Deep Commentary

This verse was taught by the Buddha at Jetavana Monastery, in connection with a monk who had once been an elephant trainer. One day, while standing by the Aciravati River, this monk saw an elephant trainer struggling to tame an elephant. Seeing that the trainer was not succeeding, the monk said to the monks nearby, “If he strikes the elephant here and here, it will obey at once.” The trainer overheard him, followed the advice, and soon the elephant submitted. The monks reported the matter to the Buddha. The Buddha called the monk and asked, “Is it true that you spoke in this way?” The monk replied, “Yes, Blessed One.” The Buddha reproved him: “Foolish man, why do you display your skill in training elephants and animals? Riding on such animals cannot bring one to the place one has not yet reached. Only through self-training can one reach the difficult-to-reach goal. From now on, train yourself; do not busy yourself with training animals.” Through this story, the Buddha teaches the importance of self-discipline and inner mastery, rather than trying to control external conditions. A true practitioner must constantly look back into the mind. Only by examining oneself can one recognize one’s own faults. In all Buddhist teachings, from the early discourses to the later Mahayana scriptures, the Buddha repeatedly teaches that one who seeks liberation must guard and gather in the six sense faculties. These six faculties are the source from which many unwholesome actions arise. If a practitioner is careless with the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, it is like opening the door and inviting thieves into the house. Therefore the scriptures often call them the “six thieves.” The Buddha taught that both wandering in samsara and attaining liberation arise through these very six faculties. If one skillfully restrains them, the six sense objects cannot disturb the mind. The teaching on Faith in Mind says in essence: “To enter the One Vehicle, do not hate the six sense objects. When the six sense objects are not hated, they are no different from awakening.” One who wishes to reach the Buddha Vehicle should not despise sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental objects. These objects themselves are not at fault. If the mind does not cling to them or become stained by them, they are merely fields of experience. Then the six faculties are no longer obstacles but become clear and unobstructed. It is like carrying a camera: if we do not take a picture, no image is stored, and there is nothing to develop. The Buddhas and patriarchs also possess the six faculties as we do, but they do not grasp at what appears through them. Therefore they live in peace and liberation. By contrast, whenever our senses meet pleasant or unpleasant conditions, we seize and store them, and then we wonder why we suffer. In truth, we bind ourselves. Long ago, the elder Punna wished to practice swiftly and asked the Buddha for a concise, essential method. The Buddha taught him: “Gather in the six faculties. Do not let the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind cling to the six sense objects. Right there, liberation is found.” Punna practiced accordingly in the forest and soon fulfilled his aspiration, attaining arahantship. In the Surangama teaching, when the Buddha asked twenty-five sages to describe their practice and realization, the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta explained that his method was simply mindfulness of the Buddha in order to gather in the six faculties. Because he skillfully restrained them, pure mindfulness continued without interruption, and deep samadhi became present. Practitioners today often suffer from the habit of blaming circumstances instead of examining themselves. When practice does not succeed, they say it is because of this or that: because desires and sense objects disturb them, because family conditions are difficult, because circumstances are unfavorable. Such blaming is a serious illness. If we practice in that way, we have not understood what practice means. To practice is to transform: to change wrong into right, weakness into strength, delusion into clarity, and unwholesomeness into goodness. Understood in this way, what situation could not become a place of practice? We need only look carefully into ourselves. By observing ourselves, we can transform afflictions, mistakes, and unskillful habits. Clean one’s own house first; do not spend all one’s energy sweeping the houses of others. Yet many people prefer to see the faults of others while ignoring the rubbish in their own home. Few people see their own faults more clearly than the faults of others. If we regularly examine and correct ourselves, our practice will advance far on the path of awakening and liberation. At a deeper level, the masters teach that when meeting conditions, the mind should remain free. As the Zen teaching says, “When facing circumstances with a mind that does not cling, there is no need to ask about meditation.” When the mind does not chase external objects or divide them into good and bad, liking and disliking do not arise. Right there is liberation, peace, and nirvana. In that moment, what more is there to ask about meditation? Meditation is wakefulness, peace, and freedom. Thus, even in this world of suffering, the Pure Land can be present. In the midst of bondage, liberation is possible; in the midst of birth and death, nirvana can be realized. A practitioner need not run away from the six sense objects, for there is nowhere to escape. Instead, one must face them without attachment. When the mind clings to sense objects, they become defilements. When there is no clinging, they are simply conditions. The same thing may cause suffering for one who is deluded and become medicine for one who is awake. Therefore, nirvana is not found outside in the world; it is realized in one’s own mind. For this reason the Buddha says clearly in this verse: one does not reach nirvana by means of vehicles or mounts. Only the one who skillfully trains oneself can reach nirvana.