{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn35.240/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn35.240","id":"suttacentral_sn35.240","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn35.240/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"\u201cOnce upon a time, mendicants, a tortoise was grazing along the bank of a river in the afternoon. At the same time, a jackal was also hunting along the river bank. The tortoise saw the jackal off in the distance hunting, so it drew its limbs and neck inside its shell, and kept passive and silent. But the jackal also saw the tortoise off in the distance grazing. So it went up to the tortoise and waited nearby, thinking, \u2018When that tortoise sticks one or other of its limbs or neck out from its shell, I\u2019ll grab it right there, rip it out, and eat it!\u2019 But when that tortoise didn\u2019t stick one or other of its limbs or neck out from its shell, the jackal left disappointed, since it couldn\u2019t find a vulnerability. In the same way, M\u0101ra the Wicked is always waiting nearby, thinking: \u2018Hopefully I can find a vulnerability in the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind.\u2019 That\u2019s why you should live with sense doors guarded. When you see a sight with your eyes, don\u2019t get caught up in the features and details. If the faculty of sight were left unrestrained, bad unskillful qualities of covetousness and displeasure would become overwhelming. For this reason, practice restraint, protecting the faculty of sight, and achieving its restraint. When you hear a sound with your ears \u2026 When you smell an odor with your nose \u2026 When you taste a flavor with your tongue \u2026 When you feel a touch with your body \u2026 When you know an idea with your mind, don\u2019t get caught up in the features and details. If the faculty of mind were left unrestrained, bad unskillful qualities of covetousness and displeasure would become overwhelming. For this reason, practice restraint, protecting the faculty of mind, and achieving its restraint. When you live with your sense doors guarded, M\u0101ra will leave you disappointed, since he can\u2019t find a vulnerability, just like the jackal left the tortoise. A mendicant should collect their thoughts as a tortoise draws its limbs into its shell. Independent, not disturbing others, quenched: they wouldn\u2019t blame anyone.\u201d","title":"The Simile of the Tortoise","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":354}