how to manage the mind

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HOW TO MANAGE THE MIND

Nanthayani Bhikkhuni Nirodharam Bhikkhuni Arama, Chiang Mai, Thailand

In learning how to manage the mind, it is important to understand the nature of the mind,

otherwise known as consciousness, and how it arises.

The Buddha taught that consciousness is not something permananent that always exists.

Consciousness is something that arises at each of the internal sense bases (ayatana) dependent

on causes and conditions, and passes away when the causes and conditions cease.(The six

internal sense bases are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.)

For example, eye consciousness arises dependent on the eyeand visual form. We can use a

simple metaphor to illustrate this mechanism. Think of the eye as the head of a matchstick, form

as the side of a matchbox. Eye-consciousness is like the flame that results when the head of the

matchstick strikes the side of the matchbox, or when the eye and visual form strike each other.

The meeting of the three – eye, form, and eye-consciousness – is what is known as “contact”

(phassa). With contact as condition, feeling (vedana) arises. With feeling as condition, craving

(tanha) arises. This is how suffering originates.

The same process occurs with:

- Ear, sound, and ear-consciousness

- Nose, odor, and nose-consciousness

- Tongue, taste, and tongue-consciousness

- Body, tactile object, and body-consciousness

- Mind, mental object and mind-consciousness.

The key point to understand is that consciousness (vinnana or citta) and the mental factors or

mental concomitants (cetasika) which arise with it, are the result of the meeting of internal sense

bases and sensory stimuli or input(also known as external sense bases). Thus, it is possible to

influence or “manage” the mind by managing the sensory input it receives.

Another essential principle to remember is that a wholesome mind, ie. a mind with wholesome

mental factors, cannot arise at the same time as an unwholesome mind, that is, a mind with

unwholesome metal factors. At any one time, the mind can either be wholesome or

unwholesome.

It is thus important to create the causes for the wholesome mind to arise as often as possible

because otherwise the unwholesome mind will arise. One of the main proximal causes for the

wholesome mind to arise is having the right sensory input.

For example, it is good practice to associate with the wise, not with fools. This is a point often

stressed by the Buddha. For when one associates with the wise, the ear will hear words of

wisdom, and the ear consciousness that arises can easily be accompanied by wholesome mental

concomitants like mindfulness and wisdom. The same is true for living in a good environment.

For instance, when we live in a monastery, we will have many opportunities to hear the Buddha’s

teachings, that is to say, to hear the truth, and therefore we will receive the right messages and

the right information. In contrast, when we are living out in the regular world, we rarely hear the

Buddha’s teachings but often hear the teachings of advertisements, and we receive the

Dhamma Talk given on 30 March, 2013 at Karamunsing Room, Kompleks Karamunsing, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

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brainwashing messages of consumerism and the cult of youth and beauty. These messages often

cause unwholesome mental concomitants such as greed and delusion to arise.

However, by changing the environment we live in and the people we associate with, we can

change the sensory input we receive, and thereby put in the right causes and conditions for the

wholesome mind to arise more frequently and more continuously.

These two examples of how to influence the mind are found in one of the most popular of the

Buddha’s discourses, called the MangalaSutta. This sutta offers a broad range of teachings on

how to manage one’s mind, providing recommendations on many specific aspects of daily life.

The 38 mangalas - or conditions that bring the highest blessings - are:

1. Not associating with fools 2. Associating with the wise 3. Honouring those who are worthy of honour

This is the highest blessing.

4. Living in a suitable place 5. Having done meritorious actions in the past 6. Setting oneself in the right course


7. Having extensive learning 8. Being skilled in crafts 9. Being well-trained in discipline 10. Having good speech


11. Looking after one’s mother and father 12. Supporting one’s children 13. Supporting one’s wife 14. Having an appropriate livelihood free from

complications This is the highest blessing.

15. Practicing generosity 16. Having righteous conduct 17. Supporting one’s relatives 18. Engaging in blameless and beneficial

activities This is the highest blessing.

19. Abstaining from evil deeds, speech and thoughts

20. Abstaining from intoxicants 21. Diligence in wholesome acts


22. Being respectful 23. Being humble 24. Being contented 25. Being grateful 26. Listening to the Dhamma at a suitable time


27. Being patient 28. Being easy to correct 29. Seeing monks and nuns 30. Discussing the Dhamma on suitable

occasions This is the highest blessing.

31. Putting forth ardent effort 32. Leading the holy life [practicing the Noble

Eightfold Path] 33. Seeing the Four Noble Truths 34. Realizing Nibbana


35. Having a mind that is not shaken by the eight worldly winds

36. Having a mind free from sorrow 37. Having a mind free from defilement 38. Having a mind which is secure


A more succinct framework that can also be used to guide one in managing the mind is the Noble Eightfold Path. It is excellent because it is the most complete set of teachings on how to live one’s life, encompassing all areas of the human experience. In modern times, in many Buddhist practice circles, great emphasis is placed on developing mindfulness,as if this were the be-all and end-all of the Buddhist path. However, right mindfulness is in fact only one factor of the Noble Eightfold Path. The Path the Buddha taught is a holistic one, and must be practiced in all spheres


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of daily life, not just on the meditation cushion. How is one to view life and the world? How is one to think? How is one to speak? How is one to act in relation with others? How is one to earn one’s living? How is one to train one’s mind? The Noble Eightfold Path provides guidance in all these areas, showing the way to lead one’s life that brings happiness and benefit. For the highest benefit to be attained – the ending of all suffering - all eight factors of the Path must be cultivated to their full development, in conjunction with each other:

1. Right View 2. Right Thought 3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right Effort 7. Right Mindfulness 8. Right Concentration

The Noble Eightfold Path can be streamlined further into the Threefold Training:

1. Virtue (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood) 2. Cultivation of Mind (Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration) 3. Wisdom (Right View, Right Thought)

Or to condense the Path into its most concise summation, it can be expressed as the cultivation of

just two qualities:

1. Virtue 2. Wisdom

As the Buddha taught, “Wisdom is purified by virtue and virtue is purified by wisdom. Where one

is, so is the other. The virtuous person has wisdom and the wise person has virtue. The

combination of virtue and wisdom is the highest thing in the world. Just as one might wash hand

with hand, or foot with foot, even so, is wisdom purified by virtue, and virtue purified by wisdom.”

(Sonadanda Sutta, D.I,84).

While holding the whole Noble Eightfold Path (in whatever mode of expression one favors) as the overarching framework, in developing the factors of the Path related to mental discipline (Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration), one can find more specific guidance in the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness:

1. Mindfulness of Body 2. Mindfulness of Feeling 3. Mindfulness of Mind 4. Mindfulness of Dhamma

Using these various Buddhist frameworks as guidelines for how to live one’s life, the wise

manager will be able to manage the mind such that it grows in wholesome qualities and

happiness.


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THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH

“Monks, I will teach you the Noble Eightfold Path, and I will analyze it for you. Listen and attend closely; I

will speak.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” the monks replied.

The Blessed One said this:

“And what, monks, is the Noble Eightfold Path? Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood,

right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

“And what, monks, is right view? Knowledge of suffering, knowledge of the origin of suffering, knowledge of the

cessation of suffering, knowledge of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: this is called right view.

“And what, monks, is right intention? Intention of renunciation, intention of non-ill will, intention of harmlessness:

this is called right intention.

“And what, monks, is right speech? Abstinence from false speech, abstinence from malicious speech, abstinence from

harsh speech, abstinence from idle chatter: this is called right speech.

“And what, monks, is right action? Abstinence from the destruction of life, abstinence from taking what is not given,

abstinence from sexual misconduct: this is called right action.

“And what, monks, is right livelihood? Here a noble disciple, having abandoned a wrong mode of livelihood, earns his

living by a right livelihood: this is called right livelihood.

“And what, monks, is right effort? Here, monks, a monk generates desire for the nonarising of unarisen evil

unwholesome states; he makes an effort, arouses energy, applies his mind, and strives. He generates desire for the

abandoning of arisen evil unwholesome states…He generates desire for the arising of unarisen wholesome states…He

generates desire for the continuation of arisen wholesome states, for their nondecline, increase, expansion, and

fulfillment by development; he makes an effort, arouses energy, applies his mind, and strives. This is called right

effort.

“And what, monks, is right mindfulness? Here, monks, a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent,

clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed longing and dejection in regard to the world. He dwells

contemplating feelings in feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed longing and dejection in

regard to the world. He dwells contemplating mind in mind, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed

longing and dejection in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating phenomena in phenomena, ardent, clearly

comprehending, mindful, having removed longing and dejection in regard to the world. This is called right

mindfulness.

“And what, monks, is right concentration? Here, monks, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from

unwholesome states, a monk enters and dwells in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination,

with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. With the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters and dwells

in the second jhana, which has internal confidence and unificiation of mind, is without thought and examination, and

has rapture and happiness born of concentration. With the fading away as well of rapture, he dwells equanimous

and, mindful and clearly comprehending, he experiences happiness with the body; he enters and dwells in the third

jhana of which the noble ones declare: ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily.’ With the abandoning of

pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and dejection, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhana,

which is neither painful nor pleasant and includes the purification of mindfulness by equanimity. This is called right

concentration.” (S. V.8-10)

how to manage the mind

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