Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

seems to be out of our ability to comprehend.
The practice of meditation, therefore, is extremely helpful in
avoiding the dangers that are not inherent in these
experiences but are caused by our aversion and fear of
them. Beyond this, if we don’t practice we are likely to be
born again in a similar state, or even a state of greater
suffering, in a place where food is scarce, luxury is
non-existent. If we are negligent in developing our minds,
we may be reborn as an animal, a ghost, or even in hell. We
may be reborn any number of places. This is the danger of
rebirth, and of course the danger of old age, sickness and
death which follow. We’re in danger of this. We’re in danger
of being born again and again. If our minds are not clear
when we die, we’re in danger of getting stuck in the same
sufferings we have faced in this life and being confronted
with the same dangers; or even worse, depending on where
our minds lead us. If, on the other hand, we train and purify
our minds, then at the moment when we die we may not
even have to be born again. Or, if we are born again we will
be born in a pure place, according to our state of mind when
we die. So this is a first good reason to practice meditation,
to avoid this first set of dangers that are waiting ahead of us.
The second set of dangers are those that exist for people
who do evil deeds. Whenever we perform an unwholesome
act, we face these dangers; as long as we have
unwholesomeness in our mind, the opportunity for us to
commit such unwholesome deeds exists, and so the danger
lays in wait for all of us until we are able to cleanse our
minds of these defilements. The first danger is attanobhaya;
the danger of self-blame, the danger of rebuking ourselves,
the danger of feeling guilty for bad things which we have
done. The second is parassabhaya, the danger of other
people blaming us, the danger of receiving blame from other
people for our evil deeds. Third is daṇḍabhaya, the danger
of being punished for our deeds; and fourth, duggatibhaya,
the danger of rebirth in a state of suffering. This is another
set of four dangers that are ahead of us.
The danger of feeling guilty for our unwholesome deeds,
blaming ourselves, is ever-present; whenever we perform
bad deeds there’s always guilt that follows. This danger is
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