MN19 — Two Kinds of Thought Sutta

Thus have I heard: At one time the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.

There, the Blessed One addressed the disciples:

Disciples.

Venerable Sir, those disciples replied to the Blessed One.

The Blessed One said:

Before my Enlightenment when I was still an unenlightened Bodhisatta, it occurred to me: Why don't I divide my thoughts into two parts?

So I set on one side thoughts of sensual desire, thoughts of ill will, and thoughts of cruelty; and I set on the other side thoughts of renunciation, thoughts of non-ill will, and thoughts of non-cruelty.

As I dwelt thus, vigilant, ardent, and resolute, a thought of sensual desire arose in me. I understood thus: This thought of sensual desire has arisen in me. It leads to my own affliction, to others affliction, and to the affliction of both; it obstructs wisdom, causes difficulties, and leads away from Nibbāna.

When I considered: It leads to my own affliction, it subsided in me; when I considered: It leads to others affliction, it subsided in me; when I considered: It leads to the affliction of both, it subsided in me; when I considered: It obstructs wisdom, causes difficulties, and leads away from Nibbāna, it subsided in me.

Whenever a thought of sensual desire arose in me, I abandoned it, removed it, did away with it.

As I dwelt thus, vigilant, ardent, and resolute, a thought of ill will... a thought of cruelty arose in me.

I understood thus: This thought of cruelty has arisen in me. It leads to my own affliction, to others affliction, and to the affliction of both; it obstructs wisdom, causes difficulties, and leads away from Nibbāna.

When I considered: It leads to my own affliction, it subsided in me; when I considered: It leads to others affliction, it subsided in me; when I considered: It leads to the affliction of both, it subsided in me; when I considered: It obstructs wisdom, causes difficulties, and leads away from Nibbāna, it subsided in me.

Whenever a thought of cruelty arose in me, I abandoned it, removed it, did away with it.

Whatever a disciple frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of his mind.

If a disciple frequently thinks and ponders upon thoughts of sensual desire, he has abandoned the thought of renunciation to cultivate the thought of sensual desire, and then his mind inclines to thoughts of sensual desire.

If a disciple frequently thinks and ponders upon thoughts of ill will... upon thoughts of cruelty, he has abandoned the thought of non-cruelty to cultivate the thought of cruelty, and then his mind inclines to thoughts of cruelty.

Just as in the last month of the rainy season, in the autumn, when the crops thicken, a cowherd would guard his cows by striking them on this side and that with a stick to control and guard them, for what reason? Because he sees that he could be subject to punishment, imprisonment, loss, or blame.

In the same way I saw the danger in unwholesome states and the benefit in wholesome states.

Thus, as I dwelt vigilant, ardent, and resolute, a thought of renunciation arose in me. I understood thus: This thought of renunciation has arisen in me. It does not lead to my own affliction, or to others affliction, or to the affliction of both; it aids wisdom, does not cause difficulties, and leads to Nibbāna.

Whether I thought and pondered upon it by night or by day, I saw no danger that might come from it.

However, by thinking and pondering upon it too much, my body became tired, and when the body is tired, the mind becomes disturbed. When the mind is disturbed, it is far from concentration.

So I steadied my mind internally, quieted it, brought it to singleness, and concentrated it. Why? So that my mind should not be disturbed.

While dwelling diligently, ardently, and resolutely, thoughts of non-ill will ... and thoughts of non-harming arise. Thus, I understand: This thought of non-harming has arisen in me. It leads neither to self-harm, nor to the harm of others, nor to the harm of both. It contributes to wisdom, does not cause agitation, and leads to Nirvana.

Even if I were to think and ponder upon it night and day, I see no danger that could arise from it. Even if I were to think and ponder upon it day and night, I see no danger that could arise from it. However, if I were to think and ponder upon it too long, my body would become tired. When the body is tired, the mind becomes disturbed. When the mind is disturbed, it is far from concentration. Therefore, I internally settle, compose, unify, and concentrate my mind. Why? So my mind does not become disturbed.

Whatever a disciple frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of his mind. If a disciple frequently thinks and ponders upon thoughts of renunciation, he abandons thoughts of sensuality, makes thoughts of renunciation frequent, and his mind inclines towards thoughts of renunciation.

If a disciple frequently thinks and ponders upon thoughts of non-ill will ... and non-harming, he abandons thoughts of harming, makes thoughts of non-harming frequent, and his mind inclines towards thoughts of non-harming. Just as in the last month of the hot season, when all the crops have been gathered in, a cowherd would only need to watch over his cows: These are cows. Similarly, it was only necessary to be mindful: These are states. My energy was aroused without slackening, mindfulness was established without confusion, the body was tranquil without agitation, the mind was concentrated and unified.

Thus, I secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, entered and dwelled in the first jhana, which includes applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, I entered and dwelled in the second jhana, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without applied and sustained thought, and has rapture and pleasure born of concentration.

With the fading away of rapture, I dwelled equanimous, mindful, and clearly knowing, experiencing pleasure with the body, I entered and dwelled in the third jhana, of which the noble ones declare, He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily. With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, I entered and dwelled in the fourth jhana, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.

Thus, with the mind concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of imperfections, malleable, workable, established, and having gained imperturbability, I directed it to the knowing of the recollection of past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, that is one birth, ... with features and details. This was the first knowing I attained in the first watch of the night; ignorance was destroyed, knowing arose; darkness was destroyed, light arose, as happens in one who is diligent, ardent, and resolute.

With the mind concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of imperfections, malleable, workable, established, and having gained imperturbability, I directed it to the knowing of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understood how beings pass on according to their actions.

This was the second knowing I attained in the middle watch of the night; ignorance was destroyed, knowing arose; darkness was destroyed, light arose, as happens in one who is diligent, ardent, and resolute. With the mind concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of imperfections, malleable, workable, established, and having gained imperturbability, I directed it to the knowing of the destruction of the taints. I directly knew as it actually is, This is suffering, This is the origin of suffering, This is the cessation of suffering, This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering. These are the taints, This is the origin of the taints, This is the cessation of the taints, This is the way leading to the cessation of the taints.

I understood, This is the path leading to the cessation of taints as it really is. As I was thus knowing, thus seeing, my mind was liberated from the taint of sensual desire, liberated from the taint of being, liberated from the taint of ignorance. With liberation, there was the knowing, It is liberated. I directly knew: Birth is ended, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being. This was my knowing in the last watch of the night; ignorance was destroyed; knowing arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose: as happens in one who is diligent, ardent, and resolute.

Suppose in a forest wilderness there was a great stretch of water and a large herd of deer lived dependent on it. Then a certain person appeared desiring their harm, welfare, and security. He would close off the safe and good path that was pleasant to walk on, and he would open up a false path, and he would set out a decoy and a dummy. Thus, the large herd of deer might later come to ruin and disaster.

But suppose another person appeared desiring their good, welfare, and security. He would open up the safe and good path that was pleasant to walk on, and he would close off the false path, and he would remove the decoy and the dummy. Thus, the large herd of deer might later come to growth, increase, and fulfillment. This simile was made by me for the sake of conveying a meaning.

This is the meaning: The great stretch of water refers to sensual pleasures, disciples. The large herd of deer refers to beings, disciples. The person desiring their harm refers to Māra the Evil One, disciples. The false path refers to the wrong eightfold path, that is: wrong view, wrong intention, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong concentration. The decoy refers to delight and lust, disciples. The dummy refers to ignorance, disciples. The person desiring their good refers to the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One, disciples. The safe and good path that is pleasant to walk on refers to the noble eightfold path, that is: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Thus the safe and good path that is pleasant to walk on has been opened up by me, the false path has been closed off, the decoy has been removed, and the dummy has been destroyed. What should have been done for the disciples out of compassion by a teacher who seeks their welfare and has compassion for them, that I have done for you, disciples. Here are the roots of trees, here are empty huts. Meditate do not be negligent, lest you regret it later. This is our instruction to you.

This is what the Blessed One said. Delighted, the disciples rejoiced in what the Blessed One had said.