AN 1.41-50 (AN1.41-50)

1.45. A Pool of Water

“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. Why is that? Because of the sullied nature of the water. 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. Why is that? Because of the sullied nature of his mind.”

1.46

“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. Why is that? Because of the unsullied nature of the water. 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. Why is that? Because of the unsullied nature of his mind.”

1.47. Soft

“Just as, of all trees, the balsam is foremost in terms of softness and pliancy, in the same way I don’t envision a single thing that, when developed & cultivated, is as soft & pliant as the mind. The mind, when developed & cultivated, is soft & pliant.”

1.48. Quick to Reverse Itself

“I don’t envision a single thing that is as quick to reverse itself as the mind—so much so that there is no feasible simile for how quick to reverse itself it is.”

1.49–50. Luminous

“Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is defiled by incoming defilements.”

“Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is freed from incoming defilements.”

Translated from the Pali by: Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

©1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.

Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Gabriel Laera and Ayya Vimala.