Edward Conze (trans.), PART 3, Majjhima Nikaya, MN 20, and Papañcasudani (Summary); edited by Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
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A full translation of this sutra has been published by the Buddhist Publication Society of Kandy (BPS.lk) as Wheel #21, under the title The Removal of Distracting Thoughts (Vitakka-santhana Sutta) with Commentary and marginal notes translated by Soma Thera.
The Sutra on the Composition of Ideas
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| Oh, that's much easier then! |
I. should, by means of this sign (cause, occasion) attend to another sign that is more wholesome;
II. or should investigate the peril of these ideas: "Unwholesome truly are these ideas! Blameworthy are these ideas! Of painful result are these ideas!";
III. or should pay no attention to these ideas;
IV. or should attend to the composition of the factors that effect these ideas;
V. or, with teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the gums, should by means of sheer mental effort hold back, crush, and extinguish the (offending) thought.
In doing so these harmful and unwholesome ideas, bound up with greed, hatred, or delusion, will be forsaken and disappear; from their forsaking thought will become inwardly settled and calm, composed, and concentrated. This is called the effort to overcome.
From the Commentary
I. Unwholesome ideas may arise with reference to beings — be they desirable, undesirable, or unconsidered — or to things, such as one's possessions, or things which annoy, like stumps or thorns. The wholesome counter-ideas that drive them out arise from the following practices, which are directly opposed to them:
Greed about beings: Meditation about the repulsiveness of the body.
Greed about things: Attention to their impermanence.
Hate for beings: The development of friendliness.
Hate for things: Attention to the elements: Which of the physical elements composing the thing am I angry with?
Delusion about beings and things:
- When one has, in one's general bewilderment, neglected duties to a teacher, one wakes oneself up by doing some tiring work, such as carrying water.
- When one has been hazy in attending to the teacher's explanation of the doctrine, one wakes oneself up by doing some tiresome work.
- One removes one's doubts by questioning authorities.
- At the right time one listens respectfully to the Dharma.
- One acquires the skill in distinguishing between correct and faulty conclusions and knows, "This is the reason for that, this is not the reason."
These are the direct and correct antidotes to the faulty ideas.
II. One investigates them with the power of wisdom and rejects them like a snake's carcass.
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| Mindfulness is always helpful (Pirarro) |
III. One should not remember those ideas, not attend to them, but become one who is otherwise engaged. One should be like someone who, not wanting to see a certain sight-object, just closes the eyes; when these ideas arise in the mind, one should take hold of this basic subject of meditation and become engaged in that. It may help one to break the spell of intruding thoughts and to occupy the mind otherwise, if one recites with great faith (confidence) a passage from the sacred texts, or reads out a passage in honor (praise) of the Buddha or Dharma; or one may sort out one's belongings and enumerate them one by one: "These are the scissors," "This is the needle," and so on; or one should do some sewing; or one should do some good work for a given period of time. And after that one should return to one's basic subject of meditation.
IV. One should analyze the conditions for these ideas and ask oneself: "What is their cause, what their condition, what the reason for their having arisen?"
V. One should put forth great vigor, and with a wholesome thought one should hold back an unwholesome one. More
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