〖火〗

    世上没有一朝可成之事，所以刚开始在我们的修行里，是看不到什么结果的。就像我常告诉你们的譬喻：一个人试图磨擦两根木棍取火，他告诉自己说：“他们说这里有火。”於是便开始使劲地磨擦。他很性急，不断地磨擦，就是没什么耐性，心想火，却一直没有火的影子。他有点灰心，所以就停下来休息一会儿，后来又再开始，但是到了那时候，热度都已经冷却，所以进展得很慢。他就是磨擦持续的时间不够久，以致一再地磨擦又磨擦，直到疲倦了，就将整个工作停顿下来，再说，他不只是疲倦，同时也变得愈来愈灰心，最后完全放弃且很坚决地说：“这里根本没有火。”

    事实上，他一直在做，但是却没有足够的热度可以引火，火一直潜在那儿，只是他没有持续到最后。除非我们能达到平静，否则心将依旧如前。因此我们伟大的导师说：“只要继续做，继续修行。”我们可能会认为：“如果我仍然不懂，我该怎么办才好？”但是，除非我们如法修持，否则智慧是不会现前的，所以我们说要持续地修行。只要不停地修行，我们就会开始思索自己的所作所为和修行。

Fire

Nothing happens immediately, so in the beginning we can't see any results from our practice. This is like the example that I have often given you of the man who tries to make fire by rubbing two sticks together. "They say there's fire here!" He says, looking at his sticks. He then begins rubbing energetically. He rubs on and on, but soon becomes impatient. He wants to have that fire, but the fire just won't come, so he gets discouraged and stops to rest for while. When he starts again the initial heat that he had worked up has already been lost so the going is slow. He just doesn't keep at long enough. He rubs and rubs until he is tired and stops altogether. Not only is he tired, but he becomes more and more discouraged. "There is no fire here!" He finally decides and gives up completely. Actually he was doing the work, but there wasn't enough heat to start the fire. The fire was there all the time, but he didn't carry on to the end. Likewise with the mind. Until we are able to reach peace, the mind will continue in its confusion. For this reason the teacher says, "Just keep on doing it. Keep on with the practice!" Maybe we think, "If I don't yet understand, how can I do it?" Until we're able to practice properly, wisdom won't arise. So we say just keep on with it.