The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

w 56In the same way it should be understood that when the remainingcontrolling faculties of concentration and wisdom are in excess thenthat will cause detrimental effects.The balancing of faith with wisdom, and concentration with effort,is praised by the wise. If for instance faith is strong and wisdomis weak then a person will develop faith and respect in objects thatare without essence and are useless. For instance they will developfaith and reverence for objects that are respected and revered byother religions outside Theravada Buddhism. For instance faith andreverence in the Guardian Spirits of Burma or protective deities.If, on the other hand, wisdom is strong and faith is weak a personcan become quite cunning. Without practising for themselves theywill simply spend their time making judgements and evaluating.They are as difficult to cure of this as is a disease caused by too muchmedicine.If, however, faith and wisdom are balanced then a person willhave faith in objects that they should have faith in. They will believein the Triple Gems, and in kamma and its effects. They will believethat if they practise for themselves in accordance with the instructionsof the Buddha they will be able to attain the paÊibhŒga nimittaand jhŒna. If they practise with such faith as this and are able todiscern the paÊibhŒga nimitta with wisdom then at that time theirfaith and wisdom will be balanced.Again if concentration is strong and effort is weak then becauseof concentration's tendency to produce laziness, laziness can overcomethe mind. If effort is strong and concentration is weak thenbecause of effort's tendency to produce agitation, agitation can overcomethe mind. So when concentration and effort are balanced aperson will not fall into laziness, or agitation and will be able toattain jhŒna.