22. Virtue as Attitudes (2)

The second list of virtuous attitudes comes in a discourse that describes four qualities that keep you from regressing in the practice and that bring you into the presence of unbinding. The four are: scrupulousness, restraint of the senses, moderation in eating, and wakefulness (AN 4:37). The first quality is an expression of truthfulness in holding your actions to a high standard. The remaining three foster relinquishment in that they’re aimed at subduing the basic desires and passions that tend to run people’s lives: for sensual pleasures in general, for food, and for sleep.

AN 4:37 gives basic definitions for each of these qualities and attitudes. Other passages in the Canon flesh out the definitions, explaining in more detail how these qualities are embodied in day-to-day practice. They also show how the Buddha would use poetry, stories, and similes to “urge, rouse, and encourage” his disciples to develop these qualities. Especially striking are the similes he uses: They give examples in how to use the mental fabrication of perception as a tool in developing the path.

Scrupulousness is defined as follows:

“There is the case where a monk is virtuous. He dwells restrained in accordance with the Pāṭimokkha, consummate in his behavior & sphere of activity. He trains himself, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest faults.” — AN 4:37

A humorous story from the Canon shows that this habit of seeing danger in the slightest fault applies not only to the rules, but also to any activity that suggests passion within the mind.

I have heard that on one occasion a certain monk was staying among the Kosalans in a forest grove. Now at that time, after his meal, returning from his almsround, he went down to a lotus pond and sniffed a red lotus.

Then the devatā inhabiting the forest grove, feeling sympathy for the monk, desiring his benefit, desiring to bring him to his senses, approached him and addressed him with this verse:

“You sniff this water-born flower
that hasn’t been given to you.
This, dear sir,	is a factor of stealing.
You 		are the thief of a scent.”

The monk:

“I don’t take, don’t damage.
I sniff at the lotus
	from far away.
So why do you call me
a thief of a scent?
One who
	digs up the stalks,
	damages flowers,
one of such ruthless behavior:
	Why don’t you say it of him?”

The devatā:

“A person ruthless & grasping,
smeared like a nursing diaper:
To him
I have nothing to say.
		It’s you
	to whom I should speak.
To a person unblemished,
constantly searching for purity,
a hair-tip’s worth of evil
	seems as large
	as a cloud.”

The monk:

“Yes, spirit, you understand me
and show me sympathy.
Warn me again, spirit,
whenever again
you see something like this.”

The devatā:

“I don’t depend on you
for my living
nor am I
your hired hand.
			You, monk,
you yourself should know
how to go to the good destination.”

The monk, chastened by the devatā, came to his senses. — SN 9:14

Restraint of the senses is defined as not focusing on any aspects of a sense impression that would give rise to unskillful qualities in the mind:

“And how does a monk guard the doors to his sense faculties? There is the case where a monk, on seeing a form with the eye, doesn’t grasp at any theme or variations by which—if he were to dwell without restraint over the faculty of the eye—evil, unskillful qualities such as greed or distress might assail him. He practices with restraint. He guards the faculty of the eye. He achieves restraint with regard to the faculty of the eye.

“[Similarly with the faculties of the ear, nose, tongue, body, and intellect.]” — AN 4:37

Now, sense restraint doesn’t mean going around with blinders on your eyes or plugs in your ears. You’re basically examining your engagement with the senses as part of a cause-and-effect process: which mental attitudes are motivating you to look, listen, etc., and which mind states result when you allow those attitudes to take charge. You see your engagement with the senses as an active rather than a purely passive process. Then you use that perspective to take charge of how you deal with sights, sounds, etc. Instead of simply looking for pleasure from the senses, you treat them as lessons in how not to provoke unskillful states of mind.

As the Buddha points out, the first stage in restraint is to use mindfulness like a dam to hold the mind back from allowing sensory contact to provoke unskillful states of mind. However, you need discernment to cut through the source of the stream that you’ve been trying to keep dammed (Sn 5:1). The second process, though, depends on the first. As you keep the mind in check, you become sensitive to the factors of dependent co-arising that precede and condition sensory contact, and to the desire and passion that fetter the mind to sensory impressions both before and after contact happens. Think of what it’s like when you build a dam across a river: You learn about strong currents in the water that don’t show on the surface. In the same way, when you exercise restraint of the senses, you learn about strong currents in the mind that you otherwise wouldn’t detect.

To urge and encourage his monks in restraint, the Buddha tells a story containing an analogy to show how not to engage with the sense of touch:

“Just as if a māluvā creeper pod were to burst open in the last month of the hot season, and a māluvā creeper seed were to fall at the foot of a Sal tree. The deva living in the tree would become frightened, apprehensive, & anxious. Her friends & companions, relatives & kin—garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, & forest monarchs—would gather together to console her: ‘Have no fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this māluvā creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it up, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isn’t really a seed.’

“And then no peacock swallowed it, no deer ate it, no brush fire burned it up, no woodsmen picked it up, no termites carried it off, and it really was a seed. Watered by a rain-laden cloud, it sprouted properly and curled its soft, tender, downy tendril around the Sal tree.

“The thought occurred to the deva living in the Sal tree: ‘Now what future danger did my friends & companions, relatives & kin—garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, & forest monarchs—foresee in that māluvā creeper seed that they gathered together to console me: “Have no fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this māluvā creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it up, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isn’t really a seed.” It’s pleasant, the touch of this māluvā creeper’s soft, tender, downy tendril.’

“Then the creeper, having enwrapped the Sal tree, having made a canopy over it, & cascading down around it, caused the massive limbs of the Sal tree to come crashing down. The thought occurred to the deva living in the tree: ‘This was the future danger my friends… foresaw in that māluvā creeper seed, that they gathered together to console me.… It’s because of that māluvā creeper seed that I’m now experiencing sharp, burning pains.’

“In the same way, monks, there are some contemplatives & brahmans who hold to a doctrine, a view like this: ‘There is no harm in sensual pleasures.’ Thus they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. They consort with women wanderers who wear their hair coiled in a topknot.

“The thought occurs to them: ‘Now, what future danger do those (other) contemplatives & brahmans foresee that they speak of the abandoning of sensual pleasures and describe the comprehension of sensual pleasures? It’s pleasant, the touch of this woman wanderer’s soft, tender, downy arm.’

Thus they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. Then, having met with their downfall through sensual pleasures, with the break-up of the body, after death, they reappear in a plane of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell. There they experience sharp, burning pains. They say: ‘This was the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those contemplatives & brahmans foresaw that they spoke of the abandoning of sensual pleasures and described the comprehension of sensual pleasures. It’s because of sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that we’re now experiencing these sharp, burning pains.’

“This is called the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but yields pain in the future.” — MN 45

As this passage shows, the way you talk to yourself about sensual pleasures—or, to use terms derived from dependent co-arising, the way you engage in verbal fabrication—can easily provoke sensual desires. So to help make your inner conversation more skillful, the Buddha provides a large number mental fabrications in the form of analogies to help abort unskillful passions and desires. A few examples: Sensuality is like a dog trying to appease its hunger by chewing on a chain of bones without any flesh. It’s like being thrown into a pit of burning embers; like a hawk carrying off a piece of flesh and being attacked by other hawks; like a person waking from a beautiful dream and seeing all the beautiful things in the dream disappear (MN 54).

The Buddha also uses a martial metaphor to rouse his monks, showing that restraint of the senses, instead of being a weakness, is a form of valor and strength.

“Now, a king’s elephant endowed with five qualities is worthy of a king, is a king’s asset, counts as a very limb of his king. Which five? There is the case where a king’s elephant is resilient to sights, resilient to sounds, resilient to aromas, resilient to flavors, resilient to tactile sensations.

“And how is a king’s elephant resilient to sights? There is the case where a king’s elephant, having gone into battle, sees a troop of elephants, a troop of cavalry, a troop of chariots, a troop of foot soldiers, but he doesn’t falter or faint. He steels himself and engages in the battle. This is how a king’s elephant is resilient to sights.

“And how is a king’s elephant resilient to sounds? There is the case where a king’s elephant, having gone into battle, hears the sound of elephants, the sound of cavalry, the sound of chariots, the sound of foot soldiers, the resounding din of drums, cymbals, conchs, & tom-toms, but he doesn’t falter or faint. He steels himself and engages in the battle. This is how a king’s elephant is resilient to sounds.

“And how is a king’s elephant resilient to aromas? There is the case where a king’s elephant, having gone into battle, smells the stench of the urine & feces of those pedigreed royal elephants who are at home in the battlefield, but he doesn’t falter or faint. He steels himself and engages in the battle. This is how a king’s elephant is resilient to aromas.

“And how is a king’s elephant resilient to flavors? There is the case where a king’s elephant, having gone into battle, goes without his ration of grass & water for one day, two days, three days, four days, five, but he doesn’t falter or faint. He steels himself and engages in the battle. This is how a king’s elephant is resilient to flavors.

“And how is a king’s elephant resilient to tactile sensations? There is the case where a king’s elephant, having gone into battle, is pierced by a flight of arrows, two flights, three flights, four flights, five flights of arrows, but he doesn’t falter or faint. He steels himself and engages in the battle. This is how a king’s elephant is resilient to tactile sensations.

“Endowed with these five qualities, monks, a king’s elephant is worthy of a king, is a king’s asset, counts as a very limb of his king.

“In the same way, a monk endowed with five qualities is deserving of gifts, deserving of hospitality, deserving of offerings, deserving of respect, an unexcelled field of merit for the world. Which five? There is the case where a monk is resilient to sights, resilient to sounds, resilient to aromas, resilient to flavors, resilient to tactile sensations.

“And how is a monk resilient to sights? There is the case where a monk, on seeing a sight with the eye, feels no passion for a sight that incites passion and can center his mind. This is how a monk is resilient to sights.

“[Similarly with the remaining senses.]” — AN 5:139

The Buddha used another analogy to show how restraint of the senses depends on having a strong foundation of mindfulness based in the body. If that mindfulness is based on the breath—as we’ll discuss below—it feeds the mind with a sense of pleasure so that it’s not hungry for the unhealthy food of sensory contacts. If it’s based on a contemplation of the unattractiveness of the body, it serves to remind you of what’s inside any outside body you might find attractive.

Notice in this passage how the Buddha provides you with an example of a good image or perception—a mental fabrication—to help with this practice, ending with an example of a verbal fabrication with which you can urge yourself to stick with it.

“And what is restraint? There is the case where a monk, seeing a form with the eye, is not set on pleasing forms, is not repelled by unpleasing forms, and remains with body-mindfulness established, with immeasurable awareness. He discerns, as it has come to be, the awareness-release, the discernment-release, where all evil, unskillful mental qualities that have arisen utterly cease without remainder.

“[Similarly when hearing a sound with the ear, smelling an aroma with the nose, tasting a flavor with the tongue, touching a tactile sensation with the body, or cognizing an idea with the intellect.]

“Just as if a person, catching six animals of different ranges, of different habitats, were to bind them with a strong rope. Catching a snake, he would bind it with a strong rope. Catching a crocodile… a bird… a dog… a hyena… a monkey, he would bind it with a strong rope. Binding them all with a strong rope, he would tether them to a strong post or stake.

“Then those six animals, of different ranges, of different habitats, would each pull toward its own range & habitat. The snake would pull, thinking, ‘I’ll go into the anthill.’ The crocodile would pull, thinking, ‘I’ll go into the water.’ The bird would pull, thinking, ‘I’ll fly up into the air.’ The dog would pull, thinking, ‘I’ll go into the village.’ The hyena would pull, thinking, ‘I’ll go into the charnel ground.’ The monkey would pull, thinking, ‘I’ll go into the forest.’ And when these six animals became internally exhausted, they would stand, sit, or lie down right there next to the post or stake.

“In the same way, in any monk whose mindfulness immersed in the body is developed & pursued, the eye doesn’t pull toward pleasing forms, and unpleasing forms are not repellent. The ear doesn’t pull toward pleasing sounds… The nose doesn’t pull toward pleasing aromas… The tongue doesn’t pull toward pleasing flavors… The body doesn’t pull toward pleasing tactile sensations… The intellect doesn’t pull toward pleasing ideas, and unpleasing ideas are not repellent. This, monks, is restraint.

“The ‘strong post or stake’ is a synonym for mindfulness immersed in the body.

“Thus you should train yourselves: ‘We will develop mindfulness immersed in the body. We will pursue it, give it a means of transport, give it a grounding. We will steady it, consolidate it, and set about it properly.’ That’s how you should train yourselves.” — SN 35:206

Moderation in eating is defined both in terms of the amount of food you eat and in terms of your motivation for eating.

“And how does a monk know moderation in eating? There is the case where a monk, considering it appropriately, takes his food not playfully, nor for intoxication, nor for putting on bulk, nor for beautification, but simply for the survival & continuance of this body, for ending its afflictions, for the support of the holy life, thinking, ‘I will destroy old feelings (of hunger) & not create new feelings (from overeating). Thus I will maintain myself, be blameless, & live in comfort.’ This is how a monk knows moderation in eating.” — AN 4:37

This definition is repeated several times in the Canon, but with no further explanation. However, the fact that the Buddha included the following verse in his description of the path to the highest sagacity shows that he regarded your attitude toward food as an important part of the training.

Stomach not full,
moderate in food,
modest,
not being greedy,
always not hungering for wants:
	One without hunger
	is one who’s unbound.  — Sn 3:11

The Canon also contains a gruesome story to illustrate the appropriate attitude toward comprehending food. If you fully comprehend food, you arrive at the third and penultimate level of awakening, non-return. That shows how important it is to develop the right attitude toward eating.

“And how is physical food to be regarded? Suppose a couple, husband & wife, taking meager provisions, were to travel through a desert. With them would be their only baby son, dear & appealing. Then the meager provisions of the couple going through the desert would be used up & depleted while there was still a stretch of the desert yet to be crossed. The thought would occur to them, ‘Our meager provisions are used up & depleted while there is still a stretch of this desert yet to be crossed. What if we were to kill this only baby son of ours, dear & appealing, and make dried meat & jerky? That way—chewing on the flesh of our son—at least the two of us would make it through this desert. Otherwise, all three of us would perish.’

“So they would kill their only baby son, dear & appealing, and make dried meat & jerky. Chewing on the flesh of their son, they would make it through the desert. While eating the flesh of their only son, they would beat their breasts, (crying,) ‘Where have you gone, our only baby son? Where have you gone, our only baby son?’ Now what do you think, monks? Would that couple eat that food playfully or for intoxication, or for putting on bulk, or for beautification?”

“No, lord.”

“Wouldn’t they eat that food simply for the sake of making it through that desert?”

“Yes, lord.”

“In the same way, I tell you, is the nutriment of physical food to be regarded. When physical food is comprehended, passion for the five strings of sensuality is comprehended. When passion for the five strings of sensuality is comprehended, there is no fetter bound by which a disciple of the noble ones would come back again to this world.” — SN 12:63

Wakefulness is defined both as a matter of making do with little sleep and of developing heedfulness during your waking hours. It lays the groundwork for the qualities needed in mindfulness and concentration practice: ardency, alertness, and mindfulness itself.

“And how is a monk committed to wakefulness? There is the case where a monk during the day, sitting & pacing back & forth, cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the first watch of the night [dusk to 10 p.m.], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the second watch of the night [10 p.m. to 2 a.m.], reclining on his right side, he takes up the lion’s posture, one foot placed on top of the other, mindful, alert, with his mind set on getting up [either as soon as he awakens or at a particular time]. During the last watch of the night [2 a.m. to dawn], sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. This is how a monk is committed to wakefulness.” — AN 4:37

Ven. Soṇa Poṭiriyaputta:

It’s not for sleeping,
	the night garlanded
	with zodiac stars.
The night, for one who knows,
	is for staying awake.  — Thag 2:37