Pamādavihārī Sutta
“Wanderers,
I will teach you how a person lives carelessly
And how a person lives mindfully.[1]
Listen closely.”
1. Living Carelessly #
How does one live carelessly?
The Eye #
When one lives with the eye faculty unmastered
The mind is completely submerged[2]
in forms that are experienced by the eye.
For the submerged mind there is no relief.[3]
When there is no relief, there is no joy.
When there is no joy, there is no calm.
When there is no calm, there is no happiness.
The unhappy mind does not become collected[4]
For a mind that is not collected,
mental states do not become clearly. [5]
When mental states are not clear,
One is called a person who lives carelessly.[6]
The Ear #
When one lives with the ear faculty unmastered
The mind is completely submerged
in sounds that are experienced by the ear.
For the submerged mind there is no relief.
When there is no relief, there is no joy.
When there is no joy, there is no calm.
When there is no calm, there is no happiness.
The unhappy mind does not become collected
For a mind that is not collected,
mental states do not become clearly.
When mental states are not clear,
One is called a person who lives carelessly.
The Nose #
When one lives with the nose faculty unmastered
The mind is completely submerged
in fragrances that are experienced by the nose.
For the submerged mind there is no relief.
When there is no relief, there is no joy.
When there is no joy, there is no calm.
When there is no calm, there is no happiness.
The unhappy mind does not become collected
For a mind that is not collected,
mental states do not become clearly.
When mental states are not clear,
One is called a person who lives in carelessly.
The Tongue #
When one lives with the tongue faculty unmastered
The mind is completely submerged
in flavours that are experienced by the tongue.
For the submerged mind there is no relief.
When there is no relief, there is no joy.
When there is no joy, there is no calm.
When there is no calm, there is no happiness.
The unhappy mind does not become collected
For a mind that is not collected,
mental states do not become clearly.
When mental states are not clear,
One is called a person who lives in carelessly.
The Body #
When one lives with the body faculty unmastered
The mind is completely submerged
in tangibles that are experienced by the body.
For the submerged mind there is no relief.
When there is no relief, there is no joy.
When there is no joy, there is no calm.
When there is no calm, there is no happiness.
The unhappy mind does not become collected
For a mind that is not collected,
mental states do not become clearly.
When mental states are not clear,
One is called a person who lives in carelessly.
The mind #
When one lives with the body faculty unmastered
The mind is completely submerged
in thoughts that are experienced by the mind.
For the submerged mind there is no relief.
When there is no relief, there is no joy.
When there is no joy, there is no calm.
When there is no calm, there is no happiness.
The unhappy mind does not become collected
For a mind that is not collected,
mental states do not become clearly.
When mental states are not clear,
One is called a person who lives in carelessly.[7]
2. Living Mindfully #
How does one live mindfully?
The Eye #
When one lives, mastering the eye faculty,
The mind is not immersed
in forms that are experienced by the eye.[8]
For the mind that is not immersed, there is relief.
With that relief, joy arises.
From that joy, the body becomes calm.
When the body becomes calm, there is happiness.
This happy mind becomes collected
For a mind that is collected, [9]
mental states become clear.
When mental states become clear,
One is called a person who lives mindfully.[10]
The Ear #
When one lives, mastering the ear faculty,
The mind is not immersed
in sounds that are experienced by the ear.
For the mind that is not immersed, there is relief.
With that relief, joy arises.
From that joy, the body becomes calm.
When the body becomes calm, there is happiness.
This happy mind becomes collected
For a mind that is collected,
mental states become clear.
When mental states become clear,
One is called a person who lives mindfully.
The Nose #
When one lives, mastering the nose faculty,
The mind is not immersed
in fragrances that are experienced by the nose.
For the mind that is not immersed, there is relief.
With that relief, joy arises.
From that joy, the body becomes calm.
When the body becomes calm, there is happiness.
This happy mind becomes collected
For a mind that is collected,
mental states become clear.
When mental states become clear,
One is called a person who lives mindfully.
The Tongue #
When one lives, mastering the tongue faculty,
The mind is not immersed
in flavours that are experienced by the tongue.
For the mind that is not immersed, there is relief.
With that relief, joy arises.
From that joy, the body becomes calm.
When the body becomes calm, there is happiness.
This happy mind becomes collected
For a mind that is collected,
mental states become clear.
When mental states become clear,
One is called a person who lives mindfully.
The Body #
When one lives, mastering the body faculty,
The mind is not immersed
in tangibles that are experienced by the body.
For the mind that is not immersed, there is relief.
With that relief, joy arises.
From that joy, the body becomes calm.
When the body becomes calm, there is happiness.
This happy mind becomes collected
For a mind that is collected,
mental states become clear.
When mental states become clear,
One is called a person who lives mindfully.
The Mind #
When one lives, mastering the mental faculty,
The mind is not immersed
in thoughts that are experienced by the mind.
For the mind that is not immersed, there is relief.
With that relief, joy arises.
From that joy, the body becomes calm.
When the body becomes calm, there is happiness.
This happy mind becomes collected
For a mind that is collected,
mental states become clear.
When mental states become clear,
One is called a person who lives mindfully.
[1] “Pamādavihāriñca vo, bhikkhave, desessāmi appamādavihāriñca.
[2] byāsiñcati pr. is defiled (by); is polluted (by); (comm) is soaked with defilements; lit. soaks (SNa) byāsiñcatī‘ti viāsiñcati, kilesatintaṃ hutvā vattati. √sic･2 ṃa (sprinkle, pour). I am opting for “submerged” because it is closer to the original meaning and I like the idea of being immersed, concentrated, fully taken by the senses. Because its opposite is to take a step back, relax into a spacious awareness that is not so involved, focussed and taken by the senses. Because that is the real movement of “concentration,” the opposite of samādhi.
[3] Cakkhundriyaṁ asaṁvutassa, bhikkhave, viharato cittaṁ byāsiñcati cakkhuviññeyyesu rūpesu tassa byāsittacittassa pāmojjaṁ na hoti.
[4] Pāmojje asati pīti na hoti. Pītiyā asati passaddhi na hoti. Passaddhiyā asati dukkhaṁ hoti. Dukkhino cittaṁ na samādhiyati.
[5] pātubhavanti pr. appears (to); manifests (for); becomes evident (to); lit. becomes in front
[6] Asamāhite citte dhamma na pātubhavanti. Dhammānaṁ apātubhāvā pamādavihārītveva saṅkhaṁ gacchati …pe…
[7] Here, the Buddha explains very clearly the meaning of unwise awareness. A kind of awareness which, nowadays, is often taught as ‘right mindfulness’ in many schools. Traditions, for example, which are proponents of ‘noting’ every single moment of an action which happens at a particular sense door. This discourse comes to shed a distinctively different light, that this kind of practice is not what the Buddha taught as Right Mindfulness. Rather, it is a forced mindfulness, one-pointed at one particular sense door, which is constantly engaging, never letting go, never letting go of the World (Vineyya loke abhijja-domanassaṃ). The Buddha said that ‘the world’ is only the six senses (SN 35.68). Any kind of meditation practice which focuses on a particular aspect of any sensory input is therefore moving the opposite direction from the Buddha’s instructions. If truly guarding the sense faculties was about knowing everything that arises, all the time, at one particular sense faculties, a person would become mad. This would be the road to develop strong mental imbalances, OCD, and eventually madness. This has been the case for some individuals who pushed this kind of practice too far, without having realized the wisdom that this is not the proper way… The way to guard the sense faculties is not through forcing and controlling awareness, but it is by allowing the experience of the moment and constantly letting go of whatever unskillful mental states that might arise, or simply, as soon as a meditator notices.
[8] Cakkhundriyaṁ saṁvutassa, bhikkhave, viharato cittaṁ na byāsiñcati cakkhuviññeyyesu rūpesu, tassa abyāsittacittassa pāmojjaṁ jāyati.
[9] Pamuditassa pīti jāyati. Pītimanassa kayo passambhati. Passaddhakāyo sukhaṁ viharati. Sukhino cittaṁ samādhiyati.
[10] Samāhite cite dhamma pātubhavanti. Dhammānaṁ pātubhāvā appamādavihārītveva saṅkhaṁ gacchati …pe…
