Protecting Your Mind

revised on 2019-11-05

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 31st December 1960

A jackal saw a tortoise, came near and wanted to eat him. But the tortoise knew it and inserted his five body parts of head, hands and legs inside the hard shell.

The jackal waited for sometimes and knew that it's impossible to eat him and left the place. The jackal is king of the death. The five parts of the body; the head, hands and legs are representing eyes, ears, nose, tongue and the body.

If the eye see something and wanting it (taṇhā), clinging to it (upādāna) and acting to get it (kamma) and leading to birth, ageing and death.

It comes out and leads to death from the eyes. It's also the same and meets with the death of the jackal from the ears. They don’t know how to use them and how to come out. It’s over using them and over reaching the boundary.

You will arrive to the kingdom of death if you want to come out from the five sense-doors as much as you like. The Buddha said, “Someone who is practicing has to behave like a tortoise.”

Contemplate the impermanence of seeing (seeing consciousness or the form (object) if you see something. And then it becomes the path factors (magga). It becomes anicca and magga that not over – reaching the boundary.

It’s not leading to the kingdom of death. It’ll lead to Nibbāna which is free from dangers. This simile came from Saṁyutta Nikāya. Protect the five sense-doors under the path factors that free from dangers.

We all never had done this before in saṁsāra and ended up under the king of death. We have to contemplate one of the impermanence, form or seeing, sound or hearing etc. Don’t give up yourself to any birth and becoming. It’s the same as giving your body for death to them. In everyday life, you are afraid of sickness, pain and suffering.

Therefore always take care of the body. In the same way if you take care of the practice and will be free from the king of death.

By taking care of the body can’t free from it. You all are always taking care of which you can’t protect. But you don’t take care of which you can protect. (Sayadaw talked about people; in every day taking care and conditioning for the body) You are doing saṅkhāra dukkha with satisfaction. Taking care of the body is not free from dukkha.

But you are not caring for the mind which can be free from dukkha. (We should think about this point seriously). All of you are difficult people. Aren’t you? There is a lot of taking care in matters which you can’t prevent them. But you have no mindfulness in things which you can prevent them.

Therefore yogis must practice like the tortoise. If not you’ll become the food for the jackal – the king of death. Have to contemplate for catching any one of them, the seeing or the form, etc.

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revised on 2019-11-05; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4241&p=36083#p36083 (posted on 2019-03-08)

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• Content of Part 10 on "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

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• Content of "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

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• Content of Publications of Ven. Uttamo

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According to the translator— Ven. Uttamo's words, this is strictly for free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma—Dhamma Dāna. You may re-format, reprint, translate, and redistribute this work in any medium.