[Theragatha 1.13]
The color of blue-dark clouds,
glistening,
cooled with the waters
of clear-flowing streams
covered with ladybugs:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
So this an anthem of solitude from these Theras (elder monks).
That’s what they wanted.
That’s what they were looking for.
A hole in the mountain,
and that’s just beautiful,
when mind delights in emptiness,
these are the places where you feel at ease,
you feel like there’s nothing
causing any kind of friction on these things.
[Theragatha 1.14]
“My preceptor said to me:
‘Let’s go from here, Sivaka.
My body stays in the village,
my mind has gone to the wilds.
Even though I’m lying down,
I go.’
There’s no tying down
one who knows.”
So here, this is just the natural,
comfortable place for the mind to go,
this solitude,
forest solitude.
And that’s another beautiful testimony
of one who knows.
There is no tying down one who knows,
one who has seen this state.
one who has seen the Deathless state.
one who has seen the peaceful state,
it leaves an impression.
And that’s why they say,
what does the mind lean towards
after coming out of cessation,
after coming out of Nirodha?
The mind leans towards release.
It inclines towards release.
So naturally, that’s just where the mind goes.