LISTEN LESS, SEE LESS, THINK LESS
Master Jun Hong Lu: Humans have far too many failings. First of all, they struggle to recollect things that they want to remember and yet, they can’t shake their mind off things that they do not want to recall.
Herein lies the problem, the moment something gets stored in your memory, it will be impossible to erase. Upon seeing something, it will be stored in one’s memory, like a computer motherboard.
This is the precise reason why one should abstain from looking at unwholesome things because they will penetrate one’s memory, making it impossible to erase.
Let me illustrate this with our six sense organs: Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and consciousness.
The moment the eyes see, the ears hear, the nose smells, the tongue tastes, the body touches and the mind processes, it will penetrate right into your memory.
For example, someone gives you something to eat, the moment your tongue tastes the food, you will immediately recall, “That’s delicious and I’ve eaten it before”.
Many people catch sight of familiar shapes of the food that they once tasted in their childhood days and past memories will flood their mind. This is because as the eyes see something, the memory will be set in motion and immediately, these people will recollect how delicious it tasted. Don’t you think these are memories that you preserved?
The moment the eyes see, the nose smells or any of your senses come in contact with something, it will be impossible to erase it from your memory. This is the precise reason why the Bodhisattva wants us to listen less, see less and think less.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 11 Chapter 35
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