{"collection":"Majjhima Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_mn20/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_mn20","id":"suttacentral_mn20","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/mn20/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Majjhima Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near S\u0101vatth\u012b in Jeta\u2019s Grove, An\u0101thapi\u1e47\u1e0dika\u2019s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, \u201cMendicants!\u201d \u201cVenerable sir,\u201d they replied. The Buddha said this: \u201cMendicants, a mendicant committed to the higher mind should focus on five subjects from time to time. What five? Take a mendicant who is focusing on some subject that gives rise to bad, unskillful thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion. That mendicant should focus on some other subject connected with the skillful. As they do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. Their mind becomes stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in sam\u0101dhi. It\u2019s like a deft mason or their apprentice who\u2019d knock out or extract a large peg with a finer peg. In the same way, a mendicant \u2026 should focus on some other basis of meditation connected with the skillful \u2026 Now, suppose that mendicant is focusing on some other subject connected with the skillful, but bad, unskillful thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion keep coming up. They should examine the drawbacks of those thoughts: \u2018So these thoughts are unskillful, they\u2019re blameworthy, and they result in suffering.\u2019 As they do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. Their mind becomes stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in sam\u0101dhi. Suppose there was a woman or man who was young, youthful, and fond of adornments. If the carcass of a snake or a dog or a human were hung around their neck, they\u2019d be horrified, repelled, and disgusted. In the same way, a mendicant \u2026 should examine the drawbacks of those thoughts \u2026 Now, suppose that mendicant is examining the drawbacks of those thoughts, but bad, unskillful thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion keep coming up. They should try to forget and ignore them. As they do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. Their mind becomes stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in sam\u0101dhi. Suppose there was a person with clear eyes, and some undesirable sights came into their range of vision. They\u2019d just close their eyes or look away. In the same way, a mendicant \u2026 those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end \u2026 Now, suppose that mendicant is ignoring and forgetting about those thoughts, but bad, unskillful thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion keep coming up. They should focus on stopping the formation of those thoughts. As they do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. Their mind becomes stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in sam\u0101dhi. Suppose there was a person walking quickly. They\u2019d think: \u2018Why am I walking so quickly? Why don\u2019t I slow down?\u2019 So they\u2019d slow down. They\u2019d think: \u2018Why am I walking slowly? Why don\u2019t I stand still?\u2019 So they\u2019d stand still. They\u2019d think: \u2018Why am I standing still? Why don\u2019t I sit down?\u2019 So they\u2019d sit down. They\u2019d think: \u2018Why am I sitting? Why don\u2019t I lie down?\u2019 So they\u2019d lie down. And so that person would shun successively coarser postures and adopt more subtle ones. In the same way, a mendicant \u2026 those thoughts are given up and come to an end \u2026 Now, suppose that mendicant is focusing on stopping the formation of those thoughts, but bad, unskillful thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion keep coming up. With teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, they should squeeze, squash, and crush mind with mind. As they do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. Their mind becomes stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in sam\u0101dhi. It\u2019s like a strong man who grabs a weaker man by the head or throat or shoulder and squeezes, squashes, and crushes them. In the same way, a mendicant \u2026 with teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, should squeeze, squash, and crush mind with mind. As they do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. Their mind becomes stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in sam\u0101dhi. Now, take the mendicant who is focusing on some subject that gives rise to bad, unskillful thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion. They focus on some other subject connected with the skillful \u2026 They examine the drawbacks of those thoughts \u2026 They try to forget and ignore about those thoughts \u2026 They focus on stopping the formation of those thoughts \u2026 With teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, they squeeze, squash, and crush mind with mind. When they succeed in each of these things, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. Their mind becomes stilled internally; it settles, unifies, and becomes immersed in sam\u0101dhi. This is called a mendicant who is a master of the ways of thought. They will think what they want to think, and they won\u2019t think what they don\u2019t want to think. They\u2019ve cut off craving, cast off the fetters, and by rightly comprehending conceit have made an end of suffering.\u201d That is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, the mendicants approved what the Buddha said.","title":"How to Stop Thinking","tradition":"Majjhima Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":884}