Neglect Looses All, while Careful Alertness Wins All!
At
Savatthi the Blessed One once said this: I will teach you, friends, about the one who lives negligent,
and about
the one who lives alert. Listen cautiously, and pay full attention to it!
How, friends, does one live
Negligently? In him, friends, who lives with an uncontrolled ability to see, the mind is
agitated, and warped by the objects recognizable by the eye. In him whose
mind is agitated and warped, there is no satisfaction! Without satisfaction,
there is no joy! Where there is no joy, there is no contentment, no calm, no
tranquillity, and no mental peace! Without this
calm, one just lives in sorrow, frustrated, urging, and searching! Such a sorrowful person's mind is neither
composed, nor collected, nor
confident. When the mind is not composed, one has neither any clarity, nor any certainty! By not having any clear
thinking, one is reckoned as one, who lives negligently. One is regarded as confused...
So also it is for one who lives
without any control over the ability to hear, smell, taste, touch, and without any control over the ability
to think...
And how, friends, does one live
Alertly? In him, who lives with a
fully controlled ability to see, the mind is neither agitated, nor warped by any object recognizable by the
eye. In one, whose mind is neither agitated, nor warped, satisfaction is
born! In one satisfied, joy is born. When one is joyful, the body is calmed
down. He, whose body is calmed, feels at ease. Composed is the mind of one, who is
at ease. When mind is composed, one's ideas are clear. One gains certainty
and assured
confidence! By having clear ideas and thinking, one is reckoned
as one who lives alertly, and as
one, who is alert! So also it is for any one, who lives with full control over
the ability to
hear, smell, taste, touch, or controlling the ability to think. Thus, friends, is one, who
lives ready, and aware in alertness.
Comments: Not seduced by the mere glitter of sensation of any kind, not running after
fancy dreams,
driven by hopes or compelled by longing. By
not yearning after pleasant sensations, satisfied
by whatever there is present, thus at ease, stilled, one remains just calm, cleared and cooled...
Like a Smiling Mountain
:-)
