Reconciling Pleasure and Suffering

“From whatever one reins in the mind,
From that no suffering comes to one.
Should one rein in the mind from everything,
One is freed from all suffering.”
“One need not rein in the mind from everything,
When the mind has come under control.
From whatever it is that evil comes,
From this one should rein in the mind.”

SN 1.24

I love this sutta. But how do you begin reining in your mind from only harmful thoughts and actions? Is indulging in sense pleasures—like art, food, or sex—considered a source of harm? And, if someone chooses to indulge out of social obligation, or to draw motivation, how can they reconcile that in a world full of human—and animal—suffering? Have you ever seen videos of what Antarctic penguins endure to survive? It’s heartbreaking.

On one extreme, if you rein in the mind from everything, you won’t feel pain, but you’ll likely become a penniless societal outcast. On the other extreme, if you rein in the mind from nothing, you’ll feel all the pain, but you’ll experience more of the fleeting pleasures that worldly life provides—assuming you can momentarily push the world’s suffering to the back of your mind.

Where is the balance? How do you live in this world?

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The word saṃyatatta apparently means both “self-restrained” and “self-controlled.” I think restraint may be a slightly better translation than control, simply because of the association that the word “control” evokes (in my Western mind at least).

We can’t force the mind to come “under control” using willpower. In fact, “we” can’t do anything at all. Instead, we just try to set the right conditions, which prompt the mind to restrain itself.

As to indulging in sense pleasures, the Eightfold Path does not include them because they do not lead to realization. Our time in this life is limited, much more so than we realize, and we waste our time if we indulge in them. It is better to do something that leads towards realization. For example, indulge in a dhamma talk, like Bāhiya in Ud1.10.

The question is always whether what we are doing leads to realization.

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I mean, that’s literally what the buddha advised people to do?

But to refer back to the meaning of the poem;

The poem is in a Vedic metre, paṅktiḥ, and is paralleled exactly at SA1281 and SAB279

The first verse is probably what we now call Jain, that is it represents a philosophy of complete restraint. The second verse is the Buddhas response, which succinctly recapitulates what the simile of the cloth at MN7 also articulates, that the issue with “the worlds pretty things” including the sensation or feeling of pleasure, is our impure, toxic, poisonous attachment or addiction to them, and for a person who trains their mind well, sukhaṁ or pleasure is no obstacle, rather it is a vehicle to liberation through correct understanding.

Here is the Pali of the Paṅktiḥ Poem;

“Yato yato mano nivāraye,
“Whatever you’ve shielded the mind from

Na dukkhameti naṁ tato tato;
can’t cause you suffering.

Sa sabbato mano nivāraye,
So you should shield the mind from everything,

Sa sabbato dukkhā pamuccatī”ti.
then you’re freed from all suffering.”

“Na sabbato mano nivāraye,
“You needn’t shield the mind from everything.

Na mano saṁyatattamāgataṁ;
When the mind is under control,

Yato yato ca pāpakaṁ,
you need only shield the mind

Tato tato mano nivāraye”ti.
from where the bad things come.”

Here is the relevant part of MN7;

‘Yathodhi kho pana me cattaṁ vantaṁ muttaṁ pahīnaṁ paṭinissaṭṭhan’ti labhati atthavedaṁ, labhati dhammavedaṁ, labhati dhammūpasaṁhitaṁ pāmojjaṁ;
Thinking: ‘I have discarded, eliminated, released, given up, and relinquished to this extent,’ they find inspiration in the meaning and the teaching, and find joy connected with the teaching.

pamuditassa pīti jāyati, pītimanassa kāyo passambhati, passaddhakāyo sukhaṁ vedeti, sukhino cittaṁ samādhiyati.
When they’re joyful, rapture springs up. When the mind is full of rapture, the body becomes tranquil. When the body is tranquil, they feel bliss. And when they’re blissful, the mind becomes immersed in samādhi.

Sa kho so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu evaṁsīlo evaṁdhammo evaṁpañño sālīnañcepi piṇḍapātaṁ bhuñjati vicitakāḷakaṁ anekasūpaṁ anekabyañjanaṁ, nevassa taṁ hoti antarāyāya.
When a mendicant of such ethics, such qualities, and such wisdom eats boiled fine rice with the dark grains picked out and served with many soups and sauces, that is no obstacle for them.
MN7

anyway, hope that helps!

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The gradual path. First keep the five precepts. Then the eight. Then become a penniless mendicant. :haircut_man:

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One reins it with mindfulness (Sati) +Sampajanna (Panna), you will train yours mind, to filter through experience of 6 indriyas .

One detect it with Sati ( mindfulness) and with clear comprehension filter it with wisdom (Sampajanna-Panna)- based on the following criteria’s :

Are those action, speech ,mind :
good /bad?
beneficial or not?
wise/ unwise ?
blameworthy/praiseworthy.?

Commentaries offered a few tips ,: (reference : 1. Anālayo (2006), pp. 143–5; Bodhi (2005), p. 442, n. 34; and, Nyanaponika (1996), p. 46.)

  • purpose (Pāli: sātthaka): refraining from activities irrelevant to the Noble eighfold paths.
  • suitability (sappāya): pursuing activities in a dignified and careful manner.
  • domain (gocara):(maintaining sensory restraint consistent with mindfulness.
  • non-delusion (asammoha): seeing the true nature of reality (Anicca,Dukkha,Anatta).

Thus reining it with mindfulness (Sati) and Panna ( to penetrate it)

reference from : Snp 5.2 Ajitamāṇavapucchā ( The Questions of Ajita) :pray:

Mettacittena
Qzl

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