Mind your mind

‘‘नाहं , भिक्खवे, अञ्‍ञं एकधम्मम्पि समनुपस्सामि यं एवं अदन्तं अगुत्तं अरक्खितं असंवुतं महतो अनत्थाय संवत्तति यथयिदं, भिक्खवे, चित्तं। चित्तं, भिक्खवे, अदन्तं अगुत्तं अरक्खितं असंवुतं महतो अनत्थाय संवत्तती’’ति।

 No other thing do I know, O monks, that brings so much harm as a mind that is untamed, unguarded, unprotected and uncontrolled. Such a mind truly brings much harm.

 ‘‘नाहं, भिक्खवे, अञ्‍ञं एकधम्मम्पि समनुपस्सामि यं एवं दन्तं गुत्तं रक्खितं संवुतं महतो अत्थाय संवत्तति यथयिदं, भिक्खवे, चित्तं । चित्तं, भिक्खवे, दन्तं गुत्तं रक्खितं संवुतं महतो अत्थाय संवत्तती’’ति। 

No other thing do I know, O monks, that brings so much benefit as a mind that is tamed, guarded, protected and controlled. Such a mind truly brings great benefit.

Buddha (Anuguttar Nikay !:4-9&10)

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मेघियसुत्तं

‘‘खुद्दा वितक्‍का सुखुमा वितक्‍का,

अनुगता [अनुग्गता (सी॰ क॰ अट्ठकथायं पाठन्तरं)] मनसो उप्पिलावा [उब्बिलापा (सी॰ स्या॰ पी॰)]।

एते अविद्वा मनसो वितक्‍के,

हुरा हुरं धावति भन्तचित्तो॥

‘‘एते च विद्वा मनसो वितक्‍के,

आतापियो संवरती सतीमा।

अनुगते मनसो उप्पिलावे,

असेसमेते पजहासि बुद्धो’’ति॥ पठमं।

Little thoughts, subtle thoughts,

when followed, stir up the heart.

Not comprehending the thoughts of the heart,

one runs here & there,

the mind out of control.

But comprehending the thoughts of the heart,

one who is ardent, mindful,

restrains them.

When, followed, they stir up the heart,

one awakened

lets them go without trace.

Buddha

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"Meghiya Sutta: About Meghiya" (Ud 4.1), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 3 September 2012,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.4.01.than.html . Retrieved on 4 March 2013 (Offline Edition 2013.03.04.11).

the recipe for the finest cosmetic in the world

All passions give their corresponding expression to the countenance; if of frequent occurrence they mark it with lines as indelible as those of age, and far more unbecoming. To keep these under proper control is, therefore, of high importance to beauty. Nature has ordained that passions shall be but passing acts of the mind, which, serving as natural stimulants, quicken the circulation of the blood, and increase the vital energies; consequently, when tempered and subdued by reason, they are rather conducive than otherwise, both to beauty and to health.

It is the habitual frame of mind, the hourly range of thought which render the countenance pleasing or repulsive; we should not forget that "the face is the index of the mind."

The exercise of the intellect and the development of noble sentiments is as essential for the perfection of the one, as of the other, fretful, envious, malicious, ill humoured feelings must never be indulged by those who value their personal appearance, for the existence of these chronic maladies of the mind, cannot be concealed.

"On peut tromper un autre, mais pas tous les autres."

In the same way candour, benevolence, pity, and good temper, exert the most happy influence over the whole person;—shine forth in every look and every movement with a fascination which wins its way to all hearts.

Symmetry of form is a rare and exquisite gift, but there are other conditions quite as indispensable to beauty. Let a woman possess but a very moderate share of personal charms, if her countenance is expressive of intellect and kind feelings, her figure buoyant with health, and her attire distinguished by a tasteful simplicity, she cannot fail to be eminently attractive, while ill health—a silly or unamiable expression, and a vulgar taste—will mar the effect of form and features the most symetrical. A clever writer has said, "Beauty is but another name for that expression of the countenance which is indicative of sound health, intelligence, and good feeling." If so, how much of beauty is attainable to all! Health, though often dependant upon circumstances beyond our control, can, in a great measure, be improved by a rational observance of the laws which nature has prescribed, to regulate the vital functions.

Over intellect we have still more power. It is capable of being so trained as to approach daily nearer and nearer to perfection. The thoughts are completely under our own guidance and must never be allowed to wander idly or sinfully; they should be encouraged to dwell on subjects which elevate the mind and shield it from the petty trivialities which irritate and degrade it.

Nothing is more likely to engender bitter thoughts than idleness and ennui. Occupations should be selected with a view to improve and amuse; they should be varied, to prevent the lassitude resulting from monotony; serious meditations and abstract studies should be relieved by the lighter branches of literature; music should be assiduously cultivated; nothing more refines and exalts the mind; not the mere performance of mechanical difficulties, either vocal or instrumental, for these, unless pursued with extreme caution, enlarge the hand and fatigue the chest, without imparting the advantages we allude to.

Drawing is highly calculated to enhance feminine beauty; the thoughts it excites are soothing and serene, the gentle enthusiasm that is felt during this delightful occupation not only dissipates melancholy and morbid sensibility, but by developing the judgment and feeling, imparts a higher tone of character to the expression of the countenance.

Indolent persons are apt to decide that they have "no taste" for such or such pursuits, forgetting that tastes may be acquired by the mind as well as by the palate, and only need a judicious direction.

Frivolous employment, and vitiated sentiments would spoil the finest face ever created. Body and mind are, in fact, so intimately connected, that it is futile, attempting to embellish the one, while neglecting the other, especially as the highest order of all beauty is the intellectual. Let those females, therefore, who are the most solicitous about their beauty, and the most eager to produce a favourable impression, cultivate the moral, religious, and intellectual attributes, and in this advice consists the recipe for the finest cosmetic in the world

Judith Cohen Montefiore  (from A Jewish Manual)

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मनोपुब्बङ्गमा धम्मा, मनोसेट्ठा मनोमया।

१.

मनोपुब्बङ्गमा धम्मा, मनोसेट्ठा मनोमया।

मनसा चे पदुट्ठेन, भासति वा करोति वा।

ततो नं दुक्खमन्वेति, चक्‍कंव वहतो पदं॥

सभी क्रियाओं के मूल में मन है, उनमें मन की प्रधानता है और वे मन

से ही निर्मित हैं। इसीलिए जो दूषित मन से बोलता या करता है, उसके

पीछे दुख उसी प्रकार आता है, जैसे बैल के पैरों के पीछे पहिया।

Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you — as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.

२.

मनोपुब्बङ्गमा धम्मा, मनोसेट्ठा मनोमया।

मनसा चे पसन्‍नेन, भासति वा करोति वा।

ततो नं सुखमन्वेति, छायाव अनपायिनी [अनुपायिनी (क॰)]॥

सभी क्रियाओं के मूल में मन है, उनमें मन की प्रधानता है और वे मन

से ही निर्मित हैं। इसीलिए जो निर्मल मन से बोलता या करता है,

उसके पीछे सुख उसी प्रकार आता है, जैसे साथ न छोड़ने वाली छाया।

Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart, then happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves.

Dhammapad

Courtesy: English translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 29 April 2012,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.01.than.html . Retrieved on 9 May 2012.
हिन्दी अनुवाद: राजीव

The primal mind is radiant and clear by nature, but is darkened because of corruptions.

pabhassaramidam bhikkhave cittam
tanca kho agantukehi upakkilesehi upakkilittham:

'Monks, this mind is originally radiant and clear, but because passing corruptions and defilements come and obscure it, it doesn't show its radiance.' This has been compared to a tree in the poem that runs,

A tall tree with 6,000 branches:
Big chameleons swarm it each day by the hundreds,
Small chameleons, each day by the thousands.
If the owner doesn't watch out,
They'll bring along more and more of their friends every day.

This can be explained as follows: The tall tree with 6,000 branches — if we cut off the three zeroes, this leaves us with six, which stands for the six sense doors, the entry way for the chameleons, i.e., things that are counterfeit, not things that are genuine. Defilements aren't genuine. They are simply things that come drifting in through the sense doors by the hundreds and thousands. Not only that, defilements that haven't yet arisen will arise more and more every day as long as we don't find a means for rectifying the nature of the mind.
The mind is something more radiant than anything else can be, but because counterfeits — passing defilements — come and obscure it, it loses its radiance, like the sun when obscured by clouds. Don't go thinking that the sun goes after the clouds. Instead, the clouds come drifting along and obscure the sun.
So meditators, when they know in this manner, should do away with these counterfeits by analyzing them shrewdly, as explained in the strategies of clear insight. When they develop the mind to the stage of the primal mind, this will mean that all counterfeits are destroyed, or rather, counterfeit things won't be able to reach into the primal mind, because the bridge making the connection will have been destroyed. Even though the mind may then still have to come into contact with the preoccupations of the world, its contact will be like that of a bead of water rolling over a lotus leaf.


Ajaan Mun

Thoughts of Spinoza as narrated by Sir Tschirnhaus ( a friend and follower of Spinoza)

Sir Tschirnhaus told me many things about the handwritten book of Spinoza. .. Spinoza's book will be about God, mind, happiness or the idea of the perfect man, the recovery of the mind and the recovery of the body. He asserts the demonstration of a number of things about God. That He alone is free.He supposes that freedom exists, when the action or determination originates not from an external impact, but only from the nature of the actor. In this sense he justly ascribes freedom to God alone.

According to him the mind itself is in a certain sense a part of God. He thinks that there is sense in all things to the degrees of their existence. God is defined by him as an absolutely infinite Being, which contains all perfections, i.e. affirmations or realities or what may be conceived. Likewise only God would be substance or a Being which exists in itself or which can be understood by itself ; all creatures are nothing else than modes. Man is free in so far as he is not determined by any external things. But because this is never the case, man is not free at all, although he participates more in freedom than the bodies.

The mind would be nothing but the idea of the body. He thinks that the unity of the bodies is caused by a sort of pressure.......... He thinks that we will forget most things when we die and retain only those things that we know with the kind of knowledge he calls intutive, of which only a few are conscious. Because knowledge is either sensual or imaginative or intutive. He believes a sort of Pythagorical transmigration , namely that minds go from body to body. He says that Christ is the very best philosopher. He thinks that apart from thought and extension there are an infinity of other positive attributes, but that in all of them there is thought like here in extension . How they are constituted cannot be conceived by us but every one is infinite like space here.

Leibniz   

दिसो दिसं यं तं कयिरा, वेरी वा पन वेरिनं।

मिच्छापणिहितं चित्तं, पापियो [पापियं (?)] नं ततो करे॥

न तं माता पिता कयिरा, अञ्‍ञे वापि च ञातका।

सम्मापणिहितं चित्तं, सेय्यसो नं ततो करे॥

Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy,

or a foe to a foe,

the ill-directed mind can do

to you even worse.

 

Whatever a mother, father or

other kinsman might do for you,

 the well-directed mind can do

 for you even better.

 

Buddha

The Heart and the Activity of the Heart

On the occasion of the first interview my companion and I had with Ajahn Tate, he was keen to hear about our practice. Since we were going to be living in his monastery at least for the duration of the Rains Retreat, he wanted to know what our understanding of practice was, so he called us up to his kuti.

After asking a few questions, he spoke to us for some time, during which he said something that has stayed with me; something that still seems as significant as it did then. Through the translator, he said, “Your task in practice is to realise the difference between the heart and the activity of the heart. It’s that simple.” As I recall this now, I can almost hear him saying it; his voice gentle yet strong and full, clearly rich in experience and unshakeable understanding. I hadn’t expected him to say something so straightforward. I suppose I had expected something more complex and difficult to understand, but my response when I heard what he said was, “Yes, I get that, I can relate to that.”

To observe inwardly, to direct attention so that we come to know intimately for ourselves that which is the heart and that which is the activity of the heart: this was and is the foundation of my meditation practice and my enquiry. The words he used were jit and argarn kong jit. Citta, a Pali word, is shortened in Thai to ‘jit’, and both words mean ‘heart’ or ‘mind’. Argarn kong jit means ‘the activity of the heart or mind’.

I had heard a lot of talk about developing jhanas – states of meditative absorption – and about attaining different levels of realisation and insight, but Ajahn Tate was pointing out that it is important not to be distracted by ideas of practice nor by the various experiences, sensations or mental impressions that we are subject to. We should view them all simply as the activity of the mind. They are all the content of the mind. If the heart or mind – the citta – is like an ocean, then the activities of the heart or mind are like the waves on that ocean. Our practice should consist in seeing these waves as waves, passing on the surface of the ocean.

Most of us are usually caught up in the activity. I still get caught up in the waves, in the movements of mind, and I forget, I lose perspective. Practice means remembering perspective, and cultivating an awareness that distinguishes the knowing itself from that which is known. We can know the sensations in the body; we can know feelings, energetic movements, mental formations, ideas, impressions, concepts, memories and fantasies. All these need to be known as activity. If we don’t know them as activity, what happens? We become the activity and get caught up in that activity. There is a poignant saying in Japanese Buddhism: ‘Laugh, but don’t get lost in laughter; cry, but don’t get lost in crying.’ We could also say, ‘Think, but don’t get lost in thinking; enjoy, but don’t get lost in enjoyment.’

Sometimes people come across Buddhist teachings or Buddhist meditation and they get the idea that peacefulness means getting rid of all the content of the mind, making the mind empty. In meditation it sometimes appears that the mind is very open and spacious and that there’s very little happening. However, this does not mean that we’ve made it, that we’re enlightened. In that state of openness, clarity and spaciousness, we might experience vitality and pleasure, and if we’re not properly informed and prepared, we can make the mistake of thinking ‘This is it! This good feeling is the point of it all.’ Ajahn Tate was saying that even this good feeling is also just the activity of the heart. The point of practice is to know this activity in relation to that in which the activity is taking place. What is it in which this activity is taking place? What is it that knows? We should cultivate an awareness that knows the knowing as well as that which is known.

The Effort to Remember

This teaching was the first gift I received from Ajahn Tate, a precious gift, and one that very much set me up for the practice that I have followed ever since. I was an enthusiastic beginner who’d had a bit of pleasurable experience in meditation. I was determined to get somewhere in my practice and I made a huge amount of effort. After having got up early in the morning and gone out on alms-round I would eat the one meal and, after a rest, spend the rest of the day sitting and walking. There were few books in English there, but the few I could find I reflected on seriously. The little talking I could do was with people whose language I couldn’t speak. The other Western monk was meditating on death, an object of meditation frequently recommended by the Buddha and favoured in the forest tradition, and he didn’t seem to want to pay much attention to me. As it happened, as the months went by, I looked more and more like death myself, and I think he began to find me an interesting object of contemplation. I hadn’t been getting on very well with the diet of sticky rice, pickled fish and chillies, and I lost a lot of weight. But I’d committed myself to stay for the three months of the vassa, and that commitment added to the intensity.

I certainly experienced some benefits from the effort I made during this retreat period of intensified practice. About halfway through the three months, I had an experience of clarity that I can remember vividly – it was a night or two before my twenty-fourth birthday. It was quite spontaneous; I wasn’t doing any special practice. I was sitting there in puja one evening, surrounded by the other monks. Puja took place in a very basic, unattractive, open-sided wooden building with the usual grass mats rolled out over the polished concrete floor. We chanted in the same way as every other day, with the same mosquitoes biting and my knees hurting as they usually did. Suddenly, without warning, I found myself experiencing the most wonderful clarity – unlike anything I had ever known before. I experienced an utterly natural yet at the same time extraordinary sense of well-being. It seemed as though this perspective on things should now last forever, because, in reality, things had always been that way, only I hadn’t noticed it. When puja finished I felt so elevated that I mentioned it to one of the other monks, and he said, “Let’s go and speak to Ajahn Tate about it.”

There was a tradition in the monastery that eight or ten monks would go and see Ajahn Tate after evening chanting and massage him, all at the same time. Thai massage is gruesome. You dig your elbows in as deeply as you can. Those Thai monks would really get to work on Ajahn Tate. Somebody would be on his foot, someone else on his leg, someone else on an arm, all digging away. He’d go through this every night. On this particular evening, as we talked about what had happened to me, he stopped the massage, sat up and said, “I want to hear more about this.” So I explained what I had experienced. That evening he gave me what I consider the second most helpful piece of advice that I’ve ever received on practice.

He said, “These moments of clarity, this mindfulness and presence that you have experienced, are very good. From now on what you have to do in your practice is just to remember like this more quickly.” We were talking through a translator, which wasn’t easy. If we’d been speaking directly, he might have said, “Keep exercising mindfulness in the moment and learn to come back sooner to this clear way of seeing. It’s that simple – make the effort to remember.” Little by little, with the right kind of effort, with consistent practice, as I am sure many of you have realised, we can make a difference.

It was not for another seven years until, wrapped in a blanket during a winter retreat in England, that I was able to acknowledge more fully the relevance of what Ajahn Tate had said that evening. After that conversation I had fallen into hell. The profound, amazing experience I had had during that evening had soon been followed by horrendously unpleasant mind states, indescribably terrible states of self-doubt. This is why I often speak about how important it is to prepare oneself properly for practice. At that time I hadn’t long been off the hippy trail. Only a few months before my time with Ajahn Tate I had left the commune in which I’d been living and had hitchhiked across the Australian desert. After that, I island-hopped through Indonesia, stopping for a little diving in Timor, batik-painting in Java, and then went on up through various beach resorts and restaurants in Malaysia to Thailand. And then, I found myself with a shaved head and in robes, doing this intensive practice. I definitely wasn’t properly prepared.

Thanks to Ajahn Tate’s loving-kindness and consistent caring attention, I survived those very unpleasant states. But it was about seven years before I was able more fully to appreciate what he’d told me on that occasion. Now I encourage people to make this effort to remember. Sometimes, when we forget what we have learned, we can devalue experiences that we’ve had, effort we’ve made, insights that have arisen. Ajahn Chah had an image for this. He’d say, “These moments of mindfulness and understanding are like drips of water coming out of a tap. In the beginning it’s drip – drip – drip, with big gaps between the drips.” If we’re heedless during those gaps, if we’re caught up in our thinking, caught up in the content of the mind and the sensations we are experiencing, we can think that our mindful moments were invalid and dismiss them as accidents. But Ajahn Chah said, “Little by little, with consistent effort, these moments become drip, drip, drip then dripdripdrip and then they become a stream.” With constant effort, you enter a continuous stream of mindfulness. The moments themselves are the same, but they’re uninterrupted.

We forget, but the good news is that we can remember. We sit in formal meditation, gathering our hearts and mind together, and we settle into stillness. We gain perspective, we remember. The mind wanders off. ‘If only I hadn’t done that,’ we think; or, ‘Why did they say that?’ We wander into the future, thinking, ‘Have I got my ticket for tomorrow? Where did I put it?’ We get caught up, we get lost, but then we remember because our hearts are committed to remembering. If we simply remember, that’s good, but if we come in with some sort of judgement and say, ‘I shouldn’t have forgotten my practice is hopeless,’ then we’ve lost it again. Remembering is the point. We don’t need to dwell on our forgetting.

Being Careful

Ajahn Tate’s advice was, “All you’ve got to do is remember more quickly.” I kept making an effort during that vassa and I was very diligent, although by this time I was in such a state of despair, occasional terror, distress and thorough unpleasantness, that it was really just a question of survival. At the end of the vassa I wasn’t well at all. They decided I needed to go down to Bangkok for a medical check-up and to rest. In fact I ended up in hospital. I saw Ajahn Tate before I left and he gave me a third significant and helpful teaching. He gave it with such kindness and wisdom; he wasn’t just being nice to me. He was so aware of the nature of this path. He said, “Be careful.” I still remember this vividly. He said, “The place you are at within yourself is very vulnerable – take care.”

I often begin our evening meditation at Ratanagiri by guiding us together into our inner settling by saying, “Carefully paying attention…” I think in many cases we could substitute the word ‘carefulness’ for ‘mindfulness.’ In the poor condition that I was in when I saw Ajahn Tate, his words were just what was needed. I was so unhappy that I could very easily have been unkind to myself, or heedless. You know what it’s like when you get a little miserable; you start blaming, thinking, ‘Well, someone has done something wrong.’ It’s very difficult to feel unhappy without feeling that somebody, probably including oneself, has done something wrong.

If we are feeling unhappy, what is called for is a willingness to simply be with that unhappiness. If we’re not careful, we say something’s wrong, though it doesn’t really help to say that. We say it either inwardly or outwardly. This projecting of blame is a consequence of having made an inner mistake of misperceiving our unhappiness, sadness or suffering as being something wrong. We don’t receive it just as it is. We don’t acknowledge it and feel it, allowing it to happen; we don’t have the ‘knowingness’ to see it as activity taking place in awareness. Because we don’t have that perspective, we struggle to do something about our suffering, to deal with it in some way. To say that something has gone wrong and that it’s somebody’s fault is a heedless way of dealing with our unpleasant experiences. The habit of consistently doing this is a symptom of what I call the compulsive judging mind. Ajahn Tate’s parting gift to me, ‘be careful,’ alerted me to this, intuitively if not conceptually.

One-Pointedness of Mind

I received a final teaching from Ajahn Tate on the occasion of visiting him with the group from Bung Wai in 1993. Only a few months later he passed away, at the age of ninety-four. We sat close to him so he didn’t have to speak loudly. I felt almost too ashamed to attempt to engage him in talk since he seemed so frail and tired; just to be near him was enough. Yet with visibly keen interest and with great kindness he responded to the questions he was asked. All the other visitors of the day had departed; only our small group remained. As I recall, one of the young monks asked Ajahn Tate if he could identify the essence of Buddhist teaching. “Buddhism, you want a definition of Buddhism?” he said. “Buddhism is one-pointedness of mind.” (Thai: ekaggata jit). A lot has been written and said about Buddhism, and that such a great being should give such a clear and simple presentation of the path was a precious gift.

For those who don’t yet have a foundation in practice it would be understandable if Ajahn Tate’s definition of Buddhism didn’t make sense. Even for those who do, for the most part we don’t yet know how to abide clearly, consciously and mindfully in a state of one-pointedness. If we do have an appreciation of one-pointedness, even to a small degree, then we will know that a mind that is distracted and fragmented is a mind that is confused and which misperceives the way things are. In this condition the natural well-being that we feel when there is one-pointedness is obstructed.

Many of us went through years of our early lives being chronically obstructed. We were trying to sort out the right philosophy, the right political statement, the right lifestyle, the right type of relationship, the right social arrangement, so that we would feel good about life. It wasn’t until my first meditation retreat, during which I learned to focus attention on the breath and to inhibit the tendency to follow distractions that I discovered, or uncovered, the natural state of well-being that comes when the mind is concentrated. Up until that point I thought I had to do something or imbibe something to feel good. When we remember or reconnect with the natural goodness of the heart – which is still, calm, peaceful and clear – then, through seeing clearly the nature of the world, our relationship with the world is changed. The world remains what it is and what it has always been. There is still pleasure and pain, both intense and mediocre. There’s still injustice and struggle, disappointment, joy, delight and happiness. But when we see with clarity that all of this comes and goes, when we see with awareness all of experience arising and ceasing, we no longer, from conditioned preference, invest ourselves in any experience in particular. We invest instead in understanding the nature of experience.

So the fourth teaching from Ajahn Tate that I recall is that what is really worth developing is not a sophisticated understanding of Buddhist theory or lots of retreat experiences and insights but an appreciation of how to abide more freely and more frequently with one-pointedness of heart and mind. When we know this state and it is rightly focused on the Way we will be best placed to progress in practice.

For these four simple yet wonderfully relevant teachings I will remain eternally indebted to Ajahn Tate and I am happy to share them with you. 


Ajahn Munindo

Udakarahaka Suttas: A Pool of Water

‘‘सेय्यथापि , भिक्खवे, उदकरहदो आविलो लुळितो कललीभूतो तत्थ चक्खुमा पुरिसो तीरे ठितो न पस्सेय्य सिप्पिसम्बुकम्पि [सिप्पिकसम्बुकम्पि (क॰)] सक्खरकठलम्पि मच्छगुम्बम्पि चरन्तम्पि तिट्ठन्तम्पि।
भिक्षुओ , यदि एक सरोवर का पानी अशांत , गंदला और कीचड़ भरा हो , तो उसके किनारे खड़ा आदमी अच्छी दृष्टि से भी सरोवर की सीपियों, शंखो, कंकड़-पत्थरों और मछलियों के झुंडों को तैरते और रुकते नहीं देख सकता ।
"Suppose there were a pool of water — sullied, turbid, and muddy. A man with good eyesight standing there on the bank would not see shells, gravel, and pebbles, or shoals of fish swimming about and resting.
ऐसा क्यों? क्योंकि ,भिक्षुओ, पानी निर्मल नहीं है ।
तं किस्स हेतु? आविलत्ता, भिक्खवे, उदकस्स।

Why is that? Because of the sullied nature of the water.

एवमेवं खो, भिक्खवे, सो वत भिक्खु आविलेन चित्तेन अत्तत्थं वा ञस्सति परत्थं वा ञस्सति उभयत्थं वा ञस्सति उत्तरिं वा मनुस्सधम्मा अलमरियञाणदस्सनविसेसं सच्छिकरिस्सतीति नेतं ठानं विज्‍जति।
इसी प्रकार कोई भिक्षु अशांत और दूषित चित्त से अपनी भलाई , दूसरों की भलाई या दोनों की भलाई जानेगा , श्रेष्ठ मानव धर्म समझेगा या विशेष दर्शन का साक्षात्कार करेगा ---- ऐसा संभव नहीं है।
In the same way, that a monk with a sullied mind would know his own benefit, the benefit of others, the benefit of both; that he would realize a superior human state, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision: Such a thing is impossible.

तं किस्स हेतु? आविलत्ता, भिक्खवे, चित्तस्सा’’ति।
ऐसा क्यों? इसलिए भिक्षु , क्योंकि चित्त अशांत और दूषित है।
Why is that? Because of the sullied nature of his mind."

‘‘सेय्यथापि, भिक्खवे, उदकरहदो अच्छो विप्पसन्‍नो अनाविलो तत्थ चक्खुमा पुरिसो तीरे ठितो पस्सेय्य सिप्पिसम्बुकम्पि सक्खरकठलम्पि मच्छगुम्बम्पि चरन्तम्पि तिट्ठन्तम्पि।
भिक्षुओ , यदि एक सरोवर का पानी शांत और स्वच्छ हो , तो उसके किनारे खड़ा आदमी सरोवर की सीपियों, शंखो, कंकड़-पत्थरों और मछलियों के झुंडों को तैरते और रुकते देख सकता है ।
"Suppose there were a pool of water — clear, limpid, and unsullied. A man with good eyesight standing there on the bank would see shells, gravel, & pebbles, and also shoals of fish swimming about and resting.

तं किस्स हेतु? अनाविलत्ता, भिक्खवे, उदकस्स।
ऐसा क्यों? क्योंकि, भिक्षुओ, पानी निर्मल है।
Why is that? Because of the unsullied nature of the water।

एवमेवं खो, भिक्खवे, सो वत भिक्खु अनाविलेन चित्तेन अत्तत्थं वा ञस्सति परत्थं वा ञस्सति उभयत्थं वा ञस्सति उत्तरिं वा मनुस्सधम्मा अलमरियञाणदस्सनविसेसं सच्छिकरिस्सतीति ठानमेतं विज्‍जति।
इसी प्रकार कोई भिक्षु शांत और निर्मल चित्त से अपनी भलाई , दूसरों की भलाई या दोनों की भलाई जानेगा , श्रेष्ठ मानव धर्म समझेगा या विशेष दर्शन का साक्षात्कार करेगा । ऐसा संभव है।
In the same way, that a monk with an unsullied mind would know his own benefit, the benefit of others, the benefit of both; that he would realize a superior human state, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision: Such a thing is possible.

तं किस्स हेतु? अनाविलत्ता, भिक्खवे, चित्तस्सा’’ति।
ऐसा क्यों? क्योंकि, भिक्षुओ, चित्त निर्मल है ।
Why is that? Because of the unsullied nature of his mind."

"Udakarahaka Suttas: A Pool of Water" (AN 1.45-46), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, August 8, 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an01/an01.045-046.than.html।
हिन्दी अनुवाद: राजीव

पभस्सरसुत्त Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous

‘‘पभस्सरमिदं, भिक्खवे, चित्तं।


भिक्षुओ , यह मन दीप्तिमान है ।


"Luminous, monks, is the mind.


तञ्‍च खो आगन्तुकेहि उपक्‍किलेसेहि उपक्‍किलिट्ठ’’न्ति।


और यह मन बाहर से आनेवाले दोषों से दूषित होता है।


And it is defiled by incoming defilements."
‘
‘पभस्सरमिदं, भिक्खवे, चित्तं। तञ्‍च खो आगन्तुकेहि उपक्‍किलेसेहि 
विप्पमुत्त’’न्ति।


यह मन दीप्तिमान है और यह बाहर से आनेवाले दोषों से मुक्त होता है ।


"Luminous, monks, is the mind। And it is freed from incoming defilements."


तं अस्सुतवा पुथुज्‍जनो यथाभूतं नप्पजानाति। तस्मा ‘अस्सुतवतो पुथुज्‍जनस्स चित्तभावना नत्थी’ति वदामी’’ति।


जिन्हें यह शिक्षा नहीं मिली है वे सामान्य जन इस मन की वास्तविक स्थिति को नहीं जानते। इसीलिए मैं कहता हूँ कि ऐसे लोगों के मन का विकास नहीं होता है।


The uninstructed run-of-the-mill person doesn't discern that as it actually is present, which is why I tell you that — for the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person — there is no development of the mind।


तं सुतवा अरियसावको यथाभूतं पजानाति। तस्मा ‘सुतवतो अरियसावकस्स चित्तभावना अत्थी’ति वदामी’’ति।


जिन्हें यह शिक्षा मिली है ऐसे आर्यशिष्य यह सत्य जानते है। इसीलिए मैं कहता हूँ कि ऐसे सुशिक्षित आर्यशिष्यों के मन का विकास होता है ।


The well-instructed disciple of the noble ones discerns that as it actually is present, which is why I tell you that — for the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones — there is development of the mind."


(AN 1.49-52), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, August 8, 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an01/an01.049.than.html।
हिन्दी अनुवाद : राजीव

वत्थसुत्तं

 एवं मे सुतं – एकं समयं भगवा सावत्थियं विहरति जेतवने अनाथपिण्डिकस्स आरामे। तत्र खो भगवा भिक्खू आमन्तेसि – ‘‘भिक्खवो’’ति। ‘‘भदन्ते’’ति ते भिक्खू भगवतो पच्‍चस्सोसुं। भगवा एतदवोच –

‘‘सेय्यथापि, भिक्खवे, वत्थं संकिलिट्ठं मलग्गहितं; तमेनं रजको यस्मिं यस्मिं रङ्गजाते उपसंहरेय्य – यदि नीलकाय यदि पीतकाय यदि लोहितकाय यदि मञ्‍जिट्ठकाय [मञ्‍जेट्ठकाय (सी॰ पी॰), मञ्‍जेट्ठिकाय (स्या॰)] दुरत्तवण्णमेवस्स अपरिसुद्धवण्णमेवस्स। तं किस्स हेतु? अपरिसुद्धत्ता, भिक्खवे, वत्थस्स। एवमेव खो, भिक्खवे, चित्ते संकिलिट्ठे, दुग्गति पाटिकङ्खा। सेय्यथापि, भिक्खवे, वत्थं परिसुद्धं परियोदातं; तमेनं रजको यस्मिं यस्मिं रङ्गजाते उपसंहरेय्य – यदि नीलकाय यदि पीतकाय यदि लोहितकाय यदि मञ्‍जिट्ठकाय – सुरत्तवण्णमेवस्स परिसुद्धवण्णमेवस्स। तं किस्स हेतु? परिसुद्धत्ता, भिक्खवे, वत्थस्स। एवमेव खो, भिक्खवे, चित्ते असंकिलिट्ठे, सुगति पाटिकङ्खा।

1. Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One was staying at Savatthi, in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the monks thus: "Monks." — "Venerable sir," they replied. The Blessed One said this:

2. "Monks, suppose a cloth were stained and dirty, and a dyer dipped it in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or pink, it would take the dye badly and be impure in color. And why is that? Because the cloth was not clean. So too, monks, when the mind is defiled,1 an unhappy destination [in a future existence] may be expected.

"Monks, suppose a cloth were clean and bright, and a dyer dipped it in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or pink, it would take the dye well and be pure in color. And why is that? Because the cloth was clean. So too, monks, when the mind is undefiled, a happy destination [in a future existence] may be expected

७१. ‘‘कतमे च, भिक्खवे, चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसा? अभिज्झाविसमलोभो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, ब्यापादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, कोधो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, उपनाहो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, मक्खो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, पळासो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, इस्सा चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, मच्छरियं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, माया चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, साठेय्यं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, थम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, सारम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, मानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, अतिमानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, मदो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो, पमादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो।
"And what, monks, are the defilements of the mind?2 (1) Covetousness and unrighteous greed are a defilement of the mind; (2) ill will is a defilement of the mind; (3) anger is a defilement of the mind; (4) hostility...(5) denigration...(6) domineering...(7) envy...(8) jealousy...(9) hypocrisy...(10) fraud...(11) obstinacy...(12) presumption...(13) conceit...(14) arrogance...(15) vanity...(16) negligence is a defilement of the mind.3



७२. ‘‘स खो सो, भिक्खवे, भिक्खु ‘अभिज्झाविसमलोभो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा अभिज्झाविसमलोभं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘ब्यापादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा ब्यापादं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति ; ‘कोधो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा कोधं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘उपनाहो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा उपनाहं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘मक्खो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मक्खं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘पळासो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा पळासं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘इस्सा चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा इस्सं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘मच्छरियं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मच्छरियं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘माया चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मायं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘साठेय्यं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा साठेय्यं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘थम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा थम्भं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘सारम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा सारम्भं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘मानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मानं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘अतिमानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा अतिमानं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘मदो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मदं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति; ‘पमादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा पमादं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसं पजहति।
"Knowing, monks, covetousness and unrighteous greed to be a defilement of the mind, the monk abandons them.4 Knowing ill will to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing anger to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing hostility to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing denigration to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing domineering to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing envy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing jealousy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing hypocrisy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing fraud to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing obstinacy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing presumption to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing conceit to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing arrogance to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing vanity to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing negligence to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it

७३. ‘‘यतो खो [यतो च खो (सी॰ स्या॰)], भिक्खवे, भिक्खुनो ‘अभिज्झाविसमलोभो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा अभिज्झाविसमलोभो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति, ‘ब्यापादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा ब्यापादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘कोधो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा कोधो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘उपनाहो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा उपनाहो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘मक्खो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मक्खो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘पळासो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा पळासो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘इस्सा चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा इस्सा चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘मच्छरियं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मच्छरियं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘माया चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा माया चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘साठेय्यं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा साठेय्यं चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘थम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा थम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘सारम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा सारम्भो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘मानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘अतिमानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा अतिमानो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘मदो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा मदो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति; ‘पमादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो’ति – इति विदित्वा पमादो चित्तस्स उपक्‍किलेसो पहीनो होति।

"When in the monk who thus knows that covetousness and unrighteous greed are a defilement of the mind, this covetousness and unrighteous greed have been abandoned; when in him who thus knows that ill will is a defilement of the mind, this ill will has been abandoned;... when in him who thus knows that negligence is a defilement of the mind, this negligence has been abandoned —

Mangal Sutta

Not consorting with fools,
consorting with the wise,
paying homage to those worthy of homage:
This is the highest protection.

Living in a civilized land,
having made merit in the past,
directing oneself rightly:
This is the highest protection.

Broad knowledge, skill,
well-mastered discipline,
well-spoken words:
This is the highest protection.

Support for one's parents,
assistance to one's wife and children,
consistency in one's work:
This is the highest protection.

Giving, living in rectitude,
assistance to one's relatives,
deeds that are blameless:
This is the highest protection.

Avoiding, abstaining from evil;
refraining from intoxicants,
being heedful of the qualities of the mind:
This is the highest protection.

Respect, humility,
contentment, gratitude,
hearing the Dhamma on timely occasions:
This is the highest protection.

Patience, compliance,
seeing contemplatives,
discussing the Dhamma on timely occasions:
This is the highest protection.

Austerity, celibacy,
seeing the Noble Truths,
realizing Unbinding:
This is the highest protection.

A mind that, when touched
by the ways of the world,
is unshaken, sorrowless, dustless, secure:
This is the highest protection.

Everywhere undefeated
when acting in this way,
people go everywhere in well-being:
This is their highest protection.

Buddha

POLISHER OF PURE REASON

"God gave you the polisher of (Pure) Reason, so that the pages of
the heart may become luminous by means of it.
O prayerless one, you have
bound up the polisher and have released the two hands of craving. If bonds are placed on craving (instead),
the hands of the polisher will be released. 
If a piece of iron was the mirror for the Invisible, all forms
would be sent into it.
(But) you made (the mirror of your heart) dark
and you gave rust to (your) nature:
this is the meaning of (the verse)
"they strive to spread corruption on earth" [Qur'ân, 5:36].
Until now,you have done it like this; now, don't do it .
You have made the water muddy;
don't make it more so.
Don't mix it up, so that this water may
become clear, and (so that)
you may see the moon and stars circling in it!"


RUMI

Mind can be likened to water

Mind can be likened to water.

Even to look at a stream of pure water running in all its purity is the greatest joy one can have, and drinking the pure water is so too.

And so it is with the mind.

Contact with the pure-minded is the greatest joy.

Whether they speak with one or not; there emanates from them a purity, a natural purity, which is not man-made but belongs to the soul and gives one the greatest pleasure and joy.

Inayat Khan