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Brickwall Unlimited

Think Like a Thoroughbred

AN 11.9, the Saddha Sutta — set 2, The Basic Diagnosis and the Path

Reading time: about 7 min · 1,252 words

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Before you read

A wild colt tied up next to its feed can think about exactly one thing. Fodder, fodder. Not because it is stupid, but because nothing else has ever been asked of it.

The Buddha uses that against a fairly recognizable failure of meditation: sitting down, being overrun by whatever is loudest — wanting, irritation, dullness, agitation, doubt — and then chewing on it. Not resisting it. Chewing on it. The alternative is not concentrating harder on a better object; it is described here as thinking in a way that is not anchored to any of that at all.

Note that Saddha is the name of the monk being addressed, not the topic. This is a text about how to meditate, not about faith.

Translation

The Setting

At one time the Buddha was staying at Ñātika, in the brick house.

Then Venerable Saddha went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat to one side. The Buddha said this to Venerable Saddha sitting to one side:

The Wild Colt's Way

"Saddha, think like a thoroughbred — not in the way of a wild colt.

And how is it the wild colt's way?

A wild colt, tied to the feeding trough, holds a theme: 'Fodder, fodder!'

Why is that?

Because a wild colt tied to the feeding trough never thinks: 'What task will the horse trainer have me do today? How should I respond?' Tied to the feeding trough, it holds a theme: 'Fodder, fodder!'

In the same way, Saddha, a wild person who has gone to the forest, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling. They remain with their heart overcome and seized by sensual desire, and they do not truly understand the escape from sensual desire that has arisen. Harboring sensual desire as their theme, they think on it, dwell on it, brood over it, and keep circling back to it.

They remain with their heart overcome by ill will, and they do not truly understand the escape from ill will that has arisen. Harboring ill will as their theme, they think on it, dwell on it, brood over it, and keep circling back to it.

They remain with their heart overcome by sloth and torpor, and they do not truly understand the escape from sloth and torpor that has arisen. Harboring sloth and torpor as their theme, they think on it, dwell on it, brood over it, and keep circling back to it.

They remain with their heart overcome by restlessness and worry, and they do not truly understand the escape from restlessness and worry that has arisen. Harboring restlessness and worry as their theme, they think on it, dwell on it, brood over it, and keep circling back to it.

They remain with their heart overcome and seized by doubt, and they do not truly understand the escape from doubt that has arisen. Harboring doubt as their theme, they think on it, dwell on it, brood over it, and keep circling back to it.

They hold earth as theme, water as theme, fire as theme, and air as theme. They hold the base of infinite space as theme, the base of infinite consciousness as theme, the base of nothingness as theme, and the base of neither-recognition-nor-non-recognition as theme. They hold this world as theme and the other world as theme. They hold as theme whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, reached, sought, or explored by the thinking mind.

That is the wild colt's way of thinking.

The Fine Thoroughbred's Way

And how is it the fine thoroughbred's way?

A fine thoroughbred, tied to the feeding trough, does not hold a theme: 'Fodder, fodder!'

Why is that?

Because a fine thoroughbred tied to the feeding trough does think: 'What task will the horse trainer have me do today? How should I respond?' Tied to the feeding trough, it does not hold a theme: 'Fodder, fodder!'

For the fine thoroughbred regards the goad's contact as a debt, a bond, a loss, and a misfortune.

In the same way, Saddha, the fine thoroughbred person who has gone to the forest, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling does not remain with their heart overcome and seized by sensual desire, and they truly understand the escape from sensual desire that has arisen.

They do not remain with their heart overcome by ill will, and they truly understand the escape from ill will that has arisen.

They do not remain with their heart overcome by sloth and torpor, and they truly understand the escape from sloth and torpor that has arisen.

They do not remain with their heart overcome by restlessness and worry, and they truly understand the escape from restlessness and worry that has arisen.

They do not remain with their heart overcome and seized by doubt, and they truly understand the escape from doubt that has arisen.

They do not hold earth as theme, water as theme, fire as theme, or air as theme. They do not hold the base of infinite space as theme, the base of infinite consciousness as theme, the base of nothingness as theme, or the base of neither-recognition-nor-non-recognition as theme. They do not hold this world as theme or the other world as theme. They do not hold as theme whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, reached, sought, or explored by the thinking mind.

And yet they do think like this.

When a fine thoroughbred person thinks like this, the gods together with Indra, Brahmā, and Pajāpati worship them from afar:

'Homage to you, thoroughbred individual, homage to you, supreme among persons. We do not understand on what your thinking stands.'

Saddha's Question

When this was said, Venerable Saddha asked the Buddha: "But Bhante, how does a fine thoroughbred person not hold earth as theme, water as theme, fire as theme, or air as theme; not hold the base of infinite space as theme, the base of infinite consciousness as theme, the base of nothingness as theme, or the base of neither-recognition-nor-non-recognition as theme; not hold this world as theme or the other world as theme; not hold as theme whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, reached, sought, or explored by the thinking mind —

and yet think like this?

And when thinking like this, how is it that the gods together with Indra, Brahmā, and Pajāpati worship them from afar:

'Homage to you, thoroughbred individual, homage to you, supreme among persons. We do not understand on what your thinking stands.'?"

Recognition Has Vanished

"Saddha, for a fine thoroughbred person, the recognition of earth has vanished in relation to earth. The recognition of water has vanished in relation to water. The recognition of fire has vanished in relation to fire. The recognition of air has vanished in relation to air. The recognition of the base of infinite space has vanished in relation to the base of infinite space. The recognition of the base of infinite consciousness has vanished in relation to the base of infinite consciousness. The recognition of the base of nothingness has vanished in relation to the base of nothingness. The recognition of the base of neither-recognition-nor-non-recognition has vanished in relation to the base of neither-recognition-nor-non-recognition. The recognition of this world has vanished in relation to this world. The recognition of the other world has vanished in relation to the other world. The recognition of whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, reached, sought, or explored by the thinking mind — that recognition too has vanished.

That is how a fine thoroughbred person does not hold earth as theme, water as theme, fire as theme, or air as theme; does not hold the base of infinite space as theme, the base of infinite consciousness as theme, the base of nothingness as theme, or the base of neither-recognition-nor-non-recognition as theme; does not hold this world as theme or the other world as theme; does not hold as theme whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, reached, sought, or explored by the thinking mind —

and yet thinks like this.

And when thinking like this, the gods together with Indra, Brahmā, and Pajāpati worship them from afar:

'Homage to you, thoroughbred individual, homage to you, supreme among persons. We do not understand on what your thinking stands.'"

The ninth discourse is finished.

Words used in this translation (12)
Bhante
A respectful way of addressing a senior monastic, roughly "venerable sir." Left untranslated because English has no natural equivalent.
contact
This project's rendering of "phassa" -- the meeting of a sense, its object, and the knowing of it. A technical link in the dependent-arising sequence, not physical touch specifically.
doubt
Uncertainty and indecision, especially about the practice and the teaching. As one of the five hindrances, it keeps the mind wavering instead of committing.
escape
This project's rendering of "nissaraṇa". It is the real way out of whatever the text is discussing, unlike the false escapes an untrained mind reaches for. In SN 36.6 the escape is from being stuck in a feeling; in Ud 8.3 it is from everything born, made, and conditioned.
heart
This project's rendering of "citta": the feeling side of mind. It takes on moods, wants, leans, and reacts. Practice can gladden, steady, train, and release it. Some call it the "heart-mind" or "feeling mind". Here "heart" does not mean only emotion, or the physical organ.
ill will
Hostility toward others or situations: pushing things away and wishing them harm. As one of the five hindrances, it pulls the mind off track.
recognition
This project's rendering of "saññā" (often translated "perception") -- the mind's act of identifying and labeling what it encounters.
restlessness and worry
When agitation and nagging worry or regret pull you off track. One of the five hindrances.
sensual desire
When wanting something pleasant pulls you off track. One of the five hindrances.
sloth and torpor
When sluggishness, heaviness, and sinking energy pull you off track. One of the five hindrances.
thinking mind
This project's rendering of "mano": the part of mind that thinks and registers ideas. These texts count it as a sixth sense, alongside the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body.
world
A word whose scope shifts with the teaching. It can mean the lived world we build through the senses and the mind, or the wider physical cosmos. The surrounding passage shows which sense it has.
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