Hard to Do
Dukkara Sutta (SN 1:17)
For the inexperienced,
the contemplative life is
hard to do,
hard to endure,
for many are the confinements there
in which a fool sinks.
How many days can you follow
the contemplative life
if you don’t block the mind?
Step by step you’d sink
under the sway of your resolves.1
As a tortoise would draw its limbs into its shell, so a monk should— the thoughts of his heart. Independent, not mistreating others, totally unbound, he shouldn’t disparage anyone at all.
Note
1. The passion for his resolves is a man’s sensuality, not the beautiful sensual pleasures found in the world. The passion for his resolves is a man’s sensuality.
The beauties remain as they are in the world,
while, in this regard,
the enlightened
subdue their desire. — AN 6:63
See also: Dhp 183–185
