〖木头〗

如果我们砍下一块木头将它扔进河水里，木头便会漂向下流。假使这块木头不腐朽或停滞在一旁的河岸，终究会漂流入大海。同样的道理，修习中道的心，如果不去执于感官耽溺或自我苦行的任何一端，必然会达到真正的宁静。

在我们譬喻里的那块木头，代表心，河岸的一边代表爱，另一边代表恨；或说岸的一边是快乐，另一边是不快乐。所谓遵循中道，是了解爱、恨和快乐、不快乐的真实面目——祇是感觉而已。一旦获得这样的领悟，心就不会那么轻易地漂向它们而被束缚。这就是领悟的心的修行，不去滋养任何感觉的升起，乃至不会去执著它们。接著，心便自由无碍地漂向下游，最后流入「涅槃海」。

Log

If we cut a log of wood and throw it into a river, it floats downstream. If that log doesn't rot or get stuck on one of the banks of the river, it will finally reach the ocean. Likewise, the mind that practices the Middle Way and doesn't attach to either extreme of sensual indulgence or self-mortification will inevitably attain true peace.

The log in our analogy represents the mind. The banks of the river represent, on one side, love, and on the other, hate. Or you can say that one bank is happiness and the other unhappiness. To follow the Middle Way is to see love, hate, happiness and unhappiness for what they really are - only feelings. Once this understanding has been achieved, the mind will not easily drift toward them and get caught. It is the practice of the understanding mind not to nurture any feelings that rise or to cling to them. The mind then freely flows down the river unhampered and eventually flows into the "ocean" of Nibbana.