Banknote

Be serious and earnest. Teachers that can really teach the Dhamma are very hard to find nowadays. There are many practicing bhikkhus, but very few of them have discovered or come across the noble truth from their practical experience. And what is the reason? It is degenerate. Although a banknote is merely a piece of paper, it is enough to burn a bhikkhu’s heart. We all know that it is just a piece of paper. If you use it to roll a cigarette, it doesn’t even taste good. But you are deluded by it. The heart will readily grab the fake things because it itself is full of fake things. So when two phony things come together, it is very easy for them to combine, because there is no truth in the heart. But when you have developed your heart through your practice and have, stage by stage, established the noble truth inside your heart, you’ll then discard the fake things and the heart will change from being phony to being genuine.

(Ajahn Maha Boowa “Forest Desanas”)