At one time, the Blessed One was staying near Savatti in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery.
There, the Blessed One spoke to the monks, “Monks!’’
‘’Yes, Bhante,’’ they replied.
The Blessed One said this: ‘’Monks, before my awakening, when I was still unawakened but intent on awakening – it occurred to me to divide all the intentions that arose in my mind into two categories.
I put all intentions of craving, anger and all troubling, harmful thoughts into one category, and all intentions of renunciation, good will and harmlessness into a second category.
Then, as I meditated – heedful, determined and full of effort – intentions of craving arose. I knew as it arose that the intention had arisen in me. And I saw: ‘’this thought of craving for the pleasures of the senses has arisen in me, and it leads to hurt for myself, hurt for others and hurt for both. It blocks wisdom, is on the side of suffering, and leads away from freedom.’’
When I saw that it led to hurting myself, this thought of craving disappeared.
When I saw that it led to hurting others, it disappeared.
When I saw that it led to hurting both, it disappeared.
When I saw that it was a block to wisdom, on the side of suffering and that it led away from freedom, it disappeared.
So I gave up, cut off, and removed any thoughts of craving that arose.
Then, as I meditated – heedful, determined and full of effort – intentions of anger arose. I knew as it arose that the intention of anger had arisen in me. And I saw: ‘’this thought of anger has arisen in me, and it leads to hurt for myself, hurt for others and hurt for both. It blocks wisdom, is on the side of suffering, and leads away from freedom.’’
When I saw that it led to hurting myself, this thought of anger disappeared.
When I saw that it led to hurting others, it disappeared.
When I saw that it led to hurting both, it disappeared.
When I saw that it was a block to wisdom, on the side of suffering and that it led away from freedom, it disappeared.
So I gave up, cut off, and removed any intentions of anger that arose.
Then, as I meditated – heedful, determined and full of effort – harmful, troubled thoughts arose. I knew as it arose that the troubling, harmful thought had arisen in me. And I saw: ‘’this troubled and harmful thought has arisen in me, and it leads to hurt for myself, hurt for others and hurt for both. It blocks wisdom, is on the side of suffering, and leads away from freedom.’’
When I saw that it led to hurting myself, this troubled and harmful thought disappeared.
When I saw that it led to hurting others, it disappeared.
When I saw that it led to hurting both, it disappeared.
When I saw that it was a block to wisdom, on the side of suffering and that it led away from freedom, it disappeared.
So I gave up, cut off, and removed any troubled, harmful intentions that arose.
In whatever way a person habitually thinks, this becomes the habit, the direction their mind takes. If they often form craving thoughts, their mind loses sight of renunciation and becomes trained in craving. Their mind goes in the direction of craving.
If they often form angry thoughts, their mind loses sight of compassion and becomes trained in anger. Their mind goes in the direction of anger.
If they often form troubled and harmful thoughts, their mind loses sight of harmlessness and becomes trained in harmfulness. Their mind goes in the direction of harmfulness.
It is like when, in the last month of the rainy season, when the crops grow closely together, a cowherd must take care of the cattle: he sees that if they wander into the crops, he could be executed, imprisoned, fined or condemned. So he taps them and pokes them with his staff on one side and then on another, to keep them from going astray.
In the same way, I saw that bad qualities lead to degradation and corruption, and good qualities have the benefit and cleaning power of renunciation.
Then, as I meditated – heedful, determined and full of effort – intentions of renunciation arose in me. I knew as it arose that the intention of renunciation had arisen in me. And I saw: ‘’this thought of renunciation has arisen in me, and it does not lead to hurt for myself, nor for others nor both. It gives rise to wisdom, is on the side of freedom from suffering, and leads towards freedom.’’
If I were to keep on thinking in this way all night, all day or all night and all day, I see no danger that would come from that.
Still, having the mind busy in thinking for too long would make it tired. When the mind is tired, it is not at ease, and when the mind is not at ease, it is not concentrated. So I stilled, settled, brought to one point, and concentrated my mind, watching only inside, so that the mind could be at ease.
Then, as I meditated – heedful, determined and full of effort – intentions of good-will arose in me. I knew as it arose that the intention of renunciation had arisen in me. And I saw: ‘’this thought of good will has arisen in me, and it does not lead to hurt for myself, nor for others nor both. It gives rise to wisdom, is on the side of freedom from suffering, and leads towards freedom.’’
If I were to keep on thinking in this way all night, all day or all night and all day, I see no danger that would come from that.
Still, having the mind busy in thinking for too long would make it tired. When the mind is tired, it is not at ease, and when the mind is not at ease, it is not concentrated. So I stilled, settled, brought to one point, and concentrated my mind, watching only inside, so that the mind could be at ease.
Then, as I meditated – heedful, determined and full of effort – intentions with knowledge arose in me. I knew as it arose that the intention with knowledge had arisen in me. And I saw: ‘’this thought with knowledge has arisen in me, and it does not lead to hurt for myself, nor for others nor both. It gives rise to wisdom, is on the side of freedom from suffering, and leads towards freedom.’’
If I were to keep on thinking in this way all night, all day or all night and all day, I see no danger that would come from that.
Still, having the mind busy in thinking for too long would make it tired. When the mind is tired, it is not at ease, and when the mind is not at ease, it is not concentrated. So I stilled, settled, brought to one point, and concentrated my mind, watching only inside, so that the mind could be at ease.
In whatever way a person habitually thinks, this becomes the direction of their mind. If they often form intentions of renunciation, their mind loses sight of craving and becomes trained in renunciation. Their mind goes in the direction of renunciation.
If they often form intentions of good will, their mind loses sight of anger and becomes trained in good will. Their mind goes in the direction of good will.
If they often form thoughts of awareness, attentive and knowing, their mind loses ignorance and becomes trained in knowing. Their mind goes in the direction of knowledge.
Suppose it is the last month of summer, when all the crops have been gathered into the surroundings of a village, and a cowherd must take care of the cattle. While at the root of a tree, or in the open, the cowherd needs only to remain mindful that:
the cattle are there.
In the same way, I needed only to remain mindful that
‘’these things are there.’’