Stilling Thought (MN20)

Stilling Thought

Thus have I heard.

At one time the Buddha was living at Sāvatthi, in Jeta’s grove, at Anāthapiṇḍika's park.

There the Buddha addressed the monks:

“Monks!”

“Venerable Sir,” those monks replied to the Buddha.

The Buddha said this:

“Monks, a monk who is committed to developing a heightened mind should regularly direct their mind in five ways.

What five?

In this case, monks, if evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, or delusion arise in a monk while they are directing their mind towards something, then that monk should redirect their mind to something that is connected with the wholesome.

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, just as a skillful carpenter or apprentice carpenter could replace a coarse peg with a fine peg,

in the same way, monks, if evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, or delusion arise in a monk while they are directing their mind towards something, then that monk should redirect their mind to something that is connected with the wholesome.

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, if a monk does that, but evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, and delusion still arise in them, then they should examine the drawbacks of those thoughts:

‘These thoughts are unwholesome, these thoughts are blameworthy, these thoughts result in suffering.’

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, just as a young and well-adorned woman or man would be irritated, ashamed, and disgusted if the corpse of a snake, dog, or human was draped around their neck,

in the same way, monks, if evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, or delusion continue to arise in a monk when they redirect their mind, then they should examine the drawbacks of those thoughts:

‘These thoughts are unwholesome, these thoughts are blameworthy, these thoughts result in suffering.’

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, if a monk does that, but evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, and delusion still arise in them, then they should not pay any attention to those thoughts.

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, just as a person with eyes who did not want to see something in their field of view

could close their eyes or look away,

in the same way, monks, if evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, or delusion continue to arise in a monk when they examine the drawbacks of those thoughts, then by doing this those thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, if a monk does that, but evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, and delusion still arise in them, then they should direct the mind to stilling the production of those thoughts.

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, just as a person who was moving quickly

might think,

‘Why am I walking quickly?

I could walk slowly.’

So they walk slowly.

Then they think,

‘Why am I walking slowly?

I could stand still.’

So they stand still.

Then they think,

‘Why am I standing?

I could sit down.’

So they sit down.

Then they think,

‘Why am I sitting?

I could lie down.’

So they lie down.

Monks, in this way that person gradually replaces coarse postures with more subtle ones.

in the same way, monks, if evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, or delusion continue to arise in a monk when they pay no attention to those thoughts, then by doing this those thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, if a monk does that, but evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, and delusion still arise in them,

then that monk should clench their teeth, press their tongue against the roof of their mouth, and mentally suppress, overpower, and immobilize the mind.

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, just as a strong person could grab a weaker person by the head, neck, or shoulders and suppress, overpower, and immobilize them,

in the same way, monks, if evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, or delusion continue to arise in a monk when they still the production of those thoughts,

then that monk should clench their teeth, press their tongue against the roof of their mouth, and mentally suppress, overpower, and immobilize the mind.

When doing so, those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, when evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, aversion, or delusion arise in a monk while they are directing their mind towards something, then that monk redirects their mind to something that is connected with the wholesome, and those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

When one also examines the drawbacks of those evil, unwholesome thoughts, then they are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

When one also does not pay any attention to those evil, unwholesome thoughts, then they are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

When one also stills the production of those evil, unwholesome thoughts, then they are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

When one clenches their teeth, presses their tongue against the roof of their mouth, and mentally suppresses, overpowers, and immobilize the minds, then those evil, unwholesome thoughts are abandoned and come to an end.

Because they are abandoned, the mind becomes still, settled, unified, and collected.

Monks, this is called a monk that is in control of all the avenues of thought.

One will think whatever one wishes to think, and one will not think whatever one wishes to not think.

Craving will be cut off, the shackles will be opened, and through a correct comprehension of conceit suffering will be put to an end.”

This is what the Buddha said.

Satisfied, those monks rejoiced in the Buddha’s statement.