this?
Or is there an end to it?
That's okay,
But it's external study,
Not internal study.
For internal study,
You have to study these eyes,
These ears,
This nose,
This tongue,
This body,
And this mind.
This is the real study.
The study of books is just external study.
It's really hard to get it finished.
When the eye sees a form,
What sort of thing happens?
When the ear,
Nose,
Tongue experience sounds,
Smells,
And tastes,
What takes place?
When the body and mind come into contact with touches and mental states,
What reactions take place?
Are greed,
Aversion,
And delusion still there?
Do we get lost in forms,
In sounds,
Smells,
Tastes,
Textures,
And moods?
This is the internal study,
And it has a point of completion.
If we study but don't practice,
We won't get any results.
It's like a man who raises cows.
In the morning,
He takes the cow out to the pasture.
In the evening,
He brings it back to its pen,
But he never drinks the cow's milk.
Study is all right,
But don't let it be like this.
You should raise the cow and drink its milk,
Too.
You must study and practice as well to get the best results.
Here,
I'll explain further.
It's like a man who raises chickens,
But doesn't collect the eggs.
All he gets is the chicken dung.
This is what I tell the people who raise chickens back home.
Watch out so you don't become like that.
This means we study the scriptures,
But we don't know how to let go of defilements.
We don't know how to push greed,
Aversion,
And delusion from our mind.
Study without practice,
Without this giving up,
Brings no results.
This is why I compare it to someone who raises chickens,
But doesn't collect the eggs.
He just collects the dung.
It's the same thing.
Because of this,
The Buddha wanted us to study the scriptures and then to give up evil actions through body,
Speech,
And mind,
To develop goodness in our deeds,
Our speech,
And thoughts.
The real worth of mankind will come to fruition through our deeds,
Speech,
And thoughts.
If we only talk without acting accordingly,
It's not yet complete.
Or if we do good deeds,
But the mind is still not good,
This is still not complete.
The Buddha taught to develop goodness in body,
Speech,
And mind,
To develop fine deeds,
Fine speech,
And fine thoughts.
This is the treasure of mankind.
The study and the practice must both be good.
The Eightfold Path of the Buddha,
The path of practice,
Has eight factors.
These eight factors are nothing other than this very body.
Two eyes,
Two ears,
Two nostrils,
One tongue,
And one body.
This is the path.
And the mind is the one who follows the path.
Therefore,
Both the study and the practice exist in our body,
Speech,
And mind.
Have you ever seen scriptures which teach about anything other than the body,
The speech,
And the mind?
The scriptures only teach about this,
Nothing else.
Defilements are born right here.
If you know them,
They die right here.
So you should understand that the practice and study both exist right here.
If we study just as much,
We can know everything.
It's like our speech.
To speak one word of truth is better than a lifetime of wrong speech.
Do you understand?
One who studies and doesn't practice is like a ladle in a soup pot.
It's in the pot every day,
But it doesn't know the flavor of the soup.
If you don't practice,
Even if you study till the day you die,
You'll never know the taste of freedom.
