法苑珠林 83.23

83.23

Furthermore, the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra says: If one wishes to retain all that one hears, one should single-mindedly recollect it to cause mindfulness to increase. In matters of resemblance, one should focus one's mindfulness so as to know what is not seen. For example, the monk Cūḍapanthaka focused his mind on a shoe-cleaning cloth, recollected meditative absorption, and eliminated the defilements of the mind, thereby attaining the fruit of an arhat. That man was dull-witted and obtuse; when told to recite the two words "sweep" and "broom", he still could not master both: remembering "sweep", he forgot "broom"; remembering "broom", he forgot "sweep". If one so dull could still attain the noble Way, how much more so the sharp-witted! How could anyone in the world be duller than this? The Buddha's Dharma values practice, not non-practice. If only one can practice diligently, even if of little learning, one will still be the first to enter the Way.